The orbital motion of the Arches cluster — clues on cluster formation near the galactic center
Abstract
The Arches cluster is one of the most massive, young clusters in the Milky Way. Located inside the central molecular zone in the inner 200 pc of the Galactic center, it formed in one of the most extreme star-forming environments in the present-day Galaxy. Its young age of only 2.5 Myr allows us to observe the cluster despite the strong tidal shear forces in the inner Galaxy. The orbit of the cluster determines its dynamical evolution, tidal stripping, and hence its fate. We have measured the proper motion of the Arches cluster relative to the ambient field from Keck/NIRC2 LGS-AO and VLT/NAOS-CONICA NGS-AO observations taken 4.3 years earlier. When combined with the radial velocity, we derive a 3D space motion of 232 ± 30 km/s for the Arches. This motion is exceptionally large when compared to molecular cloud orbits in the GC, and places stringent constraints on the formation scenarios for starburst clusters in dense, nuclear environments.
Additional Information
© 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd. Accepted papers received: 30 September 2008. Published online: 24 October 2008. This project makes use of Keck and ESO/VLT observations, and would not have been possible without the amazing support of the Keck team, and the fortunate opportunity to observe from Mauna Kea mountain. We thank Joshua Barnes for providing his leap-frog integrator orbit code. We would also like to thank the organizers for taking up the challenge to bring together many people with different backgrounds and interests for a fruitful exchange during this exceptional conference.Attached Files
Published - STOjpcs08.pdf
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- 16111
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- CaltechAUTHORS:20090929-110927645
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2009-10-05Created from EPrint's datestamp field
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2022-07-12Created from EPrint's last_modified field