Related papers: The Dynamics of OB Associations
Most stars, perhaps even all stars, form in crowded stellar environments. Such star forming regions typically dissolve within ten million years, while others remain bound as stellar groupings for hundreds of millions to billions of years,…
Open star clusters are dynamic systems whose evolution is critically influenced by initial conditions such as star formation efficiency and orbital parameters. Understanding their dissolution mechanisms provides insight into stellar…
The preponderance of binary systems in all known stellar populations makes them exciting dynamical agents for research on topics as varied as star formation, star-cluster dynamics and the interiors of young and old stars. Today we know that…
Most stars in our Galaxy form in stellar aggregates, which can become long-lived structures called open clusters (OCs). Along their dynamical evolution, their gradual depletion leave some imprints on their structure. In this work, we…
Their ubiquity and extreme densities make star clusters probes of prime importance of galaxy evolution. Old globular clusters keep imprints of the physical conditions of their assembly in the early Universe, and younger stellar objects,…
The observable characteristics and subsequent evolution of young stellar populations is dominated by their massive stars. As our understanding of those massive stars and the factors affecting their evolution improves, so our interpretation…
The distribution of young stars into OB associations has long been in need of updating. High-precision {\sl Gaia} early Data Release 3 astrometry, coupled with modern machine-learning methods, allows this to be done. We have compiled a…
Currently clusters/associations of stars are mainly detected as surface density enhancements relative to the background field. While clusters form, their surface density increases. It likely decreases again at the end of the star formation…
The origin of the observed morphological and kinematic substructure of young star forming regions is a matter of debate. We offer a new analysis of data from simulations of globally gravitationally collapsing clouds of progenitor gas to…
Young stars form on a wide range of scales, producing aggregates and clusters with various degrees of gravitational self-binding. The loose aggregates have a hierarchical structure in both space and time that resembles interstellar…
Most stars and thus most planetary systems do not form in isolation. The larger star-forming environment affects protoplanetary disks in multiple ways: gravitational interactions with other stars truncate disks and alter the architectures…
Gravitationally-bound clusters that survive gas removal represent an unusual mode of star formation in the Milky Way and similar spiral galaxies. While forming, they can be distinguished observationally from unbound star formation by their…
How starburst clusters form out of molecular clouds is still an open question. In this article, I highlight some of the key constraints in this regard, that one can get from the dynamical evolutionary properties of dense stellar systems. I…
The earliest evolution of star clusters involves a phase of co-existence of both newly-formed stars, and the gas from which they are forming. Observations of the gas in such regions provide a wealth of data that can inform the simulations…
Open and globular star clusters have served as benchmarks for the study of stellar evolution due to their supposed nature as simple stellar populations of the same age and metallicity. After a brief review of some of the pioneering work…
This paper investigates the dynamical evolution of embedded stellar clusters from the protocluster stage, through the embedded star-forming phase, and out to ages of 10 Myr -- after the gas has been removed from the cluster. The relevant…
Early expansion plays a fundamental role in the dynamical evolution of young star clusters. However, until very recently most of our understanding of cluster expansion was based only on indirect evidence or on statistically limited samples…
Stars mostly form in groups consisting of a few dozen to several ten thousand members. For 30 years, theoretical models provide a basic concept of how such star clusters form and develop: they originate from the gas and dust of collapsing…
It is widely accepted that stars do not form in isolation but result from the fragmentation of molecular clouds, which in turn leads to star cluster formation. Over time, clusters dissolve or are destroyed by interactions with molecular…
Young stellar associations hold a star formation record that can persist for millions of years, revealing the progression of star formation long after the dispersal of the natal cloud. To identify nearby young stellar populations that trace…