Related papers: Are Cluster Dwarfs Recycled Galaxies?
Over the past five years, searches in Sloan Digital Sky Survey data have more than doubled the number of known dwarf satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, and have revealed a population of ultra-faint galaxies with luminosities smaller than…
Dwarf spheroidal galaxies are regarded as the basic building blocks in the formation of larger galaxies and are believed to be the most dark matter dominated systems known in the Universe. There are several models that attempt to explain…
The discovery of a large population of intra-cluster star clusters in the central region of the Hydra I and Centaurus galaxy clusters is presented. Based on deep VLT photometry (V,I), many star clusters have been identified not only around…
Star cluster formation is a major mode of star formation in the extreme conditions of interacting galaxies and violent starbursts. Young clusters are observed to form in a variety of such galaxies, a substantial number resembling the…
A recent all-object spectroscopic survey centred on the Fornax cluster of galaxies, has discovered a population of sub-luminous and extremely compact members, called ``ultra-compact dwarf'' (UCD) galaxies. In order to clarify the origin of…
Recent redshift surveys have shown that the excess galaxies seen in faint galaxy number counts (above those expected given the local galaxy luminosity function) are not evolved giants at high redshifts, but low to moderate luminosity…
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…
The galaxy correlation function serves as a fundamental tool for studying cosmology, galaxy formation, and the nature of dark matter. It is well established that more massive, redder and more compact galaxies tend to have stronger…
We discuss how knowledge of the whole evolutionary history of dwarf galaxies, including details on the early star formation events, can provide insight on the origin of the different dwarf galaxy types. We suggest that these types may be…
Globular clusters (GCs) are among the oldest and most luminous stellar systems in the Universe, offering unique insights into galaxy formation and evolution. While the physical processes behind their origin have long remained elusive, major…
The diffuse light in clusters of galaxies, or intracluster light, has attracted a lot of attention lately due to its potential in describing the assembly history of galaxy clusters and to explain the observed growth of the brightest cluster…
Old, metal-poor globular clusters trace the formation and evolution of early-type galaxies. Their are the best probes, at low redshift, of the building-up of galaxy halos at high redshift. Their properties constrain the characteristics of…
A surprising result of our recent spectroscopic survey of galaxies in the Coma cluster has been the discovery of a possible bimodal distribution in the metallicities of faint galaxies at $M_B>-17$. We identified a group of dwarfs with…
Observations have revealed that most stars are born in clusters. These systems, containing from tens to thousands of stars and typically significant mass in gas in the youngest systems, evolve due to a combination of stellar and star-gas…
Systematic studies have revealed hundreds of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) in the nearby Universe. With half-light radii $r_h$ of approximately 10-100 parsecs and stellar masses $M_*$ $\approx$ $10^6-10^8$ solar masses, UCDs are among…
Recent observational evidence for steep dwarf galaxy luminosity functions in several rich clusters has led to speculation that their precursors may be the source of the majority of gas and metals inferred from intracluster medium (ICM)…
Since 2015 there has been a great deal of interest in a supposed new class of galaxy called Ultra Diffuse Galaxies (UDGs). These are large systems with sizes $> 1.5$ kpc and have surface brightness values which are $\mu > 25$ mag…
Nearly a century after the true nature of galaxies as distant "island universes" was established, their origin and evolution remain great unsolved problems of modern astrophysics. One of the most promising ways to investigate galaxy…
We review empirical and theoretical findings concerning white dwarfs in Galactic globular clusters. Since their detection is a critical issue we describe in detail the various efforts to find white dwarfs in globular clusters. We then…
Young star clusters in interacting galaxies are often found in groups or clusters of star clusters containing up to 100 single clusters. In our project we study the future fate of these clusters of star clusters. We find that the star…