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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 April 2011
Most stars seem to form in clusters, but the vast majority of these clusters do not seem to survive much beyond their embedded phase. The most favoured mechanism for the early destruction of star clusters is the effect of the removal of residual gas by feedback which dramatically changes the cluster potential. The effects of feedback depend on the ratio of the masses of stars and gas, and the velocity dispersion of the stars at the onset of gas removal. As gas removal is delayed by a few Myr from star formation these crucial parameters can change significantly from their initial values. In particular, in dynamically cool and clumpy clusters, the stars will collapse to a far denser state and if they decouple from the gas then gas removal may be far less destructive than previously thought. This might well help explain the survival of very massive clusters, such as globular clusters, without the need for extremely high star formation efficiencies or initial masses far greater than their current masses.