Super Massive Star Clusters: From Superwinds to a Cooling Catastrophe and the Re-processing of the Injected Gas

Abstract

Different hydrodynamic regimes for the gaseous outflows generated by multiple supernovae explosions and stellar winds occurring within compact and massive star clusters are discussed. It is shown that there exists the threshold energy that separates clusters whose outflows evolve in the quasi-adiabatic or radiative regime from those within which catastrophic cooling and a positive feedback star-forming mode sets in. The role of the surrounding ISM and the observational appearance of the star cluster winds evolving in different hydrodynamic regimes are also discussed.

4 pages, 2 figures, to be published in the Proceedings IAU Symposium 237 "Triggered Star Formation in a Turbulent ISM", eds. B.G. Elmegreen & J. Palous