Related papers: Most nearby young star clusters formed in three ma…
The Sun is located in a low-density region of the interstellar medium partially filled with hot gas that is the likely result of several nearby supernova explosions within the last 10 Myr. Here we use astrometric data to show that part of…
Young star clusters with masses similar to those of classical old globular clusters are observed not only in starbursts, mergers or otherwise disturbed galaxies, but also in normal spiral galaxies. Some young clusters with masses as high as…
The formation of massive stars is an outstanding problem in stellar evolution. However, it is expected that they are (predominantly) born in heirarchical environments within massive young clusters, which in turn are located within larger…
Multiplicity and clustering of young pre-main sequence stars appear as critical clues to constrain the star formation process. Taurus is the archetypical example of the most quiescent star forming regions that may still retain primeval…
We present multiband photometric observations of three spiral galaxies selected in a sample suited for the study of young stellar groupings and their relationship with the parent galaxy and the galactic environment. Star forming regions…
We investigate the distribution of bright main sequence stars near the northern edge of the M33 disk. Clustering on sub-kpc scales is seen among stars with ages near 10 Myr, and two large star-forming complexes are identified. Similar…
New and archival HST images of the globular cluster systems of 17 relatively nearby galaxies and 6 more distant galaxies have been used to establish the characteristics of GC subpopulations over a range of host galaxy morphological type…
The solar system was most likely born in a star cluster containing at least 1000 stars. It is highly probable that this cluster environment influenced various properties of the solar system like its chemical composition, size and the…
We propose that bound, young massive stellar clusters form from dense clouds that have escape speeds greater than the sound speed in photo-ionized gas. In these clumps, radiative feedback in the form of gas ionization is bottled up,…
Over the past ten years, there has been a revolution in our understanding of massive young stellar clusters in the Galaxy. Initially, there were no known examples having masses $>10^4$, yet we now know that there are at least a half dozen…
We present a multi-wavelength study of the young stellar population in the Cygnus-X DR15 region. We studied young stars forming or recently formed at and around the tip of a prominent molecular pillar and an infrared dark cloud. Using a…
It is challenging to reliably identify stars that were born together outside of actively star-forming regions and bound stellar systems. However, co-natal stars should be present throughout the Galaxy, and their demographics can shed light…
The Taurus-Auriga complex is the prototypical low-mass star forming region, and provides a unique testbed of the star formation process, which left observable imprints on the spatial, kinematic, and temporal structure of its stellar…
Star formation is triggered in essentially three ways: (1) the pressures from existing stars collect and squeeze nearby dense gas into gravitationally unstable configurations, (2) random compression from supersonic turbulence makes new…
We report on the identification of 54 embedded clusters around 217 massive protostellar candidates of which 34 clusters are new detections. The embedded clusters are identified as stellar surface density enhancements in the 2 $\mu$m All Sky…
We present first results from an HST/ACS imaging survey of stars and star clusters in five nearby spiral galaxies. This contribution concentrates on NGC 1313, a highly distorted late-type barred spiral. We compare the field star and cluster…
Their ubiquity and extreme densities make star clusters probes of prime importance of galaxy evolution. Old globular clusters keep imprints of the physical conditions of their assembly in the early Universe, and younger stellar objects,…
The discovery of young globular clusters in merging galaxies and other environments provides an opportunity to study directly the process of globular cluster formation. Empirically it appears that globular cluster formation occurs…
In this chapter we review the young stars and molecular clouds found at high Galactic latitudes $(|b| \ge 30^\circ)$. These are mostly associated with two large-scale structures on the sky, the Gould Belt and the Taurus star formation…
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…