Related papers: Facing the problems on the determination of stella…
We describe a technique for deriving effective temperatures, surface gravities, rotation velocities, and radial velocities from high resolution near-IR spectra. The technique matches the observed near-IR spectra to spectra synthesized from…
We use our Galactic Globular Cluster Catalog (G2C2) photometry for 111 Galactic globular clusters (GC) in g and z, as well as r and i photometry for a subset of 60 GCs and u photometry for 22 GCs, to determine the structural parameters…
Theoretical predictions of Red Giant Branch stars' effective temperatures, colors, luminosities and surface chemical abundances are a necessary tool for the astrophysical interpretation of the visible--near infrared integrated light from…
We present wide field near-infrared photometry of 12 Galactic globular clusters, typically extending from the tip of the cluster red giant branch (RGB) to the main sequence turnoff. Using recent homogenous values of cluster distance,…
We present XMM-Newton results on the spatially resolved temperature profiles of eight massive galaxy clusters of a volume-limited sample at redshifts $z\sim0.3$ (REFLEX-DXL sample) and an additional luminous cluster at $z=0.2578$, selected…
In the updated APOGEE-Kepler catalog, we have asteroseismic and spectroscopic data for over 3000 first ascent red giants. Given the size and accuracy of this sample, these data offer an unprecedented test of the accuracy of stellar models…
Applying photometric catalogs to the study of the population of the Galaxy is obscured by the impossibility to map directly photometric colors into astrophysical parameters. Most of all-sky catalogs like ASCC or 2MASS are based upon…
We present spectroscopic analyses of 17 faint blue stars in the globular cluster NGC 6752. Effective temperatures, surface gravities, and helium abundances are determined and compared to theoretical predictions. All stars are helium…
There is plenty of evidence in the literature of significant discrepancies between the observations and models of metal-poor red giant branch stars, in particular regarding the effective temperature, teff, scale. We revisit the benchmark…
It has been suggested that the anomalous Na, Mg and Al observed in Globular Cluster Red Giant stars could be the result of a thermally unstable hydrogen shell. Currently accepted reaction rates indicate that temperatures of approximately…
Red giants in the updated APOGEE-Kepler catalogue, with estimates of mass, chemical composition, surface gravity and effective temperature, have recently challenged stellar models computed under the standard assumption of solar calibrated…
The Kepler satellite mission delivers single band-pass light curves of a huge number of stars observed in the Cygnus-Lyra region opening a new window for asteroseismology. In order to accomplish one of the preconditions for the…
We describe a self-consistent spectrum analysis technique employing non-LTE line formation, which allows precise atmospheric parameters of massive stars to be derived: 1sigma-uncertainties as low as ~1% in effective temperature and…
We present metallicity measurements of 25 stars in the blue horizontal branch of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 2808. Our measurements are based on moderate-resolution spectra taken with the multi-object fiber facility FLAMES-UVES,…
We demonstrate that low resolution CaII triplet (CaT) spectroscopic estimates of the overall metallicity ([Fe/H]) of individual Red Giant Branch (RGB) stars in two nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) agree to +-0.1-0.2 dex with…
By combining Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and ground based optical and near-infrared photometric samples, we derive the RGB tip absolute magnitude of 22 galactic globular clusters (GGCs). The effects of varying the distance and the…
Analysis of cluster and field star uvby data demonstrates the existence of a previously undetected discrepancy in a widely used photometric metallicity calibration for G dwarfs. The discrepancy is systematic and strongly color-dependent,…
The determination of stellar metallicity and its gradient in external galaxies is a difficult task, but crucial for the understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. The color of the Red Giant Branch (RGB) can be used to determine…
We study the photometric properties of stars in the data archive of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the prime aim being to understand the photometric calibration over the entire data set. It is confirmed that the photometric…
In order to better determine the physical properties of hot, massive stars as a function of metallicity, we obtained very high SNR optical spectra of 26 O and early B stars in the Magellanic Clouds. These allow accurate modeling even in…