Is it significant when stars form in clusters? Why or why not?
1 Answer
Mar 18, 2016
Membership in a cluster depends on sharing relative motion and radial velocity. Cluster comprises hundreds of stars that bond gravitationally to each other. Not chance grouping!
Explanation:
It is a long wait for centuries to detect relative velocity of one star with respect to another in proximity.
Several young stars from clusters, upon maturity, drift away later as mature stars. The North Circumpolar Ursa Major cluster is surrounded by stars that had drifted away.
Ref:
David H. Levy, Deep Sky objects, 2005, pp73-94 on ' Open Star Clusters'.
