Nuclear cluster formation in dE galaxies

Image: Snapshots in the key moments of the simulations. Globular cluster particles are shown in green with the dE galaxy in purple. Source: Carl Joseph, 2018

Most early-type galaxies and late-type spirals harbour massive nuclear star clusters in their centre. The mass of these clusters is closely related to the bulge luminosity and Hubble type of the host galaxy, suggesting a close formation history with ongoing evolution.

N-body simulations were conducted using the Swinburne Green II supercomputer, and GalactICS package. These were designed to test the interaction between a single globular cluster and a dwarf elliptical galaxy at various mass ratios.

I found that the mass of the dE has the greatest impact on the survivability of the cluster, with low mass ratios of < 50:1 allowing the cluster to retain 50% of their mass for 2.5 - 3.5 Gyr and maintain a dense core structure