NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Rates of collapse and evaporation of globular clustersObservational estimates of the dynamical relaxation times of Galactic globular clusters are used here to estimate the present rate at which core collapse and evaporation are occurring in them. A core collapse rate of 2 +/- 1 per Gyr is found, which for a Galactic age of about 12 Gyr agrees well with the fact that 27 clusters have surface brightness profiles with the morphology expected for the postcollapse phase. A destruction and evaporation rate of 5 +/- 3 per Gyr is found, suggesting that a significant fraction of the Galaxy's original complement of globular clusters have perished through the combined effects of mechanisms such as relaxation-driven evaporation and shocking due to interaction with the Galactic disk and bulge.
Document ID
19930030930
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Hut, Piet
(Inst. for Advanced Study Princeton, NJ, United States)
Djorgovski, S.
(California Inst. of Technology Pasadena, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
October 29, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Nature
Volume: 359
Issue: 6398
ISSN: 0028-0836
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
93A14927
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available