Related papers: The Missing Link in Star Cluster Evolution
Several observational and theoretical studies suggest that the initial mass function (IMF) slope for massive stars in globular clusters (GCs) depends on the initial cloud density and metallicity, such that the IMF becomes increasingly…
Globular cluster (GC) systems around galaxies of a vast mass range show remarkably simple scaling relations. The combined mass of all GCs is a constant fraction of the total galaxy mass and the mean metallicity and metallicity dispersion of…
I discuss the chemical evolution of star clusters, with emphasis on old globular clusters, in relation to their formation histories. Globular clusters clearly formed in a complex fashion, under markedly different conditions from any younger…
Numerical simulations of a Milky Way-size galaxy demonstrate that globular clusters with the properties similar to observed can form naturally at z > 3 in the concordance Lambda-CDM cosmology. The clusters in our model form in the strongly…
High-mass stars are major players in the chemical and dynamical evolution of galaxies, and young massive clusters are the natural laboratories to study their evolution and their impact on star formation processes. Only in recent years have…
Recently, very massive compact stellar systems have been discovered in the intracluster regions of galaxy clusters and in the nuclear regions of late-type disk galaxies. It is unclear how these compact stellar systems -- known as…
A major paradigm shift has recently revolutionized our picture of globular clusters (GC) that were long thought to be simple systems of coeval stars born out of homogeneous material. Indeed, detailed abundance studies of GC long-lived…
I review recent and less recent work on globular cluster systems in early-type galaxies. Explaining their properties and possible assembly scenarios, touches on a variety of astrophysical topics from cluster formation itself to galaxy…
We use archival {\it Hubble Space Telescope} observations of broad-band images from the ultraviolet (F255W-filter) through the near infrared (NICMOS F160W-filter) to study the star cluster population of the interacting spiral galaxy M51. We…
Star clusters are often used as tracers of major star formation events in external galaxies as they can be studied up to much larger distances than individual stars. It is vital to understand their evolution if they are used to derive, for…
The distribution of the number of clusters as a function of mass M and age T suggests that clusters get eroded or dispersed in a regular way over time, such that the cluster number decreases inversely as an approximate power law with T…
The Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the nearest galaxies to us and is one of only few galaxies where the star formation history can be determined from studying resolved stellar populations. We have compiled a new catalogue of ages,…
We present high resolution mid-infrared (mid-IR; 11.7 and 17.65 micron) maps of the central 400 pc region of the starburst galaxy M82. Seven star forming clusters are identified which together provide ~ 15% of the total mid-IR luminosity of…
We present high-resolution optical and near-infrared HST observations of two adjacent regions in the fossil starburst region in M82, B1 and B2. Age estimates date the cluster population in the fossil starburst between ~2 x 10^8 and ~10 x…
Galaxies evolve from a blue star-forming phase into a red quiescent one by quenching their star formation activity. In high density environments, this galaxy evolution proceeds earlier and more efficiently. Therefore, local galaxy clusters…
Most clusters and groups of galaxies contain a giant elliptical galaxy in their centres which far outshines and outweighs normal ellipticals. The origin of these brightest cluster galaxies is intimately related to the collapse and formation…
We perform a systematic reanalysis of the age distribution of Galactic open star clusters. Using a catalogue of homogeneously determined ages for 834 open clusters contained in a 2 kpc cylinder around the Sun and characterised with…
This review examines the state-of-the-art knowledge of high-mass star and massive cluster formation, gained from ambitious observational surveys, which acknowledge the multi-scale characteristics of these processes. After a brief overview…
The formation of populous secondary star cluster systems is a widespread phenomenon in mergers of gas-rich galaxies. Many, if not most, of those clusters are massive and compact enough to be young globular clusters (GCs). GC systems in most…
Surface brightness profiles for 23 M31 star clusters were measured using images from the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on the Hubble Space Telescope, and fit to two types of models to determine the clusters' structural properties. The…