Related papers: SALT and RR Lyrae variables: Our Galaxy, The Magel…
We have been investigating the metallicity dependence of star and planet formation, particularly focusing on the outer Galaxy with a Galactocentric distance ($R_g$) of $\gtrsim$15 kpc, where the metallicity is determined to be as low as…
We use detailed modeling of stellar populations of nearby galaxies to calculate population parameters. Our sample of galaxies includes most galaxies of the Local Group and several more distant giant galaxies. Available data are sufficient…
Recent progress in our knowledge of stellar populations in local dwarf spheroidal galaxies is briefly discussed. A few results are summarized including wide field observations of stellar populations and their spatial variations, studies of…
We investigate the properties of the mixed-mode (RRd) RR Lyrae (RRL) variables in the Fornax dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy by using $B$- and $V$-band time series collected over twenty-four years. We compare the properties of the RRds in…
We present the first detailed structure formation and radiative transfer simulations of the reionization history of our cosmic neighbourhood. To this end, we follow the formation of the Local Group of galaxies and nearby clusters by means…
The history of the observations of RR Lyr variables started in the XIXth century, more than 120 years ago. The very long time baseline of available data combined with the short period of RR Lyrae variables offer an unique opportunity to…
We present photometric analysis of a local sample of 14 isolated pairs of galaxies. The photometric properties analyzed in the local pairs are: colors, morphology, tidal effects and activity. We verify that close pairs have an excess of…
The immediate Solar neighborhood should be a fair sample of the local Galaxy. However, the chemical abundance distribution of long-lived disk stars very near the Sun contains a factor of five to ten more metal-poor stars, $-1 \simlt {\rm…
We present a long-term project aimed at completing the census of (bright) variable stars in Galactic globular clusters. While our main aim is to obtain a reliable assessment of the populations of RR Lyrae and type II Cepheid stars in the…
My presentation was an overview of what we know about the Local Group of galaxies, primarily from optical imaging and spectroscopy. AGB stars are on the whole a very sparse and unrepresentative stellar population in most Local Group…
We investigate the stellar populations of a sample of Tidal Dwarf Galaxies, combining observations and evolutionary synthesis models to try and reveal their formation mechanism. On optical images we select a first sample of TDGs for which…
Planetary nebulae have been used as tracers of light and kinematics for the stellar populations in early-type galaxies since more than twenty years. Several empirical properties have surfaced: for example the invariant bright cut-off of the…
The ninth part of the OGLE-III Catalog of Variable Stars (OIII-CVS) comprises RR Lyr stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Our sample consists of 2475 variable stars, of which 1933 pulsate in the fundamental mode (RRab), 175 are the…
The results of nonlinear, convective models of RR Lyrae pulsators with metal content Z=0.0001 to 0.006 are discussed and several predicted relations connecting pulsational (period and amplitude of pulsation) and evolutionary parameters…
We present the discovery of stellar tidal tails around the Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds in the Gaia DR1 data. In between the Clouds, their tidal arms are stretched towards each other to form an almost continuous stellar bridge. Our…
The distribution of RR Lyrae stars (RRLS) in the inner Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and the structure of the halo of the LMC delineated by these stars are studied here. RRLS identified by the OGLE II survey are used to estimate their…
Pulsating variable stars can be powerful tools to study the structure, formation and evolution of galaxies. I discuss the role that the Magellanic Clouds' pulsating variables play in our understanding of the whole Magellanic System, in…
The power of high quality imaging combined with the large collecting area of each VLT telescope is impressive, and there are clearly many exciting discoveries waiting to be made. The study of resolved stellar populations will certainly…
Stellar Populations are the fossil record of Galactic evolution. Interpretation of this record in the Local Group allows one to determine reliably the dominant physics controlling the evolution of those galaxies which are typical of the…
We present the catalog of RR Lyrae stars discovered in a 4.5 square degrees area in the central parts of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Presented sample contains 7612 objects, including 5455 fundamental mode pulsators (RRab), 1655…