Related papers: The Planetary Nebulae Luminosity Function (PNLF): …
Globular clusters are among the first objects used to establish the distance scale of the Universe. In the 1970-ies it has been recognized that the differential magnitude distribution of old globular clusters is very similar in different…
Planetary nebulae (PNe) represent the near endpoints of evolution for stars of initial mass $\sim$1-8 $M_\odot$, wherein the envelope of an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star becomes photodissociated and ionized by high-energy radiation…
Planetary Nebulae (PNe) have been used satisfactory to test the effects of stellar evolution on the Galactic chemical environment. Moreover, a link exists between nebular morphology and stellar populations and evolution. We present the…
The surface brightness fluctuations (SBF) method is a statistical method applied on image pixels in different bands. This contribution aims to distinguish between the observational (statistical) method and the theoretical (probabilistic)…
Star clusters in 6 nearby spiral galaxies are examined using archive images from HST/WFPC2. The galaxies have previously been studied from the ground and some of them are known to possess rich populations of "young massive clusters" (YMCs).…
The rapid advances in infrared detector technology over the past decades have impelled the development of wide-field instruments, and shaped our view of the cold universe. Large scale surveys in our Galaxy have discovered hundreds of brown…
The Antennae galaxies are the closest example of an ongoing major galaxy merger, and thereby represent a unique laboratory for furthering the understanding of the formation of exotic objects (e.g., tidal dwarf galaxies, ultra-luminous X-ray…
We present first results of a survey of the Leo I group at 10 Mpc for M_R < -10 dwarf galaxies. This is part of a larger program to measure the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function in nearby poor groups. Our method is optimized to…
Planetary nebulae (PNe) are the only single stars in galaxies outside the Local Group that can be used as kinematic tracers of the diffuse light in the extended halo. Analysing their luminosity-specific number density across galaxies of…
The surface brightness fluctuations (SBF) method measures the variance in a galaxy's light distribution arising from fluctuations in the numbers and luminosities of individual stars per resolution element. Once calibrated for stellar…
We review recent studies on the morphology and distribution with respect to the galactic plane of planetary nebulae (PNs), as well as recent advances in MHD modeling of PNs. We discuss a tentative explanation for the connection between…
Studies of the relationship between planetary nebula morphology and the evolution of the central stars has long suffered from uncertainties in distance determinations, and from the bias of interstellar absorption, that are typical for…
A large luminosity--linewidth template sample is now available, improved absorption corrections have been derived, and there are a statistically significant number of galaxies with well determined distances to supply the zero point. A…
The Surface Brightness Fluctuation (SBF) method is a powerful tool for determining distances to early-type galaxies. The method measures the intrinsic variance in a galaxy's surface brightness distribution to determine its distance with an…
The luminosity function of white dwarfs is a powerful tool for studies of the evolution and formation of the Milky Way. The (theoretical) white dwarf cooling sequence provides a useful indicator of the evolutionary time scales involved in…
I report on the recent discoveries of the Red Giant Branch Bump(s) in many dwarf Spheroidal galaxies of the Local Group. The perspectives for the use of this new observational feature to obtain constraints on the Star Formation History and…
The transition from Asymptotic Giant Branch star to Planetary Nebula is short-lived and mysterious. Though it lasts only a few thousand years, it is thought to be the time when the asymmetries observed in subsequent phases arise. During…
Some of the most successful statistical methods for obtaining distances of planetary nebulae (PNe) are based on their apparent sizes and radio emission intensities. These methods have the advantage of being "extinction-free" and are…
The properties of the velocity field in the local volume (cz < 550 km/s) have been difficult to constrain due to a lack of a consistent set of galaxy distances. The sparse observations available to date suggest a remarkably quiet flow, with…
In `A Bayesian Approach to Locating the Red Giant Branch Tip Magnitude (PART I),' a new technique was introduced for obtaining distances using the TRGB standard candle. Here we describe a useful complement to the technique with the…