There could be a massive black hole, but it so, it would have little to do with keeping the stars together. A globular cluster is held together by the same thing that keeps a single star together: the mutual gravitational attraction of each of its parts to the rest. In a globular, each star is in orbit around a point that represents a center of mass from its current position. There need be no physical object at that dynamical center of mass.bosonm wrote:The August 6th APOD showed the Garrad Comet and Messeir 15, a closed globular cluster. My question is: what keeps the cluster so tightly packed? Is there a massive star in the center that acts as a strong gravitational attractor, or could there be a black hole there?
APOD: Comet Garradd and Messier 15 (2011 Aug 06)
-
Chris Peterson
- Abominable Snowman
- Posts: 18599
- Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:13 pm
- Location: Guffey, Colorado, USA
- Contact:
Re: globular clusters
Chris
*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
https://www.cloudbait.com
*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
https://www.cloudbait.com
Re: globular clusters
A good place to start for your answer is the wikipedia article on globular clusters.bosonm wrote:The August 6th APOD showed the Garrad Comet and Messeir 15, a closed globular cluster. My question is: what keeps the cluster so tightly packed? Is there a massive star in the center that acts as a strong gravitational attractor, or could there be a black hole there?
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor