Related papers: Dynamical Evolution of Globular Clusters in the Ma…
(abridged) The old Star Cluster (SC) systems surrounding any sofar investigated galaxy represent a powerful tool for the understanding of the cosmological evolution of their host galaxies. Phases of enhanced cluster formation can be…
Magellanic Cloud Planetary Nebulae (PNs) offer insight of both the population and evolution of low- and intermediate-mass stars, in environments that are free of the distance bias and the differential reddening that hinder the observations…
We report the discovery of statistically significant spatial structures in the projected two-dimensional distributions of the Globular Cluster (GC) systems of 10 among the brightest galaxies in the Fornax Cluster. We use a catalog of GCs…
As a follow up to our recent study of a large sample of LMC clusters (astro-ph/0209031), we have conducted a similar study of the structures of ten SMC clusters, using archival Hubble Space Telescope snapshot data. We present surface…
Our current understanding of the stellar initial mass function and massive star evolution suggests that young globular clusters may have formed hundreds to thousands of stellar-mass black holes, the remnants of stars with initial masses…
The proximity of the Magellanic Clouds provides the opportunity to study interacting dwarf galaxies near a massive host, and spatial trends in their stellar population properties in particular, with a unique level of detail. The Scylla pure…
Globular cluster systems provide valuable fossil records of the formation history of their parent galaxies. This review specifically concentrates on using color distributions of the globular cluster systems of elliptical galaxies to…
An increasing number of both photometric and spectroscopic observations over the last years have shown the existence of distinct sub-populations in many Galactic globular clusters and shattered the paradigm of globulars hosting single,…
A large sample of young stellar groups is analysed aiming to investigate their clustering properties and dynamical evolution. A comparison of the Q statistical parameter, measured for the clusters, with the fractal dimension estimated for…
The evolution of star clusters is studied using N-body simulations in which the evolution of single stars and binaries are taken self-consistently into account. Initial conditions are chosen to represent relatively young Galactic open…
The growth of galaxies through adiabatic accretion of dark matter is one of the main drivers of galaxy evolution. By isolating it from other processes like mergers, we analyse how it affects the evolution of star clusters. Our study…
Recent observational results on the globular cluster systems of spiral galaxies are summarized. Although the number of spirals with well-studied GCSs is still small, new studies promise to increase it rapidly in the next few years. New…
Recent work on globular cluster systems in dwarf galaxies outside the Local Group is reviewed. Recent large imaging surveys with the Hubble Space Telescope and follow-up spectroscopy with 8-m class telescopes now allow us to compare the…
This review focuses on how galaxies and their globular cluster systems form. I first discuss the now fairly convincing evidence that some globular clusters form in galaxy starbursts/mergers. One way these observations are valuable is they…
Correlations among the independently measured physical properties of globular clusters (GCs) can provide powerful tests for theoretical models and new insights into their dynamics, formation, and evolution. We review briefly some of the…
Star clusters are fundamental building blocks of galaxies. Their formation is related to the density and pressure in progenitor molecular clouds and their environmental conditions. To understand better the dynamical processes driving star…
In the context of a new systematic study of the properties of the most compact and massive star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), here we present the determination of the chronological age, the structural parameters, and the…
Representing single stellar populations, globular clusters (GCs) are relatively easy to model, thus providing powerful tools for studying the evolution of galaxies. This has been demonstrated for the blue compact galaxy ESO338-IG04. GC…
Despite their close proximity, the complex interplay between the two Magellanic Clouds, the Milky Way, and the resulting tidal features, is still poorly understood. Recent studies have shown that the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has a very…
The Galactic disk retains a vast amount of information about how it came to be, and how it evolved over cosmic time. However, we know very little about the secular processes associated with disk evolution. One major uncertainty is the…