A perfect starburst cluster made in one go: the NGC 3603 young cluster
  Understanding how distinct, near-spherical gas-free clusters of very young,
massive stars shape out of vast, complex clouds of molecular hydrogen is one of
the biggest challenges in astrophysics. A popular thought dictates that a
single gas cloud fragments into many new-born stars which, in turn, energize
and rapidly expel the residual gas to form a gas-free cluster. This study
demonstrates that the above classical paradigm remarkably reproduces the
well-observed central, young cluster (HD 97950) of the Galactic NGC 3603
star-forming region, in particular, its shape, internal motion and the mass
distribution of stars, naturally and consistently follow from a single model
calculation. Remarkably, the same parameters (star formation efficiency, gas
expulsion time scale and delay) reproduce HD 97950 as were found to reproduce
the Orion Nebula Cluster, Pleiades and R136. The present results thereby
provide intriguing evidences of formation of star clusters through
single-starburst events followed by significant residual gas expulsion.
