Related papers: Completing the Massive Star Population: Striking I…
In this chapter, we review some historical understanding and recent advances on the Initial Mass Function (IMF) and the Core Mass Function (CMF), both in terms of observations and theories. We focus mostly on star formation in clustered…
Observations of star-forming galaxies in the distant Universe (z > 2) are starting to confirm the importance of massive stars in shaping galaxy emission and evolution. Inevitably, these distant stellar populations are unresolved, and the…
We review the current knowledge about nuclear star clusters (NSCs), the spectacularly dense and massive assemblies of stars found at the centers of most galaxies. Recent observational and theoretical work suggest that many NSC properties,…
We review spectroscopic results concerning multiple stellar populations in globularclusters. The cluster initial mass is the most important parameter determining the fraction of second generation stars. The threshold for the onset of the…
Studies of evolved massive stars indicate that they form in a clustered mode. During the earliest evolutionary stages, these regions are embedded within their natal cores. Here, we show high-spatial-resolution interferometric dust continuum…
Recent surveys of star forming regions have shown that most stars, and probably all massive stars, are born in dense stellar clusters. The mechanism by which a molecular cloud fragments to form several hundred to thousands of individual…
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…
The existence of star-to-star light-element abundance variations in massive Galactic and extragalactic star clusters has fairly recently superseded the traditional paradigm of individual clusters hosting stars with the same age, and uniform…
(Abridged) The dynamical ejection of stars from star clusters affects the shape of the stellar mass function (MF) in these clusters, because the escape probability of a star depends on its mass. The objective of this paper is to provide and…
Starburst galaxies are powered by massive stars. These stars dominate the heating and enrichment with heavy elements of the interstellar medium, gas out of which new stars form. Thus, high-mass stars, and in consequence starburst galaxies,…
I review the status of massive star formation theories: accretion from collapsing, massive, turbulent cores; competitive accretion; and stellar collisions. I conclude the observational and theoretical evidence favors the first of these…
We investigate the distribution of Blue Straggler stars in the field of three open star clusters. The main purpose is to highlight the crucial role played by general Galactic disk fore-/back-ground field stars, which are often located in…
Globular star clusters are extremely important astrophysical objects since (1) they are prime laboratories for testing stellar evolution; (2) they are ``fossils'' from the epoch of galaxy formation, and thus important cosmological tools;…
Massive stars are essential to understand a variety of branches of astronomy including galaxy and star cluster evolution, nucleosynthesis and supernovae, pulsars and black holes. It has become evident that massive star evolution is very…
With the help of a statistical parameter derived from optical spectra, we show that the current star formation rate of a galaxy, falling into a cluster along a supercluster filament, is likely to undergo a sudden enhancement before the…
The current census of, and stellar population in, massive Galactic star clusters is reviewed. In particular, we concentrate on a recent survey of obscured Galactic Giant H II (GHII) regions and the associated stellar clusters embedded in…
Most star complexes are in fact complexes of stars, clusters and gas clouds; term "star complexes" was introduced as general one disregarding the preferential content of a complex. Generally the high rate of star formation in a complex is…
Close encounters and physical collisions between stars in young dense clusters can result in new channels for stellar evolution, and may lead to the formation of very massive stars and black holes via runaway merging. We present some…
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…
Cloud environment is thought to play a critical role in determining the mechanism of formation of massive stars. In this contribution we review the physical characteristics of the environment around recently formed massive stars. Particular…