Related papers: Massive star archeology in globular clusters
We show that massive stars and stellar clusters are formed simultaneously, the global evolution of the forming cluster is what allows the central stars to become massive. We predict that massive star forming clumps, such as those observed…
Globular clusters were thought to be simple stellar populations, but recent photometric and spectroscopic evidence suggests that the clusters' early formation history was more complicated. In particular, clusters show star-to-star abundance…
I review the characteristics of cluster populations in other galaxies, with particular emphasis on young star clusters and a comparison with the (known) open cluster population of the Milky Way. Young globular cluster-like (compact,…
Properties of 53 globular cluster systems are investigated. Strong correlations are found between parent galaxy luminosity and both the slope of the radial density profile for clusters and the width of the cluster color (metallicity)…
Globular clusters are found usually in galaxies and they are an excellent tracer of dark matter. Long ago it was suggested that there may exist intracluster globular clusters (IGCs) bound to a galaxy cluster rather than to any single…
We present new constraints on the initial mass spectrum of the Galactic Old Halo globular clusters. This has remained poorly-known so far, as both an initial power-law mass spectrum and an initial lognormal mass function could have evolved…
Around the turn of the last century, star clusters of all kinds were considered "simple" stellar populations. Over the past decade, this situation has changed dramatically. At the same time, star clusters are among the brightest stellar…
In the last decade we witness an advent of new types of dwarf stellar systems in cluding ultra-compact dwarfs, ultra-faint dwarf spheroidals, and exotic globular clusters, breaking the old simple paradigm for dwarf galaxies and globular…
We determine the age of 1,104 early-type galaxies in eight rich clusters ($z = 0.0046$ to $0.175$) using a new continuum color technique. We find that galaxies in clusters divide into two populations, an old population with a mean age…
We review the formation and evolution of fossil groups and clusters from both the theoretical and the observational points of view. In the optical band, these systems are dominated by the light of the central galaxy. They were interpreted…
We are coming to believe that stellar populations in globular clusters are not as simple as they were once thought to be. A growing amount of photometric and spectroscopic evidence shows that globular clusters host at least two different…
Massive galaxy clusters are now found as early as 3 billion years after the Big Bang, containing stars that formed at even earlier epochs. The high-redshift progenitors of these galaxy clusters, termed 'protoclusters', are identified in…
The Galactic halo has a complex assembly history, which can be seen in its wealth of kinematic and chemical substructure. Globular clusters lose stars through tidal interactions with the Galaxy and cluster evaporation processes, meaning…
The QCD phase transition in the early universe may provide primordial black hole nuclei for globular clusters. We consider the accretion and star formation that follow, once 1000 solar mass nuclei have formed. When such a nucleus has…
Recent observations with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have revealed that a large fraction of late-type (Sc and later) spiral galaxies harbor a bright, compact stellar cluster in their dynamical centers. Statistics of the mass, age, and…
This paper is part of a project to search the inner Milky Way for hidden massive clusters and to address the question of whether our Galaxy still forms clusters similar to the progenitors of the present-day globular clusters. We report high…
We first discuss recent progress in using the Milky Way globular cluster (GC) system as a `test-bed' for properties derived from integrated spectra and stellar population models. Standard techniques may give rise to spuriously high…
For several decades, globular clusters have been considered the best example of simple stellar populations, hosting coeval and chemical homogeneous stars. The last decade of spectroscopic and photometric studies has revealed a more complex…
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…
I develop a model for the abundance and spatial distribution of dark matter subclumps. The model shows that subclumps of massive parent halos formed at earlier times than subclumps of the same mass in lower mass parents; equivalently, halos…