Related papers: R144 : a very massive binary likely ejected from R…
In this study we explore the nucleosynthesis in the dynamic ejecta of compact binary mergers. We are particularly interested in the question how sensitive the resulting abundance patterns are to the parameters of the merging system.…
Recent Chandra observations of interacting and starburst galaxies have led us to investigate the apparent correlation between the positions of young star clusters and Chandra point sources. Assumed to be X-ray binaries (XRBs), these point…
In the present paper we combine an N-body code that simulates the dynamics of young dense stellar systems with a massive star evolution handler that accounts in a realistic way for the effects of stellar wind mass loss. We discuss two…
Most of the planetary systems discovered around binary stars are located at approximately three semi-major axes from the barycentre of their system, curiously close to low-order mean-motion resonances (MMRs). The formation mechanism of…
We discuss the origin of the runaway early B-type star HD271791 and show that its extremely high velocity (\simeq 530-920 km/s) cannot be explained within the framework of the binary-supernova ejection scenario. Instead, we suggest that…
We study the evolution of bound pairs of star clusters by means of direct N-body simulations. Our simulations include mass loss by stellar evolution. The initial conditions are selected to mimic the observed binary star cluster NGC 2136 and…
The formation of very wide binaries, such as the alpha Cen system with Proxima (also known as alpha Centauri C) separated from alpha Centauri (which itself is a close binary A/B) by 15000 AU, challenges current theories of star formation,…
Many young extra-galactic clusters have a measured velocity dispersion that is too high for the mass derived from their age and total luminosity, which has led to the suggestion that they are not in virial equilibrium. Most of these…
Very massive stars with masses over 100 Msun are key objects in the Universe for our understanding of chemical and energetic feedback in the Universe, but their evolution and fate are almost entirely determined by their wind mass loss. We…
We present photometric, spectroscopic and weak lensing analysis of the large-scale structure and dynamics of the most X-ray luminous galaxy cluster known, RX J1347-1145, at z=0.451. We spectroscopically confirmed 47 new members with LDSS3…
Abundance anomalies observed in globular cluster stars indicate pollution with material processed by hydrogen burning. Two main sources have been suggested: asymptotic giant branch stars and massive stars rotating near the break-up limit.…
[abridged] Among the most remarkable features of the stellar population of R136, the central, young, massive star cluster in the 30 Doradus complex of the Large Magellanic Cloud, are the single stars whose masses substantially exceed the…
Over the last decades, numerous wide (>1000 AU) binaries have been discovered in the Galactic field and halo. The origin of these wide binaries cannot be explained by star formation or by dynamical interactions in the Galactic field. We…
Extrasolar planets and belts of debris orbiting post-main-sequence single stars may become unbound as the evolving star loses mass. In multiple star systems, the presence or co-evolution of the additional stars can significantly complicate…
Runaway OB stars are ejected from their parent clusters via two mechanisms, both involving multiple stars: the dynamical ejection scenario (DES) and the binary supernova scenario (BSS). We constrain the relative contributions from these two…
(Abridged) In this celebratory contribution, we present some new data from standard star cluster modelling containing primordial binaries and triples, as well as results from a binary black hole simulation with two massive members. In the…
Many exoplanets are discovered in binary star systems in internal or in circumbinary orbits. Whether the planet can be habitable or not depends on the possibility to maintain liquid water on its surface, and therefore on the luminosity of…
The most massive stars known to date are R 136 a1, a2, a3, and c within the central cluster R 136a of the Tarantula nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), with reported masses in excess of 150-200$M_\odot$. However, the mass estimation…
A large population of fragile, wide (> 1000 AU) binary systems exists in the Galactic field and halo. These wide binary stars cannot be primordial because of the high stellar density in star forming regions, while formation by capture in…
The observed orbital parameters of the recently discovered binary pulsar J0737-3039 are used to constrain the progenitor system. In particular, the small observed eccentricity and the small inferred peculiar velocity imply that during the…