AstroGrav Help /Sample Simulations /Abstract Systems /Globular ClusterVersion 5.1

Globular Cluster

This simulation shows a globular cluster of 401 identical stars. It was created by making a new simulation, and then using the Edit / Add Family... command with the '3D Globular Cluster' quick setup, edited to a radius of 1.0e9 m, a luminosity of 1.0e27 W, a mass of 1.0e30 kg, and a semi-major axis from 1.0e13 m to 1.0e17 m.

If you set the simulation running, you can watch how it evolves, and see how the globular cluster maintains the same general shape, while slowly expanding and occasionally losing objects which move off in hyperbolic orbits. The simulation contains only a tiny fraction of the number of stars in a real globular cluster, and this is the reason why the simulated globular cluster is less stable (slowly expands and occasionally loses objects) than a real one. The speed of the simulation is quite slow, and you may have to leave to it running for several minutes.

Since different computers run at different speeds, you may need to edit the evolution time step to get the simulation to run at an acceptable rate.