Related papers: Are Cluster Dwarfs Recycled Galaxies?
Star clusters stand at the intersection of much of modern astrophysics: the interstellar medium, gravitational dynamics, stellar evolution, and cosmology. Here we review observations and theoretical models for the formation, evolution, and…
Star clusters are observed to form in a highly compact state and with low star-formation efficiencies, and only 10 per cent of all clusters appear to survive to middle- and old-dynamical age. If the residual gas is expelled on a dynamical…
The surroundings of globular clusters in the outer halo are one of the best places to look for the remnants of ancient dwarf satellites. The classical Searle & Zinn (1978) scenario of the formation of the Milky Way, in which the halo…
We present the observational properties of the dwarf galaxy population (Mr > M*+1) corresponding to one of the largest samples of spectroscopically confirmed galaxy cluster members reported in the literature. We have observed that red dwarf…
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…
Dwarf galaxies make ideal laboratories to test galaxy evolution paradigms and cosmological models. Detailed studies of dwarfs across the spectrum allow us to gauge the efficacy of astrophysical processes at play in the lowest mass halos…
The abundance and internal characteristics of rich clusters of galaxies can provide useful constraints on models of large--scale structure formation. This article will review some recent three dimensional, multi--fluid simulations of…
It appears that the dynamical status of clusters and groups of galaxies is related to the large-scale structure of the Universe. A few interesting trends have been established: (1) The Cluster Substructure - Alignment Connection, by which…
We study how structural properties of globular clusters and dwarf galaxies are linked to their orbits in the Milky Way halo. From the inner to the outer halo, orbital energy increases and stellar-systems gradually move out of internal…
Though it is generally assumed that massive molecular clouds are the progenitors of globular clusters, their detailed formation mechanism is still unclear. Standard scenarios based on the collapse of a smooth matter distribution suffer from…
We investigate the effect that dwarf galaxies have on the orbits, tidal histories, and assumed formation environment of Milky Way globular clusters. We determine the orbits of the Milky Way's 150 globular clusters in a gravitational…
Compact groups of galaxies have posed a number of challenging questions. Intensive observational and theoretical studies are now providing answers to many of these, and at the same time, are revealing unexpected new clues about the nature…
The lowest luminosity (L < 10^5 L_sun) Milky Way satellite galaxies represent the extreme lower limit of the galaxy luminosity function. These ultra-faint dwarfs are the oldest, most dark matter-dominated, most metal-poor, and least…
We find a remarkably enhanced production rate in star clusters (relative to the field) of very short period, massive double-white-dwarf stars and of giant-white dwarf binaries. These results are based on N-body simulations performed with…
Early-type dwarf galaxies dominate cluster populations, but their formation and evolutionary histories are poorly understood. The ALFALFA (Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA) survey has completed observations of the Virgo Cluster in the declination…
With the help of a statistical parameter derived from optical spectra, we show that the current star formation rate of a galaxy, falling into a cluster along a supercluster filament, is likely to undergo a sudden enhancement before the…
Nuclear star clusters are found at the centers of most galaxies. They are the densest stellar systems in the Universe, and thus have unique and interesting stellar dynamics. We review how common nuclear star clusters are in galaxies of…
The ubiquity of star-forming dwarf galaxies (SFDG) in the local Universe allows us to trace their evolution in all type of environments, from voids to rich clusters. SFDGs in low-density regions are still assembling their mass, they often…
The hierarchical theory of galaxy formation rests on the idea that smaller galactic structures merge to form the galaxies that we see today. The past decade has provided remarkable observational support for this scenario, driven in part by…
Star clusters are formed in molecular clouds which are believed to be the birth places of most stars. From recent observational data, Lada & Lada(2003) estimated that only 4 to 7% of the proto-clusters have survived. Many factors could…