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Li C, de Grijs R, Deng L, et al. Formation of new stellar populations from gas accreted by massive young star clusters. Nature. 2016;529(7587):502-4doi: 10.1038/nature16493.
Li, C., de Grijs, R., Deng, L., Geller, A. M., Xin, Y., Hu, Y., & Faucher-Giguère, C. A. (2016). Formation of new stellar populations from gas accreted by massive young star clusters. Nature, 529(7587), 502-4. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16493
Li, Chengyuan, et al. "Formation of new stellar populations from gas accreted by massive young star clusters." Nature vol. 529,7587 (2016): 502-4. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16493
Li C, de Grijs R, Deng L, Geller AM, Xin Y, Hu Y, Faucher-Giguère CA. Formation of new stellar populations from gas accreted by massive young star clusters. Nature. 2016 Jan 28;529(7587):502-4. doi: 10.1038/nature16493. PMID: 26819043.
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Nature. 2016 Jan 28;529(7587):502-4. doi: 10.1038/nature16493.

Formation of new stellar populations from gas accreted by massive young star clusters.

Nature

Chengyuan Li, Richard de Grijs, Licai Deng, Aaron M Geller, Yu Xin, Yi Hu, Claude-André Faucher-Giguère

Affiliations

  1. Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics and Department of Astronomy, Peking University, Yi He Yuan Lu 5, Hai Dian District, Beijing 100871, China.
  2. Key Laboratory for Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 20A Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100012, China.
  3. Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2 West Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China.
  4. International Space Science Institute - Beijing, 1 Nanertiao, Hai Dian District, Beijing 100190, China.
  5. Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
  6. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.

PMID: 26819043 DOI: 10.1038/nature16493

Abstract

Stars in clusters are thought to form in a single burst from a common progenitor cloud of molecular gas. However, massive, old 'globular' clusters--those with ages greater than ten billion years and masses several hundred thousand times that of the Sun--often harbour multiple stellar populations, indicating that more than one star-forming event occurred during their lifetimes. Colliding stellar winds from late-stage, asymptotic-giant-branch stars are often suggested to be triggers of second-generation star formation. For this to occur, the initial cluster masses need to be greater than a few million solar masses. Here we report observations of three massive relatively young star clusters (1-2 billion years old) in the Magellanic Clouds that show clear evidence of burst-like star formation that occurred a few hundred million years after their initial formation era. We show that such clusters could have accreted sufficient gas to form new stars if they had orbited in their host galaxies' gaseous disks throughout the period between their initial formation and the more recent bursts of star formation. This process may eventually give rise to the ubiquitous multiple stellar populations in globular clusters.

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