Related papers: A robust statistical estimation of the basic param…
The fundamental properties of stellar clusters, such as the age or the total initial mass in stars, are often inferred from population synthesis models. The predicted properties are then used to constrain the physical mechanisms involved in…
A new Monte Carlo method has been developed in order to derive ages of young embedded clusters within massive star forming regions where there is strong differential reddening. After foreground and infrared excess source candidates are…
The evolution of AGB stars is notoriously complex. The confrontation of AGB population models with observed stellar populations is a useful alternative to the detailed study of individual stars in efforts to converge towards a reliable…
Detached, double-lined spectroscopic binaries which are also eclipsing provide the most accurate determinations of stellar mass, radius, temperature and distance-independent luminosity for each of their individual components, and hence…
In this contribution I will discuss fundamental stellar parameters as determined from young star clusters; specifically those with ages less than or approximately equal to that of the Pleiades. I will focus primarily on the use of stellar…
We present an approach that improves the search for reliable astrophysical parameters (e.g. age, mass, and distance) of differentially-reddened, pre-main sequence-rich star clusters. It involves simulating conditions related to the…
We present a unified framework to derive fundamental stellar parameters by combining all available observational and theoretical information for a star. The algorithm relies on the method of Bayesian inference, which for the first time…
Age is one of the most fundamental parameters of stars, yet it is one of the hardest to determine as it requires modelling various aspects of stellar formation and evolution. When we compare the ages derived from isochronal and dynamical…
The Hipparcos mission has made it possible to constrain the positions of nearby field stars in the colour-magnitude diagram with very high accuracy. These positions can be compared with the predictions of stellar evolutionary calculations…
We present a comprehensive analysis of the ability of current stellar population models to reproduce the optical (ugriz) and near infra-red (JHK) colours of a small sample of well-studied nearby elliptical and S0 galaxies. We find broad…
Fundamental parameters of a sample of 26 apparently slowly-rotating single early B-type stars in the solar neighbourhood are presented and compared to high-precision data from detached eclipsing binaries (DEBs). The data are used to discuss…
In the past years we have made great efforts to reduce the statistical and systematic uncertainties in stellar parameter and chemical abundance determinations of early B-type stars. Both the construction of robust model atoms for non-LTE…
The development of evolutionary stellar population models is central to interpreting observations of galaxies in terms of astrophysical quantities. Stellar population models must therefore be both accurate and compatible with inversion…
Young stars form in associations, meaning that young stellar associations provide an ideal environment to measure the age of a nominally coeval population. Isochrone fitting, which is the typical method for measuring the age of a coeval…
Context. When trying to derive the star cluster physical parameters of the M33 galaxy using broad-band unresolved ground-based photometry, previous studies mainly made use of simple stellar population models, shown in the recent years to be…
This paper is the second of a series that investigates the stochasticity and degeneracy problems that hinder the derivation of the age, mass, extinction, and metallicity of unresolved star clusters in external galaxies when broad-band…
We report the results of a detailed numerical study designed to estimate both the absolute age and the uncertainty in age (with confidence limits) of the oldest globular clusters. Such an estimate is essential if a comparison with the…
In this last decade, our knowledge of evolutionary and structural properties of stars of different mass and chemical composition is significantly improved. This result has been achieved as a consequence of our improved capability in…
We derive new spectral H_gamma index definitions which are robust age indicators for old and relatively old stellar populations and thus have great potential for solving the age-metallicity degeneracy of galaxy spectra. To study H_gamma as…
Aims. To produce an homogeneous catalog of astrophysical parameters of 239 resolved star clusters located in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, observed in the Washington photometric system. Methods. The cluster sample was processed…