High-velocity stars from the interaction of a globular cluster and a massive black hole binary

G. Fragione*, R. Capuzzo-Dolcetta

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

40 Scopus citations

Abstract

High-velocity stars are usually thought to be the dynamical product of the interaction of binary systems with supermassive black holes. In this paper, we investigate a particular mechanism of production of high-velocity stars as due to the close interaction between a massive and orbitally decayed globular cluster and a supermassive black hole binary. The high velocity acquired by some stars of the cluster comes from combined effect of extraction of their gravitational binding energy and from the slingshot due to the interaction with the black hole binary. After the close interaction, stars could reach a velocity sufficient to travel in the halo and even overcome the galactic potential well, while some of them are just stripped from the globular cluster and start orbiting around the galactic centre.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2596-2603
Number of pages8
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume458
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 8 2016

Keywords

  • Galaxies: Haloes
  • Galaxies: Nuclei
  • Galaxies: Star clusters: General
  • Stars: Kinematics and dynamics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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