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Astrophysics and Space Science Library 424

Steven Stahler
Editor

The Birth of
Star Clusters
The Birth of Star Clusters
 Astrophysics and Space Science Library
EDITORIAL BOARD
Chairman
W. B. BURTON, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville,
Virginia, U.S.A. ([email protected]); University of Leiden, The Netherlands
([email protected])
F. BERTOLA, University of Padua, Italy
C. J. CESARSKY, Commission for Atomic Energy, Saclay, France
P. EHRENFREUND, Leiden University, The Netherlands
O. ENGVOLD, University of Oslo, Norway
E. P. J. VAN DEN HEUVEL, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
V. M. KASPI, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
J. M. E. KUIJPERS, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
H. VAN DER LAAN, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
P. G. MURDIN, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK
B. V. SOMOV, Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Russia
R. A. SUNYAEV, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching, Germany

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/5664

Steven Stahler
Editor

The Birth of Star Clusters

123
Editor
Steven Stahler
Department of Astronomy
University of California
Berkeley
California, USA

ISSN 0067-0057 ISSN 2214-7985 (electronic)

Astrophysics and Space Science Library
ISBN 978-3-319-22800-6 ISBN 978-3-319-22801-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-22801-3

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017956041

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018

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Cover illustration: Composite picture of the young open star cluster NGC 602. Taken Under the “Wing”
of the Small Magellanic Cloud. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ.Potsdam/L.Oskinova et al; Optical:
NASA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Preface

It has long been accepted that most stars originate in groups, rather than in isolation.
How the groups themselves arise is a major, unsolved puzzle. At first sight, it might
seem odd that such a problem should exist at all. Granted, we certainly do not
understand every detail of how individual stars form. Our ignorance is especially
severe in the case of massive stars that quickly disperse any parent gas. For the
more common, lower-mass stars like the Sun, however, a general picture has been
in place for some time, and continues to be filled in. Why, then, is there a separate
problem of cluster formation? If we jump ahead a few decades and imagine that
low-mass stellar birth is even more secure, will such a problem remain?
The answer is that it would, for at least two basic reasons. First, there is the
obvious fact that stellar groups form out of much larger molecular clouds than the
dense cores spawning single, solar-type objects. Understanding the structure and
dynamics of dense cores is facilitated by the fact that these entities are relatively
quiescent, supported largely by ordinary thermal pressure. In contrast, all clouds
massive enough to form clusters are characterized by internal turbulence, for which
quantitative modeling remains primitive at best.
A second reason the conundrum will persist is that stellar groups span an
enormous range of properties. There are moving groups consisting of a few dozen
members. At the opposite end of the spectrum are the monstrous and ancient
globular clusters, some of which still contain a million stars. Just as no one
theoretical model of single-star formation is likely to explain both M dwarfs and
O stars, it is equally implausible that one mechanism underlies such diverse stellar
aggregates. We must, at present, consider different aspects of the problem and do
our best to understand them. In this volume, we offer a selection of current research,
from both observers and theorists, on key topics in this active field of study.
We begin with an account of the very youngest clusters, those still embedded
in relatively large and turbulent molecular clouds. Joana Ascenso first tells us
how these groups are identified in practice. Given the variety of optically revealed
clusters, it is not surprising that their optically revealed counterparts exhibit a range
of morphologies, which Ascenso also describes. As yet, we have no means to assign
even rough ages to these groups. Nor can we yet identify the specific forerunners of,

