Inquiries into the absence of extended globular clusters in the Milky Way galaxy
(2010) In Lund Observatory Examensarbeten ASTK01 20091Lund Observatory - Undergoing reorganization
- Abstract
- Thirteen stellar objects known as extended globular clusters were found in the Halo of the Andromeda Galaxy. Three of these extended clusters have quantitative properties which are subsequently used to determine whether clusters of extended size could survive in the orbits of the Milky Way Galaxy. The question of whether extended clusters could survive in the orbits of the Milky Way, is interesting to explore because Astronomers hypothesize that the existence of these rare objects is not restricted to M31. However, none have been found in the Milky Way to date; and it is the purpose of this report to begin to investigate whether this fact is indeed curious or whether there is a plausible explanation for why they are absent. Two major... (More)
- Thirteen stellar objects known as extended globular clusters were found in the Halo of the Andromeda Galaxy. Three of these extended clusters have quantitative properties which are subsequently used to determine whether clusters of extended size could survive in the orbits of the Milky Way Galaxy. The question of whether extended clusters could survive in the orbits of the Milky Way, is interesting to explore because Astronomers hypothesize that the existence of these rare objects is not restricted to M31. However, none have been found in the Milky Way to date; and it is the purpose of this report to begin to investigate whether this fact is indeed curious or whether there is a plausible explanation for why they are absent. Two major factors affecting the likelihood of extended clusters surviving in the Milky Way Galaxy were investigated; namely, Tidal effects on the extended clusters in the orbits of the Milky Way; and the comparative cluster distribution of both Galaxies. The resulting data reveal that the cluster distribution in M31 favors the existence of extended globular clusters more than that of the Milky Way Galaxy; and that tidal shredding would play a prominent role in removing most of the extended clusters from the Milky Way, if they were present in the first place; however, despite the latter, a small fraction of extended clusters could still survive despite the tidal forces present in these orbits. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/2172699
- author
- Doxsee, Kristina LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- ASTK01 20091
- year
- 2010
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- publication/series
- Lund Observatory Examensarbeten
- report number
- 2010-EXA46
- language
- English
- id
- 2172699
- date added to LUP
- 2011-10-07 17:17:58
- date last changed
- 2011-10-20 13:10:35
@misc{2172699,
abstract = {{Thirteen stellar objects known as extended globular clusters were found in the Halo of the Andromeda Galaxy. Three of these extended clusters have quantitative properties which are subsequently used to determine whether clusters of extended size could survive in the orbits of the Milky Way Galaxy. The question of whether extended clusters could survive in the orbits of the Milky Way, is interesting to explore because Astronomers hypothesize that the existence of these rare objects is not restricted to M31. However, none have been found in the Milky Way to date; and it is the purpose of this report to begin to investigate whether this fact is indeed curious or whether there is a plausible explanation for why they are absent. Two major factors affecting the likelihood of extended clusters surviving in the Milky Way Galaxy were investigated; namely, Tidal effects on the extended clusters in the orbits of the Milky Way; and the comparative cluster distribution of both Galaxies. The resulting data reveal that the cluster distribution in M31 favors the existence of extended globular clusters more than that of the Milky Way Galaxy; and that tidal shredding would play a prominent role in removing most of the extended clusters from the Milky Way, if they were present in the first place; however, despite the latter, a small fraction of extended clusters could still survive despite the tidal forces present in these orbits.}},
author = {{Doxsee, Kristina}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{Lund Observatory Examensarbeten}},
title = {{Inquiries into the absence of extended globular clusters in the Milky Way galaxy}},
year = {{2010}},
}