Related papers: A comparative analysis of the observed white dwarf…
White Dwarfs (WDs) are the final evolutionary product of the vast majority of stars in the Universe. They are electron-degenerate structures characterized by no stable thermonuclear activity, and their evolution is generally described as a…
We study the globular cluster (GC) system of the dust-lane elliptical galaxy NGC 6702, using B, V and I-band photometric observations carried out at the Keck telescope. This galaxy has a spectroscopic age of ~2Gyrs suggesting recent…
High signal-to-noise, low-resolution spectra have been obtained for 22 globular clusters (GCs) in NGC 4365. Some of these were selected as probable representatives of an intermediate-age (2-5 Gyr), extremely metal-rich GC subpopulation. The…
We present chemical abundances in three red giants and two turn-off stars in the metal poor Galactic globular cluster (GC) NGC 6397 based on spectroscopy obtained with the MIKE high resolution spectrograph on the Magellan 6.5-m Clay…
We combine near-infrared photometry obtained with the VLT/ISAAC instrument and archival HST/WFPC2 optical images to determine VIK magnitudes and colours of globular clusters in two early-type galaxies, NGC 3115 and NGC 4365. The combination…
We present a study of the metallicity and age of the globular clusters system of M49 (NGC 4472), the most luminous galaxy in the Virgo cluster. We measure Lick indices for 47 GCs in M49 from LRIS/Keck spectra and establish their metallicity…
We perform an empirical synthesis of the blue integrated spectrum of the metal-rich globular cluster 47 Tucanae, based directly on the color-magnitude diagram of the cluster coupled to a moderately high-resolution spectral library. Freed…
We used a set of archived HST/WFPC2 images to probe the stellar population in the core of the nearby Galactic Globular Cluster (GGC) 47 Tuc. From the ultraviolet (UV) Color Magnitude Diagrams (CMDs) obtained for ~4,000 stars detected within…
The observational signature of core crystallization of white dwarfs has recently been discovered. However, the magnitude of the crystallization-powered cooling delay required to match observed white dwarfs is larger than predicted by…
We study the globular cluster (GC) system of the Virgo giant elliptical galaxy NGC 4365, using new wide-field VIK imaging. The GC colour distribution has (at least) two peaks, but the colours of the red GCs appear more strongly weighted…
The formation of globular clusters remains an open debate. Dwarf starburst galaxies are efficient at forming young massive clusters with similar masses as globular clusters and may hold the key to understanding their formation. We study…
We have assembled accurate abundance data for Li, C, and N as well as the 12C/13C ratio for five field giants with [Fe/H]=-0.6 including Arcturus and two stars in the globular cluster 47 Tuc. Using their very precise Mbol values obtained…
With the aim to constrain multiple populations in the metal-poor globular cluster NGC6397, we analyse and discuss the chemical compositions of a large number of elements in 21 red giant branch stars. High-resolution spectra were obtained…
We present the serendipitous discovery of 195 extragalactic globular clusters (GCs) in one of the deepest optical images ever obtained, a 126 orbit HST/ACS imaging study of the nearby Galactic GC NGC 6397. The distant GCs are all found…
We have used deep high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope ACS observations to image the cluster NGC 1978 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This high-quality photometric data set allowed us to confirm the high ellipticity (~0.30+-0.02) of this…
We report on the discovery of a stellar system in the background of the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104), located 14.8' North-West of the cluster center. The object, whose apparent diameter is D~30'', is partially resolved…
Using the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we have obtained a direct trigonometric parallax for the nearest metal-poor globular cluster, NGC 6397. Although trigonometric parallaxes have been previously…
We present the combined results of two investigations: a large-scale study of the globular cluster system (GCS) around NGC 1399, the central galaxy of the Fornax cluster, and a study of the GCSs around NGC 1374, NGC 1379 and NGC 1387, three…
I present a literature search through 31 July 1997 of white dwarfs (WDs) in open and globular clusters. There are 36 single WDs and 5 WDs in binaries known among 13 open clusters, and 340 single WDs and 11 WDs in binaries known among 11…
We determine the phase diagram for dense carbon/ oxygen mixtures in White Dwarf (WD) star interiors using molecular dynamics simulations involving liquid and solid phases. Our phase diagram agrees well with predictions from Ogata et al. and…