Related papers: Towards an unbiased stellar census in open cluster…
This work presents the first large-scale photometric variability survey of the intermediate age (~200 Myr) open cluster M11. Thirteen nights of data over two observing seasons were analyzed (using crowded field and ensemble photometry…
All measurements of cosmic star formation must assume an initial distribution of stellar masses -- the stellar initial mass function -- in order to extrapolate from the star-formation rate measured for typically rare, massive stars (> 8…
The aperture photometry method is a powerful tool that enables us to study large star cluster systems efficiently. However, its accuracy depends on various factors, including the stochasticity of the stellar initial mass function and…
The age of an individual star cannot be measured, only estimated through mostly model-dependent or empirical methods, and no single method works well for a broad range of stellar types or for a full range in age. This review presents a…
Analysing the weak lensing distortions of the images of faint background galaxies provides a means to constrain the average mass distribution of cluster galaxies and potentially to test the extent of their dark matter haloes as a function…
It is currently impossible to determine the abundances of stellar populations star-by-star in dense stellar systems more distant than a few megaparsecs. Therefore, methods to analyse the composite light of stellar systems are required. I…
We use a large sample of galaxies from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to calculate galaxy luminosity and stellar mass functions in the local Universe. We estimate k-corrections, evolution…
In this paper, I review to what extent we can understand the photometric properties of star clusters, and of low-mass, unresolved galaxies, in terms of population synthesis models designed to describe `simple stellar populations' (SSPs),…
A novel nonparametric clustering algorithm is proposed using the interpoint distances between the members of the data to reveal the inherent clustering structure existing in the given set of data, where we apply the classical nonparametric…
We report on the identification of 54 embedded clusters around 217 massive protostellar candidates of which 34 clusters are new detections. The embedded clusters are identified as stellar surface density enhancements in the 2 $\mu$m All Sky…
Star formation plays a central role in the evolution of galaxies and of the Universe as a whole. Studies of star-forming regions in the local universe have shown that star formation typically occurs in a clustered fashion. Building a…
We describe observations in the nearby universe (<100 Mpc) with a 10-m or larger space-based telescope having imaging and spectral capabilities in the range 912-9000 \AA that would enable advances in the fields of massive stars, young…
The masses of galaxy clusters can be measured using data obtained exclusively from wide photometric surveys in one of two ways: directly from the amplitude of the weak lensing signal or, indirectly, through the use of scaling relations…
Wide-field imaging from space will reveal a wealth of information about the globular cluster systems of any galaxies in the local universe that are observed by such a mission. Individual globular clusters around galaxies in the local…
Despite progress in the theoretical knowledge of open cluster remnants and the growing search for observational identifications in recent years, open questions still remain. The methods used to analyze open cluster remnants and criteria to…
Analysing the weak lensing distortions of the images of faint background galaxies provides a means to constrain the mass distribution of cluster galaxies and potentially to test the extent of their dark matter halos as a function of the…
The massive dark matter halos that host groups and clusters of galaxies have observable properties that appear to be log-normally distributed about power-law mean scaling relations in halo mass. Coupling this assumption with either…
Young open clusters are our laboratories for studying high-mass star formation and evolution. Unfortunately, the information that they provide is difficult to interpret, and sometimes contradictory. In this contribution, I present a few…
We study the radial number density and stellar mass density distributions of satellite galaxies in a sample of 60 massive clusters at 0.04<z<0.26 selected from the Multi-Epoch Nearby Cluster Survey (MENeaCS) and the Canadian Cluster…
We propose a novel technique to refine the modelling of galaxy clusters mass distribution using gravitational lensing. The idea is to combine the strengths of both "parametric" and "non-parametric" methods to improve the quality of the fit.…