German astronomers using a set of super computers have solved one of the oldest astronomical puzzles: how star clusters' internal structures differ. All stars are formed within star clusters ranging in size from several hundred to 10 million stars. The researchers sought to discover what the initial conditions must be like if a new-born star cluster is to survive. Astronomers at the University of Bonn's Argelander Institute for Astronomy discovered clusters below a certain size are very easily destroyed by the radiation of their component stars. Dense star clusters, on the other hand, enjoy significantly better "survival chances". For astronomers, another important insight from the new research is that both light and dense star clusters have the same origins.
"It seems that when the universe was born there were not only globular clusters, but also countless mini star clusters. A challenge now for astrophysics is to find their remains" - Professor Pavel Kroupa, one of the researchers.
The new simulations pave the way for that search. The complex findings appear in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
