Super star cluster

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A super star cluster (SSC) is a very massive young open cluster that is thought to be the precursor of a globular cluster.[1] They typically contain a very large number of young, massive stars that ionize a surrounding H II region, similar to our Milky Way's so-called "Ultra dense H II regions (UDHIIs)".[2] An SSC's H II region is in turn surrounded by a cocoon of dust. In many cases, the stars and the H II regions will be invisible to optical observations due to high levels of extinction. As a result, the youngest SSCs are best observed in radio and infrared.[3]

The unique characteristics of SSCs are their large electron densities n_e=10^3–10^6 cm^{-3} and pressures P/k_b=10^7–10^{10} K cm^{-3}.[3]

List

Name Galaxy Comments Notes
Westerlund 1 (Wd1) Milky Way Galaxy First SSC discovered in our galaxy. [4]
NGC 3603 Milky Way Galaxy [5]
R136 Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) The prototype SSC [6]
NGC 1569 Galaxy contains two SSCs [7]
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References

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External links

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