[en] Taylor has asked the question why there are no flat star clusters. A useful starting point might be a paper by the late, great Donald Lynden-Bell, "Can Spherical Clusters Rotate?", in which he breaks with the tradition that the answer is always "no" if there is a question mark in the title and points out that a spherical cluster of mass points may rotate without becoming oblate. Gaia results indicate that at least some globular clusters rotate, but with no evidence of a link between rotation and flattening.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Helbig, Phillip ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Faculté des Sciences > Form. doct. sc. (sc. spatiales - paysage)
Language :
English
Title :
On the absence of flat star clusters
Publication date :
01 February 2022
Journal title :
The Observatory : a Review of Astronomy
ISSN :
0029-7704
Publisher :
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Wantage, United Kingdom