v
vi Preface

say, OB associations. We may hope that further observations will begin to fill these
gaps.
Turning to the theoretical problem of cluster formation, Patrick Hennebelle
relates the current status of numerical simulations. The basic program here is to
employ a computational box of gas in which gravity overwhelms any internal
pressure. In current simulations, the gas is both magnetized and stirred in a way
to mimic true, astrophysical turbulence. Under the action of self-gravity, the gas
collapses into a myriad of high-density regions. These presumably would go on
to become stars, although no one simulation can cover that final transition. As
Hennebelle describes, the necessary and realistic introduction of an embedded
magnetic field has led to the paradoxical result that disks around stars cannot form.
Feedback from the stars themselves, especially in the form of ionizing radiation,
presents similar technical and astrophysical problems.
In many astrophysical problems, we gain insight by exploring how a process
plays out under a broad range of conditions. Within our Galaxy, no environment
is more extreme than the Galactic center. As Jessica Lu relates in her chapter,
this region contains the densest molecular gas. Thus, it might not seem surprising
that the star formation rate per unit volume is also the highest. On the other hand,
the extraordinarily rich Young Nebular Cluster, one of the three that Lu describes,
actually surrounds the central, massive black hole, a fact that renders its formation
especially puzzling. The other two clusters, dubbed the Arches and Quintuplet, have
similar ages as the central system, a few million years, but distinct morphologies. Lu
details the rapid progress being made in discerning the substructure and stellar mass
distribution in these groups. As she emphasizes, the very large amount of dusty gas
surrounding them poses a special challenge to observers.
Angela Adamo and Nate Bastien widen the perspective to consider the statistics
of cluster birth and death on galactic scales. They first summarize the distribution
of cluster masses. While a simple power law, with a universal exponent, is adequate
in many galaxies, there is always a departure from this relation at the upper end.
Interestingly, this cutoff varies with the galactic environment. So, too, does the
fraction of clusters that are gravitationally bound, which is higher in galaxies with
greater star formation rates. Moreover, the age distribution of clusters depends on
the specific mass in question. All these trends will eventually help us see how
the largest clouds form clusters. They will also lend insight into the purely stellar
dynamical problem of cluster dispersion.
Returning to our own Galaxy, Eric Feigelson provides an update on a concerted
effort, using a variety of observational tools, to study the structure and history
of the youngest OB associations, those still partially embedded in molecular gas.
Feigelson and colleagues combined X-ray and infrared observations with published
catalogs of O and B stars. In addition, they estimated ages for thousands of objects
using a bolometric luminosity and a stellar mass derived empirically from X-ray
luminosities. Their single most significant result is the wide diversity of surface
densities and detailed morphologies in several dozen associations. There is good
evidence for cluster expansion over time. Moreover, stars near the center of any
Preface vii

cluster are systematically younger than those on the outskirts, indicating that star
formation is an ongoing, inside-out process.
The OB associations studied by Feigelson will eventually undergo dispersion, a
process we have long observed, through proper motion studies, in their optically
revealed descendents. There exist, however, equally young and massive groups,
presently devoid of gas, that appear to be gravitationally bound. Sambaran Banerjee
and Pavel Kroupa provide a theoretical perspective on the origin of such systems,
which include the Galactic Center clusters studied by Lu, as well as others found
in the Milky Way disk. Thus far, direct numerical simulations cannot track both
the stellar and gas dynamics of such populous groups. As an alternative, simulators
follow the stars using a standard, N-body code, but crudely account for the gas
through a background gravitational potential. To mimic sudden expulsion of the
gas, researchers force the potential to vanish. Banarjee and Kroupa show that such
calculations do reproduce the basic properties of several well-studied systems.
Further, they argue that the contrasting picture of merging substructures is too slow
and produces clusters that are far too dense.
These contributions take us some distance toward a better understanding of
cluster origins, but they also highlight the outstanding questions yet to be answered.
I would list, near the very top, the issue of why some clusters emerge from their
clouds as gravitationally bound systems, while others are unbound and disperse.
The smallest aggregates, containing up to several hundred members, are unbound,
or become so after their parent cloud dissipates. Groups of a thousand stars or
more develop into classic OB associations, also unbound. But between the lowest-
mass groups and OB associations lies the regime of open clusters, all bound and
remarkably long-lived. Furthermore, as Banerjee and Kroupa describe, groups more
massive than OB associations can also be bound. By now, the pattern is clear and
also completely unexplained.
The traditional idea is that a bound cluster arises when a relatively large fraction
of the parent cloud’s mass turns into stars. By now, it is widely recognized that this
explanation, while it may have a grain of truth, is inadequate. First, the theoretically
required mass fraction is far above most observational estimates. A second objection
is that such a simple model is unlikely to suffice in the two very disparate regimes
where we find bound clusters. Indeed, observers have searched in vain for clouds
that could be precursors to the most populous bound clusters. At this end of the mass
spectrum, we may need to explore the possible merger of pre-existing aggregates.
Explaining the birth of open clusters will rest on another issue raised at the start of
this Introduction—the structure and dynamics of large molecular clouds. Clearly,
observers and theorists will be busy for a long time to come.

