Related papers: About Synchronized Globular Cluster Formation over…
Globular clusters are compact, gravitationally bound systems of up to a million stars. The GCs in the Milky Way contain some of the oldest stars known, and provide important clues to the early formation and continuing evolution of our…
The formation of globular clusters (GC) with their multiple stellar populations remains a puzzling, unsolved problem in astrophysics. One way to gather critical insight consists in finding sizable numbers of GC progenitors (GCP) while still…
Star cluster formation is a major mode of star formation in the extreme conditions of interacting galaxies and violent starbursts. Young clusters are observed to form in a variety of such galaxies, a substantial number resembling the…
In about 40% of the Local Group galaxies star clusters have been detected so far, but the census is still incomplete. The properties of these clusters are briefly reviewed, and the impact of galaxy environment on the evolution and survival…
We confirm and extend our previous detection of a population of intergalactic globular clusters in Abell 1185, and report the first discovery of an intergalactic globular cluster in the nearby Virgo cluster of galaxies. The numbers, colors…
We present a high-resolution simulation of globular cluster formation in a galaxy merger. For the first time in such a simulation, individual star clusters are directly identified and followed on their orbits. We quantitatively compare star…
Stars in globular clusters (GCs) exhibit a peculiar chemical pattern with strong abundance variations in light elements along with a constant abundance in heavy elements. These abundance anomalies can be explained by a primordial pollution…
Globular clusters are gravitationally bound stellar systems containing on the order of 100,000 stars. Due to the high stellar densities in the cores of these clusters, close encounters and even physical collisions between stars are…
Young stars form on a wide range of scales, producing aggregates and clusters with various degrees of gravitational self-binding. The loose aggregates have a hierarchical structure in both space and time that resembles interstellar…
I review recent and less recent work on globular cluster systems in early-type galaxies. Explaining their properties and possible assembly scenarios, touches on a variety of astrophysical topics from cluster formation itself to galaxy…
We describe a scheme for the formation of globular cluster systems in early-type galaxies using a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. Operating within a Lambda CDM cosmology, we assume that metal-poor globular clusters are formed at…
We review recent work that investigates the formation of stellar clusters, ranging in scale from globular clusters through open clusters to the small scale aggregates of stars observed in T associations. In all cases, recent advances in…
It is suggested that there have been at least two physically distinct epochs of massive cluster formation. The first generation of globular clusters may have formed as halo gas was compressed by shocks driven inward by ionization fronts…
Driven by recent observational findings, we select massive interactive binaries as the most suitable among the existing candidates for producing the chemical patterns typical of multiple populations of Galactic globular clusters. Still, to…
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…
Young, massive star clusters are the most notable and significant end products of violent star-forming episodes triggered by galaxy collisions, mergers, and close encounters. Their contribution to the total luminosity induced by such…
We present a study of globular clusters (GCs) in 17 relatively nearby early-type galaxies, based on deep HST/WFPC2 F555W and F814W images. We compare color distributions, cluster sizes and luminosity functions with those of GCs in the Milky…
Globular clusters (GCs) are thought to be ancient relics from the early formative phase of galaxies, although their physical origin remains uncertain. GCs are most numerous around massive elliptical galaxies, where they can exhibit a broad…
A large number of early type galaxies are now known to possess blue and red subpopulations of globular clusters. We have compiled a database of 28 such galaxies exhibiting bimodal globular cluster colour distributions. After converting to a…
We present a determination of the two-dimensional shape parameters of the blue and red globular cluster systems (GCSs) in a large number of elliptical galaxies and lenticular galaxies (early-type galaxies, called ETGs). We use a homogeneous…