Related papers: The Globular Cluster Luminosity Function
The interpretation of the difference observed between the radial distribution of globular clusters and that of halo-bulge stars in elliptical galaxies is discussed in terms of evolution of their globular cluster systems. I present a short…
On the basis of a recent cosmological model, the puzzle of galactic rotational velocities at their edges is explained without invoking dark matter. A rationale for the existence of structures like galaxies and superclusters is also…
The past decade has seen an increase of star formation studies made at the molecular cloud scale, motivated mostly by the deployment of a wealth of sensitive infrared telescopes and instruments. Embedded clusters, long recognised as the…
The study of the internal structure of star clusters provides important clues concerning their formation mechanism and dynamical evolution. There are both observational and numerical evidences indicating that open clusters evolve from an…
Massive clusters are now seen to form easily in interacting and merging galaxies, making these excellent environments for studying the properties of young clusters. New observations of the Antennae (NGC 4038/39) show that the most luminous…
A study of the luminosity function of 36 Abell clusters of galaxies has been carried out using photographic plates obtained with the Palomar 1.2 m Schmidt telescope. The relation between the magnitude M_1 of the brightest cluster member and…
Stars in globular clusters can act either as sources for MACHOs (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects) located along the line of sight or as lenses for more distant background stars. Although the expected rate of microlensing events…
We discuss some of the key open questions regarding the formation and evolution of globular clusters (GCs) during galaxy formation and assembly within a cosmological framework. The current state-of-the-art for both observations and…
This paper addresses the questions of what we have learned about how and when dense star clusters form, and what studies of star clusters have revealed about galaxy formation and evolution. One important observation is that globular…
Gravitational lensing is brightening of background objects due to deflection of light by foreground sources. Rich clusters of galaxies are very effective lenses because they are centrally concentrated. Such natural Gravitational Telescopes…
Clusters of galaxies are used in a variety of ways to do cosmology. Some of them are presented here. Their X-ray emitting gas allows us to determine the baryon fraction, dark matter distribution and the matter density $\Omega_{m}$ of the…
I report on some recent results in the framework of a complex project aimed to characterize the photometric properties of stellar populations in Galactic Globular Clusters.
We present results from a study of the globular cluster luminosity function (GCLF) in a sample of 89 early-type galaxies observed as part of the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. Using a Gaussian parametrization of the GCLF, we find a highly…
I discuss a search for red giant stars in the Galactic halo with light-element abundances similar to second-generation globular cluster stars, and discuss the implications of such a population for globular cluster formation models and the…
We have investigated the properties of a group of $\gamma$-ray emitting globular clusters (GCs) which have recently been uncovered in our Galaxy. By correlating the observed $\gamma$-ray luminosities $L_{\gamma}$ with various cluster…
In this contribution, first results of deep VLT photometry (V,I) in the central region of the Hydra I and Centaurus galaxy clusters are presented. In both galaxy clusters, many star clusters have been identified down to the turnover…
We give an introduction to the theory of cluster categories and cluster tilted algebras. We include some background on the theory of cluster algebras, and discuss the interplay with cluster categories and cluster tilted algebras.
The spatial distribution of compact dark matter in our Galaxy can be determined in a few years of monitoring Galactic globular clusters for microlensing. Globular clusters are the only dense fields of stars distributed throughout the…
We study gravitational lensing by clusters of galaxies in the context of the generic class of unconventional gravity theories of the scalar--tensor type. For positive energy scalar fields with any dynamics, the bending of light by a weakly…
The discovery of young globular clusters in merging galaxies and other environments provides an opportunity to study directly the process of globular cluster formation. Empirically it appears that globular cluster formation occurs…