The Gaia-ESO Survey: N-body modelling of the Gamma Velorum cluster

Mapelli, M.; Vallenari, A.; Jeffries, R. D.; Gavagnin, E.; Cantat-Gaudin, T.; Sacco, G. G.; Meyer, M. R.; Alfaro, E. J.; Costado, M.; Damiani, F.; Frasca, A.; Lanzafame, A. C.; Randich, S.; Sordo, R.; Zaggia, S.; Micela, G.; Flaccomio, E.; Pancino, E.; Bergemann, M.; Hourihane, A.; Lardo, C.; Magrini, L.; Morbidelli, L.; Prisinzano, L.; Worley, C. C.

Abstract

The Gaia-ESO Survey has recently unveiled the complex kinematic signature of the Gamma Velorum cluster: this cluster is composed of two kinematically distinct populations (hereafter, population A and B), showing two different velocity dispersions and a relative ~ 2 km s-1 radial velocity (RV) shift. In this paper, we propose that the two populations of the Gamma Velorum cluster originate from two different sub-clusters, born from the same parent molecular cloud. We investigate this possibility by means of direct-summation N-body simulations. Our scenario is able to reproduce not only the RV shift and the different velocity dispersions, but also the different centroid (~0.5 pc), the different spatial concentration and the different line-of-sight distance (~5 pc) of the two populations. The observed 1−2 Myr age difference between the two populations is also naturally explained by our scenario, in which the two sub-clusters formed in two slightly different star formation episodes. Our simulations suggest that population B is strongly supervirial, while population A is close to virial equilibrium. We discuss the implications of our models for the formation of young star clusters and OB associations in the Milky Way.

Citation

Mapelli, M., Vallenari, A., Jeffries, R. D., Gavagnin, E., Cantat-Gaudin, T., Sacco, G. G., …Worley, C. C. (2015). The Gaia-ESO Survey: N-body modelling of the Gamma Velorum cluster. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 578, A35. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201425514

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 9, 2015
• Online Publication Date: May 29, 2015
• Publication Date: 2015-06
• Deposit Date: Jun 16, 2023
• Journal: Astronomy & Astrophysics
• Print ISSN: 0004-6361
• Electronic ISSN: 1432-0746
• Publisher: EDP Sciences
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 578
• Pages: A35
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201425514
• Keywords: Space and Planetary Science; Astronomy and Astrophysics; methods: numerical; open clusters and associations: individual: Gamma Velorum cluster; stars: formation; stars: kinematics and dynamics