Related papers: Accounting for Stochastic Fluctuations when Analys…
The integrated spectro-photometric properties of star clusters are subject to large cluster-to-cluster variations. They are distributed in non trivial ways around the average properties predicted by standard population synthesis models.…
Integrated spectrophotometric properties of stellar systems are intrinsically dispersed due to the stochastic nature of the small numbers of bright stars they contain. Among clusters, only the most massive ones can be used individually for…
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…
The majority of clusters in the Universe have masses well below 10^5 Msun. Hence their integrated fluxes and colors can be affected by the random presence of a few bright stars introduced by stochastic sampling of the stellar mass function.…
The apparent age and mass of a stellar cluster can be strongly affected by stochastic sampling of the stellar initial mass function, when inferred from the integrated color of low mass clusters (less than ~10^4 solar masses). We use…
Observations of the spatial distributions of young stars in star-forming regions can be linked to the theory of clustered star formation using spatial statistical methods. The MYStIX project provides rich samples of young stars from the…
Since the early 1970s, stellar population modelling has been one of the basic tools for understanding the physics of unresolved systems from observation of their integrated light. Models allow us to relate the integrated spectra (or…
Star clusters are found in all sorts of environments and their formation and evolution is inextricably linked to the star formation process. Their eventual destruction can result from a number of factors at different times, but the process…
Context. The analysis of luminosity and mass distributions of young stellar clusters is essential to understanding the star-formation process. However, the gas and dust left over by this process extinct the light of the newborn stars and…
We present Monte Carlo models of open stellar clusters with the purpose of mapping out the behavior of integrated colors with mass and age. Our cluster simulation package allows for stochastic variations in the stellar mass function to…
The integrated properties of young star clusters are subject to large cluster-to-cluster variations because they depend directly on small numbers of bright stars. At ages at which red supergiants are expected to exist, these luminous but…
(ABRIDGED) We assess the systematic uncertainties in (young) cluster age, mass, and - to a lesser extent - extinction and metallicity determinations, based on broad-band imaging observations with the Hubble Space Telescope. Our aim here is…
We investigate a novel Bayesian analysis method, based on the Stochastically Lighting Up Galaxies (slug) code, to derive the masses, ages, and extinctions of star clusters from integrated light photometry. Unlike many analysis methods, slug…
The physical properties of star cluster populations offer valuable insights into their birth, evolution, and disruption. However, individual stars in clusters beyond the nearest neighbours of the Milky Way are unresolved, forcing analyses…
It is currently impossible to determine the abundances and ages of the stellar populations of distant, dense stellar systems star by star. Therefore, methods to analyze the composite light of stellar systems are required. I review the…
We investigate the properties and evolution of star particles in two simulations of isolated spiral galaxies, and two galaxies from cosmological simulations. Unlike previous numerical work, where typically each star particle represents one…
Open and globular star clusters have served as benchmarks for the study of stellar evolution due to their supposed nature as simple stellar populations of the same age and metallicity. After a brief review of some of the pioneering work…
We present age measurements for 195 star clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud based on comparison of integrated colors measured from the Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey with models of simple stellar populations. We find that the…
The degree of influence that environment and mass have on the stellar populations of early-type galaxies is uncertain. In this paper we present the results of a spectroscopic analysis of the stellar populations of early-type galaxies aimed…
Stellar population synthesis techniques for predicting the observable light emitted by a stellar population have extensive applications in numerous areas of astronomy. However, accurate predictions for small populations of young stars, such…