Berkeley, CA, USA Steven Stahler

May 2017
Contents

1 Embedded Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Joana Ascenso
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 What Is an Embedded Cluster? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.1 Defining “Embedded” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.2 Defining “Cluster” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 Morphology and Structure .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3.1 Observational Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3.2 Cluster Morphologies.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3.3 The Molecular Cloud Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.4 Age Spreads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.4.1 Age Spreads in Cluster Complexes . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.4.2 Age Spreads in Individual Clusters . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.4.3 Age Spreads of the Unclustered Stars . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.5 Stellar Mass Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.6 Embedded Clusters and Star Formation . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2 Numerical Simulations of Cluster Formation . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Patrick Hennebelle
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.2 Isothermal Hydrodynamical Simulations . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.2.1 Some General Considerations .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.2.2 Numerical Techniques .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.2.3 General Setups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.2.4 Result of Hydrodynamical Simulations . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.3 Radiative Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.3.1 Some Simple Arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.3.2 Result of 2D Multi-Wavelength Simulations .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.3.3 Result of 3D Simulations with Radiative Feedback .. . . . . . . . . . 50

ix
x Contents

2.4 Impact of the Magnetic Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

2.4.1 The Lorentz Force and Its Consequences... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.4.2 Results of Large-Scale MHD Simulations.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.5 Impact of HII Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
2.5.1 Analytical Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
2.5.2 Simulations with HII Radiation .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.6 Impact of Protostellar Jets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
2.6.1 Analytical Estimate .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
2.6.2 Simulations with Jets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.7.1 The Star Formation Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2.7.2 The Star Formation Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2.7.3 The Initial Mass Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3 Massive Young Clusters Near the Galactic Center . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Jessica R. Lu
3.1 Introduction: Three Massive Young Clusters . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
3.2 Discovery and Early History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.3 Stellar Content and Cluster Ages .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.4 Structure and Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.5 Present-Day and Initial Mass Functions . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.6 Cluster Orbits and Birth Locations .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.7 Observational Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.8 Star Formation: Is it Peculiar? .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.9 Open Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
4 The Lifecycle of Clusters in Galaxies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Angela Adamo and Nate Bastian
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.2 Cluster Populations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.2.1 Cluster Formation .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.3 The Cluster Age Distribution and Cluster Disruption .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.3.1 Expectations from Theory and Parameterisations .. . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4.3.2 Analysing Cluster Populations .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
4.3.3 Numerical Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
4.3.4 Observational Results on the Cluster Age Distribution .. . . . . . 108
4.4 Conclusions and Future Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
5 Multiwavelength Studies of Young OB Associations .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Eric D. Feigelson
5.1 Historical Discussions of Star Cluster Formation .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
5.2 The Observational Challenges .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
5.3 The MYStIX Project .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Contents xi

5.4 A New Stellar Chronometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

5.5 Identifying (Sub)Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5.6 Spatial Distribution of Stars Across Star Forming Regions .. . . . . . . . . . 131
5.7 Observational Constraints on Astrophysical Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
5.7.1 Cluster Expansion and Dispersal. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
5.7.2 Cluster Formation by Merging Subclusters.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
5.7.3 Duration of Star Formation .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
5.8 Final Comments and Future Research . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
6 Formation of Very Young Massive Clusters and Implications
for Globular Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Sambaran Banerjee and Pavel Kroupa
6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
6.2 Monolithic or Episodic Formation of Very Young
Massive Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
6.2.1 Why is an Episodic or Monolithic Mode of Cluster
Formation Necessary? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
6.2.2 An Analytic Representation for Gas Expulsion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
6.2.3 Matchings with Individual Very Young Massive Clusters . . . . 160
6.3 Hierarchical Formation of Young Massive Clusters: The Case
of NGC 3603 Young Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
6.3.1 General Evolutionary Properties of Subcluster Systems . . . . . . 177
6.3.2 Comparison with NGC 3603 Young Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
6.4 Globular Clusters and the Stellar IMF . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
6.5 Concluding Remarks: Embedded vs. Exposed Young Clusters. . . . . . . 186
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Index . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Chapter 1
Embedded Clusters

Joana Ascenso

Abstract The past decade has seen an increase of star formation studies made
at the molecular cloud scale, motivated mostly by the deployment of a wealth of
sensitive infrared telescopes and instruments. Embedded clusters, long recognised
as the basic units of coherent star formation in molecular clouds, are now seen
to inhabit preferentially cluster complexes tens of parsecs across. This chapter
gives an overview of some important properties of the embedded clusters in these
complexes and of the complexes themselves, along with the implications of viewing
star formation as a molecular-cloud scale process rather than an isolated process at
the scale of clusters.

