Young and intermediate-age massive star clusters

Abstract

An overview of our current understanding of the formation and evolution of star clusters is given, with the main emphasis on high-mass clusters. Clusters form deeply embedded within dense clouds of molecular gas. Left-over gas is cleared within a few million years and, depending on the efficiency of star formation, the clusters may disperse almost immediately or remain gravitationally bound. Current evidence suggests that a small percentage of star formation occurs in clusters that remain bound, although it is not yet clear whether this fraction is truly universal. Internal two-body relaxation and external shocks will lead to further, gradual dissolution on time scales of up to a few hundred million years for low-mass open clusters in the Milky Way, while the most massive clusters (>10(5) M(o)) have lifetimes comparable to or exceeding the age of the Universe. The low-mass end of the initial cluster mass function is well approximated by a power-law distribution, dN/dM proportional to M(-2), but there is mounting evidence that quiescent spiral discs form relatively few clusters with masses M > 2 x 10(5) M(o). In starburst galaxies and old globular cluster systems, this limit appears to be higher, at least several x10(6) M(o). The difference is likely related to the higher gas densities and pressures in starburst galaxies, which allow denser, more massive giant molecular clouds to form. Low-mass clusters may thus trace star formation quite universally, while the more long-lived, massive clusters appear to form preferentially in the context of violent star formation.