Globular Cluster Destruction by Supermassive Black Holes

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Session 58 -- The Galaxy
Display presentation, Thursday, 2, 1994, 9:20-6:30

[58.13] Globular Cluster Destruction by Supermassive Black Holes

J.C.Charlton, P.Laguna (Penn State)

It is likely that the system of globular clusters in a galaxy is considerably modified by various mechanisms acting during the evolution of the galaxy. Examples of such mechanisms are: (1) shocking due the bulge in the galaxy, (2) tidal heating produced by the disk, (3) dynamical friction due to the galactic background, and (4) globular cluster evaporation. A supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy will also have a destructive effect on the globular cluster system. We present results from N-body simulations of the dynamics of a globular cluster in the gravitational field of a point particle (black hole) and an extended object (bulge), designed to explore the relative importance of these two components to the evolution of the globular cluster system. In particular, we estimate the degree of destruction of the a globular cluster as a function of its perigalacticon distance and eccentricity.

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