Open AccessThe time‐scale of escape from star clusters
Author(s) -
Fukushige T.,
Heggie D. C.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03811.x
Subject(s) - physics , stars , star cluster , astrophysics , cluster (spacecraft) , stellar dynamics , galaxy , scale (ratio) , astronomy , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language
In this paper a cluster is modelled as a smooth potential (due to the cluster stars) plus the steady tidal field of the Galaxy. In this model there is a minimum energy below which stars cannot escape. Above this energy, however, the time‐scale on which a star escapes varies with the orbital parameters of the star (mainly its energy) in a way which we attempt to quantify, with both theoretical arguments and computer simulations. Within the limitations of the model we show that the time‐scale is long enough to complicate the interpretation of full N ‐body simulations of clusters, and that stars above the escape energy may remain bound to the cluster for about a Hubble time.