Related papers: RR Lyrae-based calibration of the Globular Cluster…
The absolute magnitude M* of the peak of the globular cluster luminosity function (GCLF), approximated by a Gaussian, can be calibrated independently in the Galaxy and M 31 through RR Lyr stars and Cepheids, respectively. They yield, in…
We investigate the universality of the globular cluster luminosity function (GCLF) and the use of this function as an extragalactic distance indicator. Previous studies have found an offset between GCLF distances and those obtained with…
The Period - metallicity - K band luminosity (PLK) relation for RR Lyrae stars in 15 Galactic globular clusters and in the LMC globular cluster Reticulum has been derived. It is based on accurate near infrared (K) photometry combined with…
The most common methods to derive the distance to globular clusters using RR Lyrae variables are reviewed, with a special attention to those that have experienced significant improvement in the past few years. From the weighted average of…
We describe and summarize the findings from our CCD time-series photometry of globular clusters (GCs) program and the use of difference image analysis (DIA) in the extraction of very precise light curves even in the crowded central regions…
We present mean horizontal branch absolute magnitudes and iron abundances for a sample of 39 globular clusters. These quantities were calculated in an unprecedented homogeneous fashion based on Fourier decomposition of ligt curves of RR…
The present status of the distance scale to Galactic globular clusters is reviewed. Six distance determination techniques which are deemed to be most reliable are discussed in depth. These different techniques are used to calibrate the…
We report the mean metallicity and absolute magnitude of RR Lyrae stars in a sample of 37 globular clusters, calculated via the Fourier decomposition of their light curves and ad hoc semiempirical calibrations, in an unprecedented…
(Abridged) Accurate luminosity functions (LF) for a dozen globular clusters have now been measured at or just beyond their half-light radius using HST. They span almost the entire cluster main sequence below ~ 0.75 Msolar. All these…
Using a new spectroscopic sample and methods accounting for spectroscopic sampling fractions that vary in magnitude and surface brightness, we present R-band galaxy luminosity functions (GLFs) for six nearby galaxy clusters with redshifts…
We combine our compilation of photometry of M31 globular cluster and probable cluster candidates with new near-infrared photometry for 30 objects. Using these data we determine the globular cluster luminosity function (GCLF) in multiple…
We use the results from recent computations of updated non-linear convective pulsating models to constrain the distance modulus of Galactic globular clusters through the observed periods of first overtone RRc pulsators. The resulting…
By adopting the same approach outlined in De Santis & Cassisi (1999), we evaluate the absolute bolometric magnitude of the Zero Age Horizontal Branch (ZAHB) at the level of the RR Lyrae variable instability strip in selected galactic…
We present new and accurate near-infrared (NIR) J, K-band time series data for the Galactic globular cluster (GC) M5 = NGC5904. Data were collected with SOFI at the NTT (71 J + 120 K images) and with NICS at the TNG (25 J + 22 K images) and…
We here present the luminosity function (LF) of globular clusters (GCs) in five nearby spiral galaxies using the samples of GC candidates selected in Hubble Space Telescope mosaic images in F435W, F555W and F814W filters. Our search, which…
We present the $V$-band globular cluster luminosity functions (GCLFs) of the Fornax Cluster galaxies NGC 1344, NGC 1380, NGC 1399, and NGC 1404. Our observations reach to $V = 24.8$, roughly one magnitude beyond the GCLF turnover $m^0_V$,…
(abridged) New photometry and spectroscopy for more than a hundred RR Lyrae stars in two fields located close to the bar of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) are used to derive new accurate estimates of the average magnitude, the local…
I review the Globular Cluster Luminosity Function (GCLF) with emphasis on recent observational data and theoretical progress. As is well known, the turn-over magnitude (TOM) is a good distance indicator for early-type galaxies within the…
We determine the luminosity function (LF) of galaxies in the core of the Coma cluster for M_R<=-11.4 (assuming H_0=75 km/s/Mpc), a magnitude regime previously explored only in the Local Group. Objects are counted in a deep CCD image of Coma…
Hubble Space Telescope ACS/WFC data in (B,I) are used to investigate the globular cluster populations around 6 gE galaxies ~40 Mpc distant. The total comprises a sample of ~8000 high-probability globular clusters. PSF-convolved King-model…