1.1 Introduction

The study of embedded clusters dates back to the first infrared detectors for
astronomical use. Still enshrouded in the dusty environment of their natal molecular
cloud, embedded clusters are invisible to optical telescopes but reveal themselves
as rich and fascinating objects at longer wavelengths. They contain the youngest
stars formed and are therefore invaluable probes of the star formation process. Their
stars share the initial conditions of their parent clump of gas, inheriting some of its
characteristics, later probed by humans in an attempt to understand the sequence of
events dominated by the interplay between gravity, turbulence, and magnetic fields
that ultimately forms them.
Both observations and theoretical simulations of star formation have grown in
number and in detail since the seminal review of Lada and Lada (2003) on embedded
clusters. Observationally, the largest leaps forward were the widespread shift from
the study of individual embedded clusters to the larger context of their molecular
clouds, and the large sky surveys to build an increasingly complete census of the

J. Ascenso ()
CENTRA, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001
Lisbon, Portugal
Departamento de Engenharia Física da Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr.
Roberto Frias, s/n, P-4200-465 Porto, Portugal
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018 1

S. Stahler (ed.), The Birth of Star Clusters, Astrophysics and Space
Science Library 424, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-22801-3_1
2 J. Ascenso

star formation in the Galaxy. Also important, the detailed study of extreme star
formation events, even by Milky Way’s standards, has expanded the parameter
space for studies of star formation to the limit of extragalactic studies. These
advances were made possible at such a large scale by the deployment of near-
and mid-infrared telescopes and instruments, both in ground-based and in space
observatories. The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS, Skrutskie et al. 2006),
that covers the entire sky, and later the Spitzer Space Telescope were invaluable
at revealing the detailed intricacies of entire star forming regions as well as to
allow a multitude of large scale surveys. Spitzer legacy programs such as the
Cores to Disks (c2d, Evans et al. 2003), the Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane
Survey Extraordinaire (GLIMPSE, Churchwell et al. 2009; Benjamin et al. 2003),
and the MIPSGAL (Carey et al. 2009) programs, as well as dedicated surveys
of individual regions, have greatly advanced our understanding of star forming
regions, producing numerous catalogues, most of which yet to be fully explored.
Ground-based observatories have also contributed significantly with near-infrared
telescopes used for surveys (e.g. 2MASS, UKIRT, ESO VISTA), and with near-
infrared adaptive optics assisted instruments for deep and high-resolution studies
of individual regions (e.g. GEMINI, VLT). In the far-infrared, the Herschel Space
Observatory (André and Saraceno 2005) is currently providing invaluable insight
into the youngest stages of star formation, bridging the gap between the study of
pre- and proto-stellar molecular clouds with sub-millimetre and radio telescopes,
and the study of embedded clusters at NIR wavelengths. On the opposite end of
the spectrum, sensitive X-ray observations of star forming regions, made possible
greatly through the Chandra X-ray Observatory, have strongly contributed to the
effort of assessing the stellar populations of star forming regions.
This chapter provides an overview of the observable properties of embedded
clusters in the important context of their molecular clouds, brought to light by this
massive technological development. The analysis is limited to Galactic regions—
those that can be studied in greater detail—and does not include the interesting star
formation taking place at and around the Galactic Centre; the reader is referred to the
review by Longmore et al. (2014) for the latter. Section 1.2 of this chapter elaborates
on the difficulty of adopting one single definition of “cluster” for all studies of star
formation, reviewing the most common definitions in the literature, and what they
entail. Section 1.3 reviews the observed structure and morphology of embedded
clusters and star forming regions, highlighting the trends that have emerged from the
increasing sample of studied clouds, and what they reveal in terms of the underlying
processes at play. Section 1.4 describes the constraints on the timescales for star
formation, crucial in any theory of star formation, derived from the observations of
the ages and age distributions in embedded clusters and cluster complexes.
Other very interesting topics could be addressed in detail in the context of
embedded clusters and are only mentioned briefly in this chapter. The stellar mass
distributions in clusters and on the molecular cloud scale can reveal important
properties of the star formation process; the universality of the initial mass function,
and whether or not embedded clusters are mass segregated have been the subject
of many interesting studies in the past decade; the consequences of the clustered
1 Embedded Clusters 3

