Sign on

SAO/NASA ADS Astronomy Abstract Service

· Find Similar Abstracts (with default settings below)
· Electronic Refereed Journal Article (HTML)
· Full Refereed Journal Article (PDF/Postscript)
· arXiv e-print (arXiv:0901.2047)
· References in the article
· Citations to the Article (6) (Citation History)
· Refereed Citations to the Article
· Also-Read Articles (Reads History)
·
· Translate This Page
Title:
Using the minimum spanning tree to trace mass segregation
Authors:
Allison, Richard J.; Goodwin, Simon P.; Parker, Richard J.; Portegies Zwart, Simon F.; de Grijs, Richard; Kouwenhoven, M. B. N.
Affiliation:
AA(Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH), AB(Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH), AC(Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH), AD(Section Computational Science, University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 403, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Astronomical Institute `Anton Pannekoek', University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 403, Amsterdam, The Netherlands), AE(Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH; NAOC-CAS, Beijing 100012, China), AF(Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH)
Publication:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 395, Issue 3, pp. 1449-1454. (MNRAS Homepage)
Publication Date:
05/2009
Origin:
MNRAS
MNRAS Keywords:
methods: data analysis
DOI:
10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.14508.x
Bibliographic Code:
2009MNRAS.395.1449A

Abstract

We present a new method to detect and quantify mass segregation in star clusters. It compares the minimum spanning tree (MST) of massive stars with that of random stars. If mass segregation is present, the MST length of the most massive stars will be shorter than that of random stars. This difference can be quantified (with an associated significance) to measure the degree of mass segregation. We test the method on simulated clusters in both 2D and 3D and show that the method works as expected.

We apply the method to the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) and show that the method is able to detect the mass segregation in the Trapezium with a `mass segregation ratio (MSR)' ΛMSR = 8.0 +/- 3.5 (where ΛMSR = 1 is no mass segregation) down to 16Msolar, and also that the ONC is mass segregated at a lower level (~2.0 +/- 0.5) down to 5Msolar. Below 5Msolar we find no evidence for any further mass segregation in the ONC.

Bibtex entry for this abstract   Preferred format for this abstract (see Preferences)
   

Find Similar Abstracts:

Use: Authors
Title
Keywords (in text query field)
Abstract Text
Return: Query Results Return    items starting with number
Query Form
Database: Astronomy
Physics
arXiv e-prints