Modelling Young Star Clusters with AMUSE

Abstract

An important research area in modern astrophysics is understanding how molecular clouds form stars and star clusters. These rich clusters within molecular clouds are the dominant mode of star formation in our galaxy, but we know very little about these areas of space due to incomplete observational data. The MYStIX (Massive Young Star-Forming Complex Study in Infrared and X-Ray) project was started to create a detailed catalogue of these regions and the rich star clusters embedded within them. Once the observational data was available, the evolution of these clusters could be investigated in more detail. Current cluster simulations investigate the stars in detail but usually ignore the gas entirely which can be inaccurate, especially in gas mass dominated clusters. We use AMUSE (Astrophysical Multi-purpose Software Environment) to model embedded young clusters with stars and gas, similar to those found by the MYStIX project, and track their evolution over the first few million years of their lifespan while allowing the stars and gas to interact. We are particularly interested in non-spheroidal subclusters and how they can evolve into the spherical structures that we see today.