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Universe
Special Issues
Star Clusters
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Star Clusters

A special issue of Universe (ISSN 2218-1997). This special issue belongs to the section "Galaxies and Clusters".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 11720

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Laura Magrini

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Guest Editor
INAF–Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi, 5 50125 Firenze, Italy
Interests: stellar and nebular spectroscopy of resolved stellar populations, in the Milky Way in nearby galaxies; chemical evolution of galaxies; star clusters, planetary nebulae, HII regions; stellar ages
Dr. Germano Sacco

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Guest Editor
INAF–Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi, 5 50125 Firenze, Italy
Interests: star formation observations and numerical modeling; cluster dynamics; Gaia and large spectroscopic surveys
Dr. Lorenzo Spina

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, vicolo dell'Osservatorio 5, 35122, Italy
Interests: galactic archaeology; stellar spectroscopy; machine learning; exoplanets

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Star clusters are key constituents in the study of many fields of astrophysics: from star formation, to stellar and galactic evolution and to cosmology. They are widely considered as the building blocks of the Milky Way and another myriad galaxies. No longer studied only in isolation, star clusters are recognized as cornerstones to improve our understanding of the Universe across cosmic time. 

In this Special Issue, we focus on open star clusters belonging to the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. Since they are composed of simple stellar populations, their ages and distances can be estimated from photometry with extremely good accuracy, much higher than for isolated stars. They are indeed excellent tracers of the metallicity distributions of the different populations of galaxies. Their orbits, combined with their ages, allow us to study how the Galactic disc is structured, the processes of heating and migration, and how the elements are produced by stars and recycled throughout the Galaxy. 

Star clusters are crucial also on their own: they are ideal testbeds to study star formation and evolution. Although most stars are observed in isolation at the present time, they likely first formed in clusters or associations. Most of them are short-lived systems, while a fraction of them survive after the embedded phase and remain bound over longer timescales. The mechanisms of cluster survival and disruption are fundamental for our understanding of the origin of the field populations, and to eventually reconstruct the past cluster populations with the help of the chemical tagging. 

In this volume, we aim at highlighting the key role of Gaia in enriching our knowledge of star clusters, and how our view will change in the future with the advent of instruments such as the Vera Rubin Observatory. We aim also to report the results from large spectroscopic surveys (Gaia-ESO, APOGEE 1-2, GALAH, LAMOST, etc.) which, in recent years, have provided huge volumes of data on star clusters, and to discuss opportunities and challenges coming from the next generation of multi-object spectrographs (WEAVE, 4MOST, MOONS, MSE). 

We invite colleagues to submit articles on topics in the broad subject of “Star Clusters” and to present new results and reviews in this field, covering the present state-of-the art, but also addressing current observational and theoretical challenges and major ongoing developments. With this Special Issue, we also aim at discussing future prospects and the scientific achievements and insights these will enable.

(1) Clusters and the galactic structure and chemistry;
(2) Tracing galaxy dynamics with star clusters;
(2) Young clusters and star forming regions;
(5) Star clusters and stellar evolution;
(6) Cluster mass function and cluster dispersion mechanisms;
(7) Star clusters in nearby galaxies;
(8) Theory and simulations of cluster formation;
(9) Future surveys;
(10) New methods for cluster detection and characterization.

