Formation of Super Star Clusters in the Intergalactic Medium
by: Robert W. O'Connell (UVa)
One of the earliest important breakthroughs made with the Hubble Space Telescope, thanks to its high resolution imaging, was the discovery of massive, compact systems ("super" star clusters or SSCs) that are young analogues to classical globular star clusters. Contradicting long-held assumptions, globular cluster formation has continued to the present, rather than being confined to the special conditions that prevailed in protogalaxies in the early universe. The most prodigious examples of SSC production are in merger remnants, such as the "Antennae." However, cooling flows in clusters of galaxies also produce SSCs, and I discuss recent findings regarding this process in the Perseus Cluster.
