Young Massive Clusters and Their Relation to Star Formation

TL;DR

This paper reviews the relationship between young massive clusters and star formation, examining how cluster properties correlate with galaxy characteristics and the fraction of star formation occurring in bound clusters.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of observed scaling relations and discusses how cluster formation relates to galaxy properties and star formation activity.

Findings

Bound clusters constitute about 10% of star formation in most galaxies.

The fraction of star formation in bound clusters may increase with higher star formation rate surface densities.

Various scaling relations between cluster populations and galaxy properties are summarized.

Abstract

The formation of massive stellar clusters is intricately linked to star formation on local and global scales. All actively star forming galaxies are forming clusters, and the local initial conditions likely determine whether bound massive clusters or unbound associations are formed. Here, we focus on observed scaling relations between cluster populations and the properties of the host galaxy. In particular, we discuss the relations between the fraction of U-band light from clusters vs. their host galaxy as well as the brightest cluster vs. population size and host galaxy star formation rate (SFR). We also discuss the the fraction of stellar mass formed within bound clusters within the Galaxy, nearby dwarf galaxies, as well as starbursts and mergers. Bound clusters appear to represent ~10% of star formation within most galaxies, although there are intriguing hints that this fraction systematically increases in galaxies with higher star formation rate surface densities. Throughout the review we highlight potential avenues for future study.