Related papers: Young Massive Clusters as probes of stellar evolut…
Star clusters are evolving n-body systems. We discuss the early dynamics of star clusters, the process of primordial mass segregation and clustering observed in certain young clusters. We discuss how the dynamics coupled with stellar…
The galaxies of the Local Group that are currently forming stars can serve as our laboratories for understanding star formation and the evolution of massive stars. In this talk I will summarize what I think we've learned about these topics…
Observations have revealed that most stars are born in clusters. These systems, containing from tens to thousands of stars and typically significant mass in gas in the youngest systems, evolve due to a combination of stellar and star-gas…
Context. We use Hubble Space Telescope photometry of six rich, compact star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), with ages ranging from 0.01 to 1.0 Gyr, to derive the clusters' stellar mass functions (MFs) at their half-mass radii.…
Massive stars rapidly change their masses through strong stellar winds and mass transfer in binary systems. We show that such mass changes leave characteristic signatures in stellar mass functions of young star clusters which can be used to…
We present an updated catalog of 1300 objects in the field of M31, including 670 likely star clusters of various types. Archival images were inspected to confirm cluster classifications where possible, but most of the classifications were…
Massive OB stars play an important role in the evolution of molecular clouds and star forming regions. The OB stars both photo--ionize molecular gas as well as sweep up and compress interstellar gas through winds, ionization fronts, and…
Context: Young massive stellar clusters (YMSCs) have emerged as potential $\gamma$-ray sources, after the recent association of a dozen YMSCs with extended $\gamma$-ray emission. The large size of the detected halos, comparable to that of…
Recently acquired WFC3 UV (F275W and F336W) imaging mosaics under the Legacy Extragalactic UV Survey (LEGUS) combined with archival ACS data of M51 are used to study the young star cluster (YSC) population of this interacting system. Our…
Stars with circumstellar disks may form in environments with high stellar and gas densities which affects the disks through processes like truncation from dynamical encounters, ram pressure stripping, and external photoevaporation.…
Massive stars play a fundamental role in shaping the evolution of galaxies through feedback, chemical enrichment, and their end products as neutron stars and black holes. Despite major progress in the last decade, key uncertainties remain…
Recent HST/ACS images of M82 covering the entire galaxy have been used to detect star clusters. The galaxy is known to contain a young population (age < 10 Myr) in its starburst nucleus, surrounded by a post-starburst disk of age < 1 Gyr.…
A search for young massive star clusters (YMCs) in the nearby face-on spiral galaxy M51 (NGC 5194) has been carried out using UBV CCD images from the prime focus camera on the Lick 3 meter Shane telescope. The YMC population is found to be…
The star-forming galaxies of the Local Group act as our laboratories for testing massive star evolutionary models. In this review, I briefly summarize what we believe we know about massive star evolution, and the connection between OB…
The existence of complex stellar populations in some star clusters challenges the understanding of star formation. E.g. the ONC or the sigma Orionis cluster host much older stars than the main bulk of the young stars. Massive star clusters…
Core collapse of dense massive star clusters is unavoidable and this leads to the formation of massive objects, with a mass up to 1000 $\msun$ and even larger. When these objects become stars, stellar wind mass loss determines their…
Recent spectroscopic observations of galaxies in the Fornax-Cluster reveal nearly unresolved `star-like' objects with red-shifts appropriate to the Fornax-Cluster. These objects have intrinsic sizes of about 100 pc and absolute B-band…
The mass of unresolved young star clusters derived from spectro-photometric data may well be off by a factor of 2 or more once the migration of massive stars driven by mass segregation is accounted for. We quantify this effect for a large…
To study the evolution of binary star clusters we have imaged 7 systems in the Small Magellanic Cloud with SOAR 4-m telescope using B and V filters. The sample contains pairs with well-separated components (d < 30 pc) as well as systems…
The formation of massive stars is an outstanding problem in stellar evolution. However, it is expected that they are (predominantly) born in heirarchical environments within massive young clusters, which in turn are located within larger…