Star clusters in a nuclear star-forming ring: The disappearing string of
  pearls
  An analysis of the star cluster population in a low-luminosity early type
galaxy, NGC 2328, is presented. The clusters are found in a tight star-forming
nuclear spiral/ring pattern and we also identify a bar from structural 2D
decomposition. These massive clusters are forming very efficiently in the
circum-nuclear environment, they are young, possibly all less than 30 Myr of
age. The clusters indicate an azimuthal age gradient, consistent with a
"pearls-on-a-string" formation scenario suggesting bar driven gas inflow. The
cluster mass function has a robust down-turn at low masses at all age bins.
Assuming clusters are born with a power-law distribution, this indicates
extremely rapid disruption at time-scales of just several Myr. If found to be
typical, it means that clusters born in dense circum-nuclear rings do not
survive to become old globular clusters in non-interacting systems.