environment to individual forming stars at different stages of their evolution, and in

particular their formation along with massive stars is also an active topic of research,
and one that can help understand the probability of a given star developing planets
with certain characteristics. The analysis of the efficiency and of the rate of star
formation, both at the embedded cluster and at the molecular cloud scales, is also
starting to be possible at great detail for a statistically significant sample of known
regions in the Galaxy. The topics included in this chapter are a naturally biased
selection of what the author considers the most robust observational advances in the
last decade and most susceptible of providing solid constraints to existing theories.

1.2 What Is an Embedded Cluster?

An embedded cluster is a group of young stars that is still embedded in its natal
molecular cloud (Fig. 1.1). Although seemingly simple, this definition is all but
trivial. The definitions we adopt reflect and, at the same time, somehow limit our
understanding of star formation. Let’s start with the definition of “embedded” and
then move on to the definition of “cluster”.

Fig. 1.1 RCW 38 is a young

embedded cluster, imaged
here in the near-infrared
bands J, H and KS with
ESO/NTT/SOFI (Ascenso,
Alves et al.)
4 J. Ascenso

1.2.1 Defining “Embedded”

An embedded star (or cluster) is one that is still enshrouded in its natal molecular
cloud. It is typically not (fully) observable at optical wavelengths due to the
heavy obscuration caused by the dust grains in the cloud, but it can be seen in
the near-infrared, where young stars emit significantly (e.g. Adams et al. 1987;
Robitaille et al. 2006), and the dust is more transparent (Savage and Mathis
1979; Cardelli et al. 1989; Rieke and Lebofsky 1985; Draine 2011). Near-infrared
telescopes and instruments are therefore the choice of excellence to detect and
characterise embedded objects, and indeed both ground-based and space telescopes
equipped with infrared detectors and filters have boosted our demographics and our
understanding of embedded clusters exponentially in the past three decades.
It should be noted, perhaps trivially, that not all heavily obscured objects are
embedded: there are objects that are just seen behind molecular clouds, and are
therefore not within them (e.g. Alves et al. 2001). Objects that are in fact embedded
notoriously display signatures of youth. Since stars tend to disperse their natal gas
and dust via accretion and feedback over time an embedded star or cluster is one
that is necessarily young, and this leads to some unspoken confusion regarding the
“embedded” nature of clusters.
The canonical timescale for a cluster to clear enough material to become optically
visible is around 5 Myr (Leisawitz et al. 1989), although more recently Morales et al.
(2013) analysed the association of several young clusters with molecular material,
and proposed an upper limit of the embedded phase of 3 Myr, while Portegies Zwart
et al. (2010) quote a duration of 1–2 Myr for the embedded phase of a cluster. But
a cluster’s embedded phase should be a sensitive function of the mass of the stars
being formed. For example, massive stars develop HII regions that are much more
efficient in dispersing the cloud material than the outflows from low-mass stars
(Matzner 2002), so clusters with massive stars should be the fastest to clear their
surroundings and to emerge from their molecular clouds. Therefore, although the
condition of being embedded is enough to attest to an object’s youth, it is, by itself,
a poor criterion for a sample of clusters of uniform age.
On some accounts, the definition of “embedded” is narrowed to refer to a state
when the potential of the cluster is dominated by the mass of the molecular cloud
(Gutermuth et al. 2009), according to which many known young clusters can no
longer be considered embedded. Trumpler 14, Westerlund 2, and NGC3603, for
example, are all believed to be well under 5 Myr old, but even though they are
still partially obscured by cloud material, they have already cleared most of their
intracluster gas. So these clusters are embedded only in the sense that they are still
associated with the molecular cloud, since their gravitational potential is no longer
dominated by the gas.
For the purpose of this chapter we will focus on clusters that are younger than
5 Myr and still associated with their molecular clouds, regardless of their potential
being dominated by the gas.
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