AIMSS Project. I. Compact Stellar Systems

These spectroscopically confirmed objects have sizes (~6<R_e_[pc]<500) and masses (~2x10^6^<M*/M_{sun}_<6x10^9^) spanning the range of massive globular clusters, ultracompact dwarfs (UCDs) and compact elliptical galaxies (cEs), completely filling the gap between star clusters and galaxies.

Several objects are close analogues to the prototypical cE, M32. These objects, which are more massive than previously discovered UCDs of the same size, further call into question the existence of a tight mass-size trend for compact stellar systems, while simultaneously strengthening the case for a universal 'zone of avoidance' for dynamically hot stellar systems in the mass-size plane. Overall, we argue that there are two classes of compact stellar systems (1) massive star clusters and (2) a population closely related to galaxies.