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Tidal disruption of open clusters in their parent molecular cloudsA simple model of tidal encounters has been applied to the problem of an open cluster in a clumpy molecular cloud. The parameters of the clumps are taken from the Blitz, Stark, and Long (1988) catalog of clumps in the Rosette molecular cloud. Encounters are modeled as impulsive, rectilinear collisions between Plummer spheres, but the tidal approximation is not invoked. Mass and binding energy changes during an encounter are computed by considering the velocity impulses given to individual stars in a random realization of a Plummer sphere. Mean rates of mass and binding energy loss are then computed by integrating over many encounters. Self-similar evolutionary calculations using these rates indicate that the disruption process is most sensitive to the cluster radius and relatively insensitive to cluster mass. The calculations indicate that clusters which are born in a cloud similar to the Rosette with a cluster radius greater than about 2.5 pc will not survive long enough to leave the cloud. The majority of clusters, however, have smaller radii and will survive the passage through their parent cloud.
Document ID
19890054901
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Long, Kevin
(Maryland, University College Park, United States)
Date Acquired
August 14, 2013
Publication Date
June 15, 1989
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 1
Volume: 341
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
89A42272
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-765
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AST-83-15276
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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