Dr. Laura Magrini
Dr. Germano Sacco
Dr. Lorenzo Spina
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Universe is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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24 pages, 1670 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Age on the Grouping of Open Clusters: The Primordial Group Hypothesis
by Juan Casado
Universe 2022, 8(2), 113; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/universe8020113 - 10 Feb 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1841
Abstract
The Primordial Group hypothesis states that only sufficiently young open clusters (OCs) can be multiple, and old OCs are essentially isolated. We tested this postulate through four different studies using a manual search of Gaia EDR3 and extensive literature. First, we revisited the [...] Read more.
The Primordial Group hypothesis states that only sufficiently young open clusters (OCs) can be multiple, and old OCs are essentially isolated. We tested this postulate through four different studies using a manual search of Gaia EDR3 and extensive literature. First, we revisited the work of de La Fuente Marcos and de La Fuente Marcos (2009), which states that only ca. 40% of OC pairs are of primordial origin. However, no plausible binary system among their proposed OC pairs having at least one member older than 0.1 Gyr was found. Second, we researched the OCs < 0.01 Gyr old in Tarricq et al. (2021) and found that ca. 71% of them remain in their primordial groups. Third, a similar study of the oldest OCs (age > 4 Gyr) showed that they are essentially alone. Forth, the well-known case of the double cluster in Perseus and some other binary systems described in the literature were also shown to accommodate the title hypothesis. A simplified bimodal model allows for retrieval of the overall fraction of related OCs (approximately 12–16%) from our results, assuming that young clusters remain associated at ~0.04 Gyr. The obtained results further support that OCs are born in groups (Casado 2021). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Star Clusters)
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28 pages, 1058 KiB  
Article
Mapping the Galactic Metallicity Gradient with Open Clusters: The State-of-the-Art and Future Challenges
by Lorenzo Spina, Laura Magrini and Katia Cunha
Universe 2022, 8(2), 87; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/universe8020087 - 29 Jan 2022
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 2690
Abstract
In this paper, we make use of data collected for open cluster members by high-resolution spectroscopic surveys and programmes (i.e., APOGEE, Gaia-ESO, GALAH, OCCASO, and SPA). These data have been homogenised and then analysed as a whole. The resulting catalogue contains [Fe/H] and [...] Read more.
In this paper, we make use of data collected for open cluster members by high-resolution spectroscopic surveys and programmes (i.e., APOGEE, Gaia-ESO, GALAH, OCCASO, and SPA). These data have been homogenised and then analysed as a whole. The resulting catalogue contains [Fe/H] and orbital parameters for 251 Galactic open clusters. The slope of the radial metallicity gradient obtained through 175 open clusters with high-quality metallicity determinations is −0.064 ± 0.007 dex kpc−1. The radial metallicity distribution traced by open clusters flattens beyond RGal = 12.1 ± 1.1 kpc. The slope traced by open clusters in the [Fe/H]-Lz diagram is −0.31 ± 0.02 × 103 dex km−1 kpc−1 s, but it flattens beyond Lz = 2769 ± 177 km kpc s−1. In this paper, we also review some high-priority practical challenges around the study of open clusters that will significantly push our understanding beyond the state-of-the-art. Finally, we compare the shape of the galactic radial metallicity gradient to those of other spiral galaxies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Star Clusters)
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Review

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30 pages, 5711 KiB  
Review
Milky Way Star Clusters and Gaia: A Review of the Ongoing Revolution
by Tristan Cantat-Gaudin
Universe 2022, 8(2), 111; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/universe8020111 - 09 Feb 2022
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 6491
Abstract
The unprecedented quality of the astrometric measurements obtained with the ESA Gaia spacecraft have initiated a revolution in Milky Way astronomy. Studies of star clusters in particular have been transformed by the precise proper motions and parallaxes measured by Gaia over the entire [...] Read more.
The unprecedented quality of the astrometric measurements obtained with the ESA Gaia spacecraft have initiated a revolution in Milky Way astronomy. Studies of star clusters in particular have been transformed by the precise proper motions and parallaxes measured by Gaia over the entire sky as well as Gaia’s deep all-sky photometry. This paper presents an overview of the many topics of cluster science that have been impacted by the Gaia DR1, DR2, and EDR3 catalogues from their release to the end of the year 2021. These topics include the identification of known clusters and the discovery of new objects, the formation of young clusters and associations, and the long-term evolution of clusters and their stellar content. In addition to the abundance of scientific results, Gaia is changing the way astronomers work with high-volume and high-dimensionality datasets and is teaching us precious lessons to deal with its upcoming data releases and with the large-scale astronomical surveys of the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Star Clusters)
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