Approximately how much greater is the stellar density in the core of a typical open cluster compared to the solar neighborhood?
Answer
Roughly 500 times greater.
The stellar density within the core of an open cluster is vastly higher than the sparse environment surrounding our own Sun. A typical open cluster core reaches a density of about 1.5 stars per cubic light-year. In contrast, the density in the region around the Sun is estimated to be around $0.003$ stars per cubic light-year. Performing the comparison ($1.5 / 0.003$) reveals that the cluster's heart packs roughly 500 times the stellar population into the equivalent volume of space. This extreme density influences dynamic interactions, making close encounters frequent enough to significantly affect the evolution of circumstellar disks and planet formation processes.
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