Related papers: The White Dwarf Cooling Sequence of the Globular C…
Time-series data taken with the Hubble Space Telescope of a field six core radii (~5') from the center of the globular cluster Messier 4, and covering a period of about 10 weeks in early 2001, have been analyzed in search of variable…
With the Keck I Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer we have observed nine white dwarf candidates in the very rich open cluster NGC 2099 (M37). The spectroscopy shows seven to be DA white dwarfs, one to be a DB white dwarf, and one to be a…
We present new diagnostics of white dwarf (WD) cooling sequences and luminosity functions (LFs) in the near-infrared (NIR) bands that will exploit the sensitivity and resolution of future extremely large telescopes. The collision-induced…
We determine the luminosity function (LF) of galaxies in the core of the Coma cluster for M_R<=-11.4 (assuming H_0=75 km/s/Mpc), a magnitude regime previously explored only in the Local Group. Objects are counted in a deep CCD image of Coma…
We present the luminosity function (LF) and measurements of the scalelengths, colours, and radial distribution of dwarf galaxies in the Coma cluster down to R=24. Our survey area is 674 arcmin^2; this is the deepest and most detailed survey…
White Dwarf luminosities are powerful age indicators, whose calibration should be based on reliable models. We discuss the uncertainty of some chemical and physical parameters and their influence on the age estimated by means of white dwarf…
We present `James Webb Space Telescope' observations of M4 -- the closest globular cluster -- that probe the lower Main Sequence down to the hydrogen-burning limit. The unveiled stellar sequence reaches much fainter luminosities than…
In our galaxy, white dwarfs inevitably undergo scattering and capture processes with the interstellar diffuse dark matter. The captured dark matter forms a dark halo that eventually evaporates or annihilates. Theoretical pulsation modes and…
We study the population of compact stellar clusters (CSCs) in M81, using the HST/ACS images in the filters F435W, F606W and F814W covering, for the first time, the entire optical extent of the galaxy. Our sample contains 435 clusters of…
We describe a new multi-colour proper motion survey for cool white dwarfs (CWDs). The observational database consists of ~300 digitally scanned Schmidt plates in ESO/SERC field 287. The entire survey procedure, from the raw Schmidt plate…
Studies of cool white dwarfs in the solar neighbourhood have placed a limit on the age of the Galactic disk of 8-9 billion years. However, determining their cooling ages requires the knowledge of their effective temperatures, masses, radii,…
We use new observations from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope to study the white dwarf cooling sequence of the open cluster M37, a cluster that displays an extended main sequence turn-off and, according to a recent photometric analysis,…
A young and undermassive white dwarf has been identified as the possible companion to the millisecond pulsar PSR B1620-26 in Messier 4. This association is important as it then helps constrain the mass of the third body in the system to be…
Star luminosity function, already recognized as an age indicator for old galactic globular clusters, can be used to contrains the age of younger stellar systems like the nearby dwarfs spheroidal Leo I. We compare the observed luminosity…
We present deep photometric observations of the open cluster NGC 2477 using HST/WFPC2. By identifying seven cluster white dwarf candidates, we present an analysis of the white dwarf age of this cluster, using both the traditional method of…
Globular clusters are the oldest conglomerates of stars in our Galaxy and can be useful laboratories to test theories from stellar evolution to cosmology. In this paper, we present a new method to estimate the absolute age of a globular…
We present the chromospheric activity (CA) levels, metallicities and full space motions for 41 F, G, K and M dwarf stars in 36 wide binary systems. Thirty-one of the binaries, contain a white dwarf component. In such binaries the total age…
With targeted imaging of groups in the local volume, the regions of collapse around bright galaxies can be clearly identified by the distribution of dwarfs and luminosity functions can be established to very faint levels. In the case of the…
We present the results of a photometric and spectroscopic study of the white dwarf candidate members of the intermediate age open clusters NGC3532 and NGC2287. Of the nine objects investigated, it is determined that six are probable members…
(Abridged) Accurate luminosity functions (LF) for a dozen globular clusters have now been measured at or just beyond their half-light radius using HST. They span almost the entire cluster main sequence below ~ 0.75 Msolar. All these…