Related papers: Using spectroscopic data to disentangle stellar po…
In this third paper of a series on the precision of obtaining ages of stellar populations using the full spectrum fitting technique, we examine the precision of this technique in deriving possible age spreads within a star cluster. We test…
Context. Stochasticity and physical parameter degeneracy problems complicate the derivation of the parameters (age, mass, and extinction) of unresolved star clusters when using broad-band photometry. Aims. We develop a method to simulate…
We investigate the uncertainties in the synthetic integrated colors of simple stellar populations. Three types of uncertainties are from the stellar models, the population synthesis techniques, and from the spectral libraries. Despite some…
The presence of an extended blue horizontal branch (HB) in a stellar population is known to affect the age inferred from spectral fitting to stellar population synthesis models. However, most population synthesis models still rely on…
Recent analysis of stellar populations in barred galaxies have focused on the spatial distribution of stellar population ages and metallicities. However, barred galaxies are complex objects where dynamical instabilities play a leading role…
In this work we focus on the determination of the relative distributions of young, intermediate-age and old populations of stars in galaxies. Starting from a grid of theoretical population synthesis models we constructed a set of model…
To further our knowledge of the complex physical process of galaxy formation, it is essential that we characterize the formation and evolution of large databases of galaxies. The spectral synthesis STARLIGHT code of Cid Fernandes et al.…
We use the first release of the SDSS/MaStar stellar library comprising ~9000, high S/N spectra, to calculate integrated spectra of stellar population models. The models extend over the wavelength range 0.36-1.03 micron and share the same…
The physical properties of galaxies are encoded within their spectral energy distribution and require comparison with models to be extracted. These models must contain a synthetic stellar population and, where infrared data is to be used,…
This paper is the second of a series that investigates the stochasticity and degeneracy problems that hinder the derivation of the age, mass, extinction, and metallicity of unresolved star clusters in external galaxies when broad-band…
The star formation, mass assembly and chemical enrichment histories of galaxies, and their present distributions of dark matter, remain encoded in their stellar populations. Distinguishing the actual distribution functions of stellar age,…
Context: The radial variations of the stellar populations properties within passive galaxies at high redshift contain information about their assembly mechanisms, based on which galaxy formation and evolution scenarios may be distinguished.…
We apply the method of principal component analysis to a sample of simple stellar populations to select some age-sensitive spectral indices. Besides the well-known age-sensitive index, H B, we find that some other spectral indices have…
During this last decade our knowledge of the evolutionary properties of stars has significantly improved. This result has been achieved thanks to our improved understanding of the physical behavior of stellar matter in the thermal regimes…
In this paper, I review to what extent we can understand the photometric properties of star clusters, and of low-mass, unresolved galaxies, in terms of population synthesis models designed to describe `simple stellar populations' (SSPs),…
The advent of space-based observatories such as CoRoT and Kepler has enabled the testing of our understanding of stellar evolution on thousands of stars. Evolutionary models typically require five input parameters, the mass, initial Helium…
The efficient use of near-IR data in studies of external stellar populations depends on our ability to recognize the nature of the predominant sources of light, and to interprete these findings in terms of age and metallicity. Here we focus…
We present an analysis of the stellar populations in a sample of ~7000 galaxies from the 6dF Galaxy Survey (6dFGS). We derive ages and metallicities using stellar population models. We also derive dynamical masses and dynamical…
We investigate the power of spectral synthesis as a mean to estimate physical properties of galaxies. Spectral synthesis is nothing more than the decomposition of an observed spectrum in terms of a superposition of a base of simple stellar…
Establishing the reliability with which stellar population parameters can be measured is vital to extragalactic astronomy. Galactic GCs provide an excellent medium in which to test the consistency of Single Stellar Population (SSP) models…