Henize 2-10: the ongoing formation of a nuclear star cluster around a massive black hole

TL;DR

This study uses N-body simulations to demonstrate that a nuclear star cluster can form around a central black hole in Henize 2-10 within 0.2 Gyr, highlighting the process of nuclear cluster formation post black hole development.

Contribution

First realistic simulation showing nuclear star cluster formation around a black hole in Henize 2-10, with implications for galaxy nucleus evolution.

Findings

A nuclear star cluster of 4-6 million solar masses forms within 0.2 Gyr.

The black hole's motion remains limited after cluster mergers.

Nuclear star clusters can form after the central black hole in galaxies.

Abstract

The central region of the galaxy Henize 2-10 has a central black hole (BH) with a mass of about $2\times 10^6$ M$_\odot$. While this black hole does not appear to coincide with any central stellar over density, it is surrounded by 11 young massive clusters with masses above $10^5$ M$_\odot$. The availability of high quality data on the structure of the galaxy and the age and mass of the clusters provides excellent initial conditions for studying the dynamical evolution of Henize 2-10's nucleus. Here we present a set of $N$-body simulations of the central clusters and black hole to understand whether and how they will merge to form a nuclear star cluster. Nuclear star clusters (NSCs) are present in a majority of galaxies with stellar mass similar to Henize 2-10. Despite the results depend on the choice of initial conditions, we find that a NSC with mass $M_{NSC}\simeq 4-6\times 10^6$ M$_\odot$ and effective radius $r_{NSC}\simeq 2.6-4.1$ pc will form within $0.2$ Gyr. This work is the first showing, in a realistic realization of the host galaxy and its star cluster system, that the formation of a bright nucleus is a process that can happen after the formation of a central massive BH leading to a composite NSC+BH central system. The merging process of the clusters does not affect significantly the kinematics of the BH, whose motion, after the globular cluster merger, is limited to a $\sim 1$ pc oscillation at less than $2$ kms$^{-1}$ speed.