Radial distribution of blue straggler stars in Magellanic Cloud clusters

  • Hong, Jongsuk (Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University)
  • Published : 2018.05.08

Abstract

Using the high-resolution observational data obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope, we found that there is the diversity of the radial trends of blue straggler stars (BSSs) in young massive clusters (YMCs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud unlike BSSs in old globular clusters usually showing the segregated radial distributions. To understand the dynamical processes that lead to the none-segregated or even inversely-segregated radial distribution of BSSs, we performed direct N-body simulations for YMCs. Our numerical simulations show that the presence of black hole subsystems inside the cluster centre can significantly affect the dynamical evolution of BSSs and eventually lead to none- or inversely-segregated radial distribution of BSSs.

Keywords