The inner workings of early-type galaxies: the relation between nuclear star clusters, cores, and supermassive black holes

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Recent years have seen dramatic progress in the study of the core and nuclear properties of galaxies. The dynamical centers of galaxies have been found capable of hosting two seemingly disparate objects: supermassive black holes (SBHs) and compact nuclear star clusters (NSCs). In a drastic departure from previous beliefs, it has been discovered that both structures are common: galaxies lacking SBHs and/or NSCs are the exception, rather than the norm. Furthermore, the connection between SBHs and NSCs is deeper than one might have expected: both are linked to the global galactic properties by similar scaling relations; both contain the same fraction, ~0.3%, of the total galactic mass.Theoretical work has shown that the structure and evolution of galaxies is profoundly affected by the presence of SBHs. The role of NSCs is still unclear, since very little is known about these enigmatic objects. The goal of this proposal is therefore to provide a secure observational characterization of NSCs, and seek their relation to SBHs and the global properties of their host galaxies. The results will help lay the solid observational foundations needed to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework of galaxy formation/evolution.