Related papers: Massive star clusters in dwarf starburst galaxies
Mergers of gas-rich galaxies lead to gravitationally driven increases in gas pressure that can trigger intense bursts of star and cluster formation. Although star formation itself is clustered, most newborn stellar aggregates are unbound…
Compact groups of galaxies have posed a number of challenging questions. Intensive observational and theoretical studies are now providing answers to many of these, and at the same time, are revealing unexpected new clues about the nature…
Globular clusters are ideal laboratories to study the evolution of low-mass stars. In this work we concentrate on three types of hot stars observed in globular clusters: horizontal branch stars, UV bright stars, and white dwarfs. After…
In the last decade star clusters have been found in the centers of spiral galaxies across all Hubble types. We here present a spectroscopic study of the exceptionally bright (10^6 - 10^8 Lsun) but compact (Re ~ 5 pc) nuclear star clusters…
Several models have predicted that stars could form inside galactic outflows and that this would be a new major mode of galaxy evolution. Observations of galactic outflows have revealed that they host large amounts of dense and clumpy…
The discovery of a large population of intra-cluster star clusters in the central region of the Hydra I and Centaurus galaxy clusters is presented. Based on deep VLT photometry (V,I), many star clusters have been identified not only around…
We present HST/NICMOS observations of a sample of LIRGs. We show that active star formation appears to be occurring not only in the bright nuclei of these galaxies, but also in luminous super-star clusters and giant HII regions with ages of…
Nuclear star clusters are found at the centers of most galaxies. They are the densest stellar systems in the Universe, and thus have unique and interesting stellar dynamics. We review how common nuclear star clusters are in galaxies of…
Young open clusters are our laboratories for studying high-mass star formation and evolution. Unfortunately, the information that they provide is difficult to interpret, and sometimes contradictory. In this contribution, I present a few…
Strong bursts of star formation in galaxies may be triggered either by internal or external mechanisms. We study the distribution and kinematics of the HI gas in the outer regions of 18 nearby starburst dwarf galaxies, that have accurate…
Observations of intensely bright star-forming galaxies both close by and in the distant Universe at first glance seem to emphasize their similarity. But look a little closer, and differences emerge.
I will try to put the ultraluminous galaxy phenomenon into a broad cosmological context. Viewed from this perspective, the significance of ultraluminous galaxies and the `starburst vs. monster' debate becomes clear. Ultraluminous galaxies…
I present a brief review of the stellar population properties of massive galaxies, focusing on early-type galaxies in particular, with emphasis on recent results from the ATLAS3D Survey. I discuss the occurrence of young stellar ages, cold…
It is well known that stars orbited by giant planets have higher abundances of heavy elements when compared with average field dwarfs. A number of studies have also addressed the possibility that light element abundances are different in…
The rate of star formation varies between galaxy types and evolves with redshift. Most stars in the universe have formed in episodes of an exceptionally high star-forming activity, commonly called a starburst. We here summarize basic…
Star clusters are ideal tracers of star formation activity in systems outside the volume that can be studied using individual, resolved stars. These unresolved clusters span orders of magnitude in brightness and mass, and their formation is…
With the help of a statistical parameter derived from optical spectra, we show that the current star formation rate of a galaxy, falling into a cluster along a supercluster filament, is likely to undergo a sudden enhancement before the…
In the last decade we witness an advent of new types of dwarf stellar systems in cluding ultra-compact dwarfs, ultra-faint dwarf spheroidals, and exotic globular clusters, breaking the old simple paradigm for dwarf galaxies and globular…
The determination of galaxy cluster mass is of great importance since it is directly linked to the well- known problem of dark matter in the Universe and to the cluster baryon content. X-ray observations from satellites have enabled a…
Super Star Clusters (Mecl > 10^5 Msol) are the largest stellar nurseries in our local Universe, containing hundreds of thousands to millions of young stars within a few light years. Many of these systems are found in external galaxies,…