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The evolution of star clusters is studied using N-body simulations in which the evolution of single stars and binaries are taken self-consistently into account. Initial conditions are chosen to represent relatively young Galactic open…
(Abridged) We study the nuclear star clusters in spiral galaxies of various Hubble types using spectra obtained with STIS on-board HST. We observed the nuclear clusters in 40 galaxies, selected from two previous HST/WFPC2 imaging surveys.…
The globular cluster population in M87 has decreased measurably through dynamical evolution caused by relaxation, binary heating and time-dependent tidal perturbation. For fundamental plane ellipticals in general, cluster populations evolve…
I present the latest results from our group about the multiple stellar populations in the old Milky Way globular clusters (GCs) and in the young systems both in the Magellanic Clouds and in the Milky Way. For the ancient GCs in our Galaxy I…
Galactic globular clusters are ancient building blocks of our Galaxy. They represent a very interesting family of stellar systems in which some fundamental dynamical processes have been taking place for more than 10 Gyr, but on time scales…
We examine the spatial distribution of star clusters in NGC 628 using the statistical tool INDICATE to quantify clustering tendencies. Our sample, based on HST and JWST observations, is the most complete to date, spanning ages from 1 Myr to…
We investigate the early evolution of two distinct populations of low-mass stars in globular clusters under the influence of primordial gas expulsion driven by supernovae to study if this process can increase the fraction of second…
We present the properties of the globular clusters (GCs) and nuclear star clusters (NSCs) of low-mass ($10^{5.5}<M_\star<10^{8.5}$ $M_\odot$) early-type satellites of Milky Way-like and small group hosts in the Local Volume (LV) using deep,…
ABRIDGED) We revise the formation of Galactic GCs by adding the detailed chemical composition of their different stellar generations (from 1200 giants in 19 GCs) to their global parameters. We propose to identify as GCs those showing the…
Collisions and mergers of gas-rich galaxies trigger bursts of star and cluster formation. Of the thousands of clusters typically formed during a major merger, only the most massive and compact survive for Gigayears as globular clusters…
The origin of multiple stellar populations in Globular Clusters (GCs) is one of the greatest mysteries of modern stellar astrophysics. N-body simulations suggest that the present-day dynamics of GC stars can constrain the events that…
Nuclear star clusters are among the densest stellar systems known and are common in both early- and late-type galaxies. They exhibit scaling relations with their host galaxy which may be related to those of supermassive black holes. These…
Globular clusters (GCs) display much lower binary fractions than found among main-sequence stars in the solar neighborhood. The physical cause of this difference is debatable: does it reflect different star formation outcomes at low…
While chemical composition spreads are now believed to be a universal characteristic of globular clusters (GCs), not all of them present multiple populations in their color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). Here we present a new scenario for the…
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…
Nuclear star clusters (NSCs) are dense stellar environments located in the center of most galaxies. NSCs are thought to form through two primary methods; through the inspiral of globular clusters (GCs) to the galactic center due to…
The majority of Galactic globular clusters (GCs) contain multiple stellar populations displaying specific chemical abundance variations. In particular, GCs generally contain a `primordial' population with abundances similar to field stars,…
There is increasing evidence that some massive globular clusters (GCs) host multiple stellar populations having different heavy element abundances enriched by supernovae. They usually accompany multiple red giant branches (RGBs) in the…
Evolutionary synthesis models for star clusters of various metallicities including gaseous emission during the lifetime of the ionising stars are used to model star cluster systems comprising two populations: an old metal-poor globular…
Recent progress in studies of globular clusters has shown that they are not simple stellar populations, being rather made of multiple generations. Evidence stems both from photometry and spectroscopy. A new paradigm is then arising for the…