Related papers: The Globular Cluster Luminosity Function
Globular clusters are among the oldest objects in galaxies, and understanding the details of their formation and evolution can bring valuable insight into the early history of galaxies. This review summarises the current knowledge about the…
I present an overview of strong and weak gravitational lensing by galaxy clusters. After briefly introducing the principles of gravitational lensing, I discuss the main lessons learned from lensing on the mass distribution in clusters and…
The presence of multiple luminous galaxies in clusters can be explained by the finite time over which a galaxy sinks to the center of the cluster and merges with the the central galaxy. The simplest measurable statistic to quantify the…
The composite galaxy luminosity function (hereafter LF) of 39 Abell clusters of galaxies is derived by computing the statistical excess of galaxy counts in the cluster direction with respect to control fields. Due to the wide field coverage…
I comment (in a review fashion) on a few selected topics in the field of extragalactic globular clusters with strong emphasis on recent work. The topics are: bimodality in the colour distribution of cluster systems, young massive clusters,…
Weak gravitational lensing of background galaxies provides a direct probe of the projected matter distribution in and around galaxy clusters. Here we present a self-contained pedagogical review of cluster--galaxy weak lensing, covering a…
In this contribution I present a review of star formation in clusters. I begin by discussing the various definitions of what constitutes a star cluster, and then compare the outcome of star formation (IMF, multiplicity, mass segregation and…
We decompose the luminosity function of Galactic globular clusters into a sum of the orthogonal Gauss-Hermite functions. This method quantifies the asymmetric third-order ($h_3$) and symmetric fourth-order ($h_4$) terms of the distribution…
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…
Variations in the number of globular clusters per unit galaxy luminosity, which is the specific frequency, and the mass of globular clusters per unit total available mass, are reviewed. Correlations with galaxy luminosity and morphology,…
Luminosity is an intrinsic property of radio pulsars related to the properties of the magnetospheric plasma and the beam geometry, and inversely proportional to the observing frequency. In traditional models, luminosity has been considered…
A physical description of the fundamental plane of Galactic globular clusters is developed which explains all empirical trends and correlations in a large number of cluster observables and provides a small but complete set of truly…
Clusters of galaxies are the most recently assembled, massive, bound structures in the Universe. As predicted by General Relativity, given their masses, clusters strongly deform space-time in their vicinity. Clusters act as some of the most…
The properties of old globular cluster systems in galaxy halos are used to infer quantitative constraints on aspects of generic star (cluster) formation. First, the spatial distribution of globulars in three large galaxies, together with…
Globular clusters are valuable fossil records of the formation and evolution of their host galaxies. The color distribution of elliptical galaxy globular cluster systems indicates an episodic formation history, consistent with a merger…
Recent progress in studies of globular clusters has shown that they are not simple stellar populations, being rather made of multiple generations. Evidence stems both from photometry and spectroscopy. A new paradigm is then arising for the…
Globular clusters are compact, gravitationally bound systems of up to a million stars. The GCs in the Milky Way contain some of the oldest stars known, and provide important clues to the early formation and continuing evolution of our…
The last decade has seen an enormous increase of activity in the field of gravitational lensing, mainly driven by improvements of observational capabilities. I will review the basics of gravitational lens theory, just enough to understand…
Rich clusters of galaxies, the largest virialized systems known, provide a powerful tool for the study of cosmology. Some of the fundamental questions that can be addressed with clusters of galaxies include: how did galaxies and large-scale…
In this review, we describe our current understanding of cluster formation: from the general picture of collapse from initial density fluctuations in an expanding Universe to detailed simulations of cluster formation including the effects…