Why do we find most globular clusters far out in the halo?

Globular star clusters are known to be located mostly in the great spherical halo of the Milky Way. Classical bulges are thought to emerge from violent events such as galaxy mergers or sinking of giant gas clumps and host older stellar population within a spherical structure like elliptical galaxies.

Why are star clusters ideal sites to study stellar evolution?

Star clusters offer astronomers a very effective way of studying the effects of stellar evolution. A star cluster is group of stars that were formed at the same time and from the same cloud of gas and dust. The very massive stars evolve very quickly, while low mass stars evolve very slowly.

How are globular clusters distributed in our Milky Way galaxy?

How are globular clusters distributed in our Milky Way Galaxy? Mostly in a large spherical halo surrounding the flat disk of the Galaxy. Dust in the space between stars builds up over large distances and blocks the light of stars behind the dustier parts of the Milky Way.

How close together are stars in a globular cluster?

about 1 light year
The typical distance between stars in a globular cluster is about 1 light year, but at its core the separation between stars averages about a third of a light year—13 times closer than Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. Globular clusters are thought to be unfavorable locations for planetary systems.

How many stars are in a globular cluster?

Globular clusters are big. They can reach 300 light-years in diameter and contain 10 million stars.

Why are globular clusters useful for studies of stellar evolution quizlet?

Stars in clusters are useful to aid our understanding of stellar evolution because, within a given cluster, stars are all roughly the same age and chemical composition and lie at roughly the same distance from Earth.

What is the relationship between stars in a cluster?

Star clusters are groups of stars which are gravitationally bound. Two distinct types of star cluster can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of hundreds of thousands of very old stars, while open clusters generally contain less than a few hundred members, and are often very young.

How many globular clusters are in the Milky Way?

150
The Milky Way is host to around 150 known globular clusters, and a few more are likely to exist hidden behind the thick disk of our galaxy.

How do globular clusters orbit the galaxy?

Globular clusters orbit in the halo of our galaxy, centered on the galaxy’s center and expanding above and below the galactic disk. Open star clusters tend to orbit within the disk. Globular star clusters contain hundreds of thousands of stars, and some – like Omega Centauri, shown above – contain millions of stars.

What is the difference between a globular star cluster and an open star cluster?

Globular clusters are old clusters of stars that have remained in a gravitationally bound system. Open clusters are much younger and smaller than globular clusters. They are the recent birthplaces of new stars, which form out of clouds of dust and gas, and contain only hundreds or thousands of stars.

What is a globular cluster in astronomy?

Globular clusters are densely packed collections of ancient stars. Roughly spherical in shape, they contain hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions, of stars. Studying them helps astronomers estimate the age of the universe or figure out where the center of a galaxy lies.

How long do globular clusters stay together?

Because globular clusters are highly compact systems, they are consequently very stable, and so most globular clusters will probably maintain their identity almost indefinitely. But even these clusters lose some stars, especially if they have a slow mass.

Do stars in an open cluster remain gravitationally bound?

Though the stars in an open cluster formed together out of the same material, they do not remain gravitationally bound over time and spread out, scattering their stars far and wide. Because they are not gravitationally bound, these clusters can have random and irregular shapes.

Do stars in the core of a globular cluster ever collide?

When you look at images of globular clusters like the one above, or at an even more extreme case like the one below, you are probably tempted to think that the stars in the core must be very close to each other, and perhaps even collide regularly.