Nuclear Star Clusters in Edge-on Galaxies

Abstract

From observations of edge-on, late-type galaxies, we present morphological evidence that some nuclear star clusters have experienced in situ star formation. We find three nuclear clusters that, viewed from the edge-on perspective, have both a compact disk-like component and a spheroidal component. In each cluster, the disk components are closely aligned with the major axis of the host galaxy and have bluer colors than the spheroidal components. We spectroscopically verify that one of the observed multiple component clusters has multiple generations of stars. These observations lead us to suggest a formation mechanism for nuclear star clusters, in which stars episodically form in compact nuclear disks, and then lose angular momentum, eventually forming an older spheroid.