Astrophysics (Index)About

stellar cluster

(SC, star cluster, cluster)
(group of stars apparently formed by a single cloud)

A stellar cluster or star cluster (sometimes abbreviated SC) is a general term including both globular clusters and open clusters, consisting of groups of stars near each other, with other similarities that suggest their formation is from a single cloud. The distinction between globular versus open clusters is that the former are tightly bound by gravity and the latter is more loosely bound.

A young stellar cluster (YSC) is one showing signs of being young, i.e., ultraviolet indicating early stars. In surveys for finding stellar clusters, possible YSCs have been termed YSCCs for young stellar cluster candidates. An embedded cluster (EC) is a cluster within a gas cloud, i.e., one still residing in the cloud of its formation.

A stellar association is looser than an open cluster but shows signs of common origin, such as similar age and metallicity. Often it is a moving group (aka kinematic group), a group of stars that are generally moving together. Such groups are presumed to be the remnants of stellar clusters, a notion supported by the fact that such groups often show older stars than typical of open clusters.


(stars,galaxies,star clusters)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_cluster
https://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/senior/astrophysics/stellarevolution_clusters.html
https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/~george/ay20/Ay20-Lec15x.pdf
https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/~george/ay20/eaa-starclus.pdf
PrefixExample  
ClCl Terzan 5general prefix for star cluster

Referenced by pages:
30 Doradus (30 Dor)
alpha-enhanced
Berkeley Open Cluster Catalogue (Be)
Boltzmann transport equation (BTE)
cloud
color-color diagram (CCD)
color-magnitude diagram (CMD)
Dynamical Analysis of Nearby Clusters (DANCe)
extended source
extremely metal poor galaxy (XMPG)
field star
Fokker-Planck equation
galactic bulge
galaxy age determination
galaxy cluster (CL)
galaxy formation
gravitationally bound
gyrochronology
H-R diagram (HRD)
heating
Hill radius
isochronal fitting
Lick indices
Magellanic Stream
main sequence fitting
MATCH
Messier Catalog (M)
metallicity (Z)
Milky Way subgroup
MOCCA
morphology
N 103B
nebula
New General Catalogue (NGC)
point source
proto-cluster
rare designator prefixes
red supergiant cluster (RSGC)
reddening
signatures of formation
SMBH formation
spectral line designation
SSP
standard candle
star cloud
star formation history (SFH)
stellar age determination
stellar distance determination
stellar dynamics
stellar encounter
stellar kinematics
stellar nucleus
stellar population synthesis code
synthetic photometry
three dimensional model
tidal arm
turn-off point (TO)
virial theorem
VISTA
Wesenheit function
wide binaries (WB)

Index