Related papers: Limits on Stellar Flybys in the Solar Birth Cluste…
We examine the properties of embedded clusters within 1 kiloparsec using new data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, as well as recent results from 2MASS and other ground-based near-infrared surveys. We use surveys of entire molecular clouds…
With the use of N-body calculations the amount and properties of escaping stars from low-N (N = 100 and 1000) young embedded star clusters prior to gas expulsion are studied over the first 5 Myr of their existence. Besides the number of…
It is possible that the formation of the Oort Cloud dates back to the earliest epochs of solar system history. At that time, the Sun was almost certainly a member of the stellar cluster, where it was born. Since the solar birth cluster is…
We examine the dynamical destruction of binary systems in star clusters of different densities. We find that at high densities (10^4 - 10^5 Msun pc^-3) almost all binaries with separations > 10^3 AU are destroyed after a few crossing times.…
Open clusters(OCs) are usually young and suitable for studying the formation and evolution of planetary systems. Hitherto, only four planets have been found with radial velocity measurements in OCs. Meanwhile, a lot of free-floating…
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…
It is likely that all stars are born in clusters, but most clusters are not bound and disperse. None of the many protoclusters in our Galaxy are likely to develop into long-lived bound clusters. The Super Star Clusters (SSCs) seen in…
We present a comprehensive characterisation of close stellar encounters in the solar vicinity, with a particular focus on placing the predicted fly-by of GJ~710 in context. This star will come extremely close ($0.0621$\,pc or…
Unexpected clustering in the orbital elements of minor bodies beyond the Kuiper belt has led to speculations that our solar system actually hosts nine planets, the eight established plus a hypothetical "Planet Nine". Several recent studies…
We investigate how the formation and evolution of extrasolar planetary systems can be affected by stellar encounters that occur in the crowded conditions of a stellar cluster. Using plausible estimates of cluster evolution, we show how…
We argue that all transient searches for planets in globular clusters have a very low detection probability. Planets of low metallicity stars typically do not reside at small orbital separations. The dependance of planetary system…
We present a simple analytical description of the disruption of star clusters in a tidal field, which agrees excellently with detailed N-body simulations. The analytic expression can be used to predict the mass and age histograms of…
Globular clusters were thought to be simple stellar populations, but recent photometric and spectroscopic evidence suggests that the clusters' early formation history was more complicated. In particular, clusters show star-to-star abundance…
We consider the formation and migration of protoplanetary embryos in disks around the stars in tight binary systems (separations ~ 20 AU. In such systems, the initial stages of runaway embryo formation are expected to only take place within…
Protostars and young stars are strongly spatially "clustered" or "correlated" within their natal giant molecular clouds (GMCs). We demonstrate that such clustering leads to the conclusion that the incident bolometric radiative flux upon a…
Exoplanetary observations reveal that the occurrence rate of hot Jupiters is correlated with star clustering. In star clusters, interactions between planetary systems and close fly-by stars can significantly change the architecture of…
How stellar clusters disrupt, and over what timescales, is intimately linked with how they form. Here, we review the theory and observations of cluster disruption, both the suggested initial rapid dissolution phase (infant mortality) and…
Using the most recent proper-motion determination of the old, Solar-metallicity, Galactic open cluster M 67, in orbital computations in a non-axisymmetric model of the Milky Way, including a bar and 3D spiral arms, we explore the…
This paper argues that star forming environments should be classified into finer divisions than the traditional isolated and clustered modes. Using the observed set of galactic open clusters and theoretical considerations regarding cluster…
The most distant Kuiper belt objects appear to be clustered in longitude of perihelion and in orbital pole position. To date, the only two suggestions for the cause of these apparent clusterings have been either the effects of observational…