Where do most stars (and the planetary systems that surround them) in
the Milky Way form? What determines whether a young star cluster remains
bound (such as an open or globular cluster), or disperses to join the
field stars in the disc of the Galaxy? These questions not only impact
understanding of the origins of stars and planetary systems like our own
(and the potential for life to emerge that they represent), but also
galaxy formation and evolution, and ultimately the story of star
formation over cosmic time in the Universe.
This volume will help readers understand our current views concerning
the answers to these questions as well as frame new questions that will
be answered by the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite that was
launched in late 2013. The book contains the elaborated notes of
lectures given at the 42nd Saas-Fee Advanced Course "Dynamics
of Young Star Clusters & Associations" by Cathie Clarke (University of
Cambridge) who presents the theory of star formation and dynamical
evolution of stellar systems, Robert Mathieu (University of Wisconsin)
who discusses the kinematics of star clusters and associations, and I.
Neill Reid (S
pace Telescope Science Institute) who provides an overview of the
stellar populations in the Milky Way and speculates on from whence came
the Sun. As part of the Saas-Fee Advanced Course Series, the book offers
an in-depth introduction to the field serving as a starting point for
Ph.D. research and as a reference work for professional astrophysicists.
