Star Cluster Formation and Disruption Time-Scales -- I. An empirical determination of the disruption time of star clusters in four galaxies
Abstract
We present a new method to derive the cluster disruption time in selected regions of galaxies from the mass or age distribution of magnitude-limited cluster samples. If the disruption time of clusters in a region of a galaxy depends on their initial mass as t4 x (Mcluster/104 Msun)gamma and if the cluster formation rate is constant, then the mass and age distributions of the observed clusters will each show two powerlaw relations. The values of t4 and gamma can be derived from these relations. We used this method to derive the cluster disruption time in specific regions in four galaxies: the inner region of M51, a region of M33, the SMC and the solar neighbourhood. The values of gamma are the same in the four galaxies within the uncertainty and the mean value is gamma= 0.62 +- 0.06. However the disruption time t4 of a cluster of 104 Msun is very different in the different galaxies. The clusters in the SMC have the longest disruption time, t4 = 8 Gyr, and the clusters at 1 to 3 kpc from the nucleus of M51 have the shortest disruption time of t4 = 0.04 Gyr. The disruption time of clusters 1 to 5 kpc from the nucleus of M33 is t4 = 0.13 Gyr and for clusters within 1 kpc from the Sun we find t4 = 1.0 Gyr.
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