On the recent star formation history of the Milky Way disk

R. de la Fuente Marcos; C. de la Fuente Marcos

doi:10.1016/j.newast.2004.02.004

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arXiv · astro-ph/0401360

On the recent star formation history of the Milky Way disk

R. de la Fuente Marcos·C. de la Fuente Marcos

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Abstract

We have derived the star formation history of the Milky Way disk over the last 2 Gyr from the age distribution diagram of a large sample of open clusters comprising more than 580 objects. By interpreting the age distribution diagram using numerical results from an extensive library of N-body calculations carried out during the last ten years, we reconstruct the recent star formation history of the Milky Way disk. Our analysis suggests that superimposed on a relatively small level of constant star formation activity mainly in small-N star clusters, the star formation rate has experienced at least 5 episodes of enhanced star formation lasting about 0.2 Gyr with production of larger clusters. This cyclic behavior seems to show a period of 0.4+/-0.1 Gyr.

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R. de la Fuente Marcos, C. de la Fuente Marcos. 2004-02-07. On the recent star formation history of the Milky Way disk. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newast.2004.02.004

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