Related papers: The AIMSS Project I: Bridging the Star Cluster - G…
The previously clear division between small galaxies and massive star clusters is now occupied by objects called ultra compact dwarfs (UCDs) and compact ellipticals (cEs). Here we combine a sample of UCDs and cEs with velocity dispersions…
In recent years, a growing zoo of compact stellar systems (CSSs) have been found whose physical properties (mass, size, velocity dispersion) place them between classical globular clusters (GCs) and true galaxies, leading to debates about…
Dynamically hot stellar systems, whether star clusters or early-type galaxies, follow well-defined scaling relations over many orders of magnitudes in mass. These fundamental plane relations have been subject of several studies, which have…
The discovery around the turn of the millenium of a population of very massive (M$_\star$ > 2$\times$10$^6$ M$_\odot$) compact stellar systems (CSS) with physical properties (radius, velocity dispersion, stellar mass etc.) that are…
We present the stellar populations of 138 compact elliptical galaxies (cEs) in the redshift range of $z < 0.05$ using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR12. Our cEs are divided into those with [cE(w)] and without [cE(w/o)] a bright…
The HST ACS Coma Cluster Treasury Survey is a deep two passband imaging survey of the nearest very rich cluster of galaxies, covering a range of galaxy density environments. The imaging is complemented by a recent wide field redshift survey…
In the last decade, extended stellar clusters with masses in the range from a few 10^4 to 10^8 M_sun have been found in various types of galaxies in different environments. Objects with masses comparable to normal globular clusters (GCs)…
Compact elliptical (cE) galaxies are compact stellar systems with stellar masses of $10^8 \leq M_*/M_\odot \leq 10^{10}$ and radii typically < 0.6 kpc. Here we investigate the properties of 13 cE galaxies in the Coma cluster, six newly…
The sample of known star clusters, the fundamental building blocks of galaxies, in the Milky Way is still extremely incomplete for objects beyond a distance of 1-2kpc. Many of the more distant and young clusters are compact and hidden…
Low-mass compact stellar systems (CSSs; $M_{\star}$ $<$ 10$^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$) are thought to be a mixed bag of objects with various formation mechanisms. Previous surveys of CSSs were biased to relatively high-density environments and…
We have identified a previously unrecognized population of very compact, embedded low-mass Galactic stellar clusters. These tight (r$ \approx $0.14 pc) groupings appear as bright singular objects at the few arcsec resolution of the Spitzer…
We present a study on structures and physical properties of massive ($M_* >10^{10} M_{\sun} $) compact galaxies at $1.0<z<2.0$ in five 3D--{\it HST}/CANDELS fields. Compared with the extended star-forming galaxies (eSFGs), compact…
The discovery of gravitationally lensed stellar clusters at high redshift with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed extremely compact, massive star-forming systems in galaxies at $z > 6$, providing a new window into early…
Recently, very massive compact stellar systems have been discovered in the intracluster regions of galaxy clusters and in the nuclear regions of late-type disk galaxies. It is unclear how these compact stellar systems -- known as…
The population of compact massive galaxies observed at z > 1 are hypothesised, both observationally and in simulations, to be merger remnants of gas-rich disc galaxies. To probe such a scenario we analyse a sample of 12 gas-rich and active…
We report the discovery of relatively massive, M32-like ultra compact dwarf (UCD) and compact elliptical (CE) galaxy candidates in $0.2<z<0.6$ massive galaxy clusters imaged by the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with {\it Hubble}…
We numerically investigate dynamical evolution of non-nucleated dwarf elliptical/spiral galaxies (dE) and nucleated ones (dE,Ns) in clusters of galaxies in order to understand the origin of intracluster stellar objects, such as intracluster…
We present the analysis of the full MaNGA DR17 sample to characterize its population of compact galaxies. We focus on galaxies that fill the stellar mass (M$_{\star}$) gap between compact elliptical galaxies (cEs; $8 \lesssim \log…
Massive star-forming clumps are a prominent feature of high-redshift galaxies and are thought to trace gravitational fragmentation, feedback, and bulge growth in gas-rich disks. We present a statistical analysis of clumps in $\sim$3600…
The formation of compact high-redshift star-forming clumps, the physical processes driving their evolution and their potential connection to present-day Globular Clusters are key open questions in galaxy formation. In this work, we aim to…