Related papers: Compact nuclear objects and properties of their pa…
Abridged: In one widely discussed model for the formation of nuclear star clusters (NSCs), massive globular clusters spiral into the center of a galaxy and merge to form the nucleus. It is now known that at least some NSCs coexist with…
Galactic nuclei harbouring a central supermassive black hole (SMBH), possibly surrounded by a dense nuclear cluster (NC), represent extreme environments which house a complex interplay of many physical processes that uniquely affect stellar…
(Abridged) We combine published photometry for the nuclear star clusters (NSCs) and stellar spheroids of 51 low-mass, early-type galaxies in the Virgo cluster with empirical mass-to-light ratios, in order to complement previous studies that…
We explore several correlations between various large-scale galaxy properties, particularly total globular cluster population (N_GCS), the central black hole mass (M_BH), velocity dispersion (nominally sigma_e), and bulge mass (M_dyn). Our…
Supermassive black holes containing ~0.5% of the stellar mass of their host galaxies appear to be ubiquitous components of galactic nuclei. The gravitational force from these central singularities can influence the motion of stars far…
The central regions of galaxies show the presence of super massive black holes and/or very dense stellar clusters. Both such objects seem to follow similar host-galaxy correlations, suggesting that they are members of the same family of…
Nuclear star clusters are among the densest stellar systems known and are common in both early- and late-type galaxies. They exhibit scaling relations with their host galaxy which may be related to those of supermassive black holes. These…
We explore hierarchical black hole (BH) mergers in nuclear star clusters (NSCs), globular clusters (GCs) and young star clusters (YSCs), accounting for both original and dynamically assembled binary BHs (BBHs). We find that the median mass…
Studying compact-object binary mergers in star clusters is crucial for understanding stellar evolution and dynamical interactions in galaxies. Open clusters in particular are more abundant over cosmic time than globular clusters, however,…
Massive black holes (MBHs) with a mass below ~ 1e7 Msun are likely to reside at the centre of dense stellar nuclei shaped by 2-body relaxation, close interactions with the MBH and direct collisions. In this contribution, we stress the role…
There is significant observational evidence that a large fraction of galactic centers, including those in the Milky Way and M31, host a supermassive black hole (SMBH) embedded in a triaxial nuclear star cluster. In this work, we study the…
We performed a series of direct N-body simulations with the aim to follow the dynamical evolution of a galaxy cluster (GC) ($M_{clus}\simeq 10^{14} M_{\odot}$) in different environment. The results show the formation of heavy sub-structures…
The center of our Galaxy is known to host a massive compact object, Sgr A$^*$, which is commonly considered as a super-massive black hole of $\sim 4\times 10^6$ M$_\odot$. It is surrounded by a dense and massive nuclear star cluster, with a…
The coalescence of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) should generate the strongest sources of gravitational waves (GWs) in the Universe. However, the dynamics of their coalescence is the subject of much debate. In this study, we use a suite…
This article intends to provide a concise overview, from an observational point-of-view, of the current state of our knowledge of the most relevant properties of the Milky Way's nuclear star cluster (MWNSC). The MWNSC appears to be a…
Nuclear star clusters (NSCs) are located at the photometric and dynamical centers of the majority of galaxies. They are among the densest star clusters in the Universe. The NSC in the Milky Way is the only object of this class that can be…
This paper presents an analysis of the correlation between the number of globular clusters (N_GC) in giant galaxies and the mass of the galaxies' central supermassive black hole (M_SMBH). I construct a sample of 20 elliptical, spiral, and…
We present a detailed study of the nuclear star clusters (NSCs) and massive black holes (BHs) of four of the nearest low-mass early-type galaxies: M32, NGC205, NGC5012, and NGC5206. We measure dynamical masses of both the BHs and NSCs in…
Supermassive black holes are prevalent at the centers of massive galaxies, and their masses scale with galaxy properties, increasing evidence suggesting that these trends continue to low stellar masses. Seeds are needed for supermassive…
We investigate the distribution of massive black holes (MBHs) in the Virgo cluster. Observations suggest that AGN activity is widespread in massive galaxies (M>1e10 solar masses), while at lower galaxy masses star clusters are more…