Related papers: Nuclear Star Clusters in Edge-on Galaxies
We find 9 nuclear cluster candidates in a sample of 14 edge-on, late-type galaxies observed with HST/ACS. These clusters have magnitudes (M_I ~ -11) and sizes (r_eff ~ 3pc) similar to those found in previous studies of face-on, late-type…
A large fraction of bulgeless disk galaxies contain young compact stellar systems at their centers, in spite of the local gravitational stability of these disks. We evaluate two contrasting hypotheses for the origin of the nuclear star…
Photometrically distinct nuclear star clusters (NSCs) are common in late-type-disk and spheroidal galaxies. The formation of NSCs is inevitable in the context of normal star formation in which a majority of stars form in clusters. A young,…
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…
Nuclear Star Clusters are observed at the center of many galaxies. In particular in the center of the Milky Way the Nuclear Star Cluster coexists with a cen- tral supermassive black hole. The origin of these clusters is still unknown; a…
The centers of most galaxies in the local universe are occupied by compact, barely resolved sources. Based on their structural properties, position in the fundamental plane, and integrated spectra, these sources clearly have a stellar…
We review the current knowledge about nuclear star clusters (NSCs), the spectacularly dense and massive assemblies of stars found at the centers of most galaxies. Recent observational and theoretical work suggest that many NSC properties,…
Recent observations with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have revealed that a large fraction of late-type (Sc and later) spiral galaxies harbor a bright, compact stellar cluster in their dynamical centers. Statistics of the mass, age, and…
We present observations of the nuclear star cluster in the nearby edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 4244 using the Gemini Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) with laser guide star adaptive optics. From a previous study of edge-on…
Over the last decade, HST imaging studies have revealed that the centers of most galaxies are occupied by compact, barely resolved sources. Based on their structural properties, position in the fundamental plane, and spectra, these sources…
Nuclear stellar cluster (NSCs) are known to exist around massive black holes (MBHs) in galactic nuclei. Two formation scenarios were suggested for their origin: Build-up of NSCs and Continuous in-situ star-formation. Here we study the…
Nuclear star clusters are found at the centers of most galaxies. They are the densest stellar systems in the Universe, and thus have unique and interesting stellar dynamics. We review how common nuclear star clusters are in galaxies of…
In the center of the Milky Way, as well as in many other galaxies, a compact star cluster around a very massive black hole is observed. One of the possible explanations for the formation of such Nuclear Star Clusters is based on the…
We summarize the recent results of our survey of the nearest nuclear star clusters. The purpose of the survey is to understand nuclear star cluster formation mechanisms and constrain the presence of black holes using adaptive optics…
Recently, very massive compact stellar systems have been discovered in the intracluster regions of galaxy clusters and in the nuclear regions of late-type disk galaxies. It is unclear how these compact stellar systems -- known as…
This talk is an attempt to combine recent insights into the nature of the nuclear star clusters in galaxies of various morphologies into a coherent (albeit simplistic) picture for their formation, growth, and eventual destruction.
We present parsec-scale kinematics of eleven nearby galactic nuclei, derived from adaptive-optics assisted integral-field spectroscopy at (near-infrared) CO band-head wavelengths. We focus our analysis on the balance between ordered…
This is an overview of nuclear star cluster observations, covering their structure, stellar populations, kinematics and possible connection to black holes at the centers of galaxies.
Nuclear star clusters (NSCs) are the densest stellar systems in the Universe and are found in the centres of all types of galaxies. They are thought to form via mergers of star clusters such as ancient globular clusters (GCs) that spiral to…
Star clusters that form in nuclear rings appear to be at slightly larger radii than the gas. We argue that the star clusters move out from the gas in which they are formed because of satellite-disk tidal interactions. In calculating the…