Related papers: A Splinter Session on the Thorny Problem of Stella…
Surveys of the local and distant Universe are the means to test and improve our models of galaxy formation. Substantial successes in the models are evident, while there is also considerable recent progress in identifying what remains to be…
In this invited talk I show how the reddest and rarest galaxies at high redshift ($z \simeq 1.5$) can be used to set the stellar evolution clock. I argue that one can confidently compute the collapse redshift of these objects. This yields…
Stellar flares, winds and coronal mass ejections form the space weather. They are signatures of the magnetic activity of cool stars and, since activity varies with age, mass and rotation, the space weather that extra-solar planets…
Deriving precise stellar ages is a challenging task. Consequently, age-dependent relations - such as the age-metallicity and age-velocity dispersion relations of the Milky Way, or the age-rotation-activity relation of low-mass stars - are…
The determination of chemical abundances from stellar spectra is considered a mature field of astrophysics. Digital spectra of stars are recorded and processed with standard techniques, much like samples in the biological sciences.…
We explore methods to improve the estimates of star formation rates and mean stellar population ages from broadband photometry of high redshift star-forming galaxies. We use synthetic spectral templates with a variety of simple parametric…
Theoretical relative ages of galactic globular clusters have recently been challenged by a semi-empirical relation. It was used to point out that tested sets of isochrones were unable to reproduce the relation and yield internally…
We consider models of gas flow in spiral galaxies in which the spiral structure has been excited by various possible mechanisms: a global steady density wave, self-gravity of the stellar disc and an external tidal interaction, as well as…
We combine archival images for the nearby galaxy M33 (Triangulum Galaxy) from the ultraviolet (UV) to the infrared (IR) to derive ages, masses, and extinctions for the young star cluster population, and compare our physical parameters with…
Deciphering the assembly history of the Milky Way is a formidable task, which becomes possible only if one can produce high-resolution chrono-chemo-kinematical maps of the Galaxy. Data from large-scale astrometric and spectroscopic surveys…
A simple solar scaling relation for estimating the ages of main-sequence stars from asteroseismic and spectroscopic data is developed. New seismic scaling relations for estimating mass and radius are presented as well, including a purely…
The formation of low-mass protostars and especially of brown dwarfs currently are ``hot topics'' in cool star research. The talks contributed to this splinter session discussed how low in mass and how low in luminosity objects might exist,…
We discuss the impact of Population II and Globular Cluster (GCs) stars on the derivation of the age of the Universe, and on the study of the formation and early evolution of galaxies, our own in particular. The long-standing problem of the…
Asteroseismology can make a substantial contribution to our understanding of the formation history and evolution of our Galaxy by providing precisely determined stellar properties for thousands of stars in different regions of the Milky…
Theoretical arguments and observations suggest that the atmospheres of Brown Dwarfs and planets are very dynamic on chemical and on physical time scales. The modelling of such substellar atmospheres has, hence, been much more demanding than…
Nearby late-type stars are excellent targets to look for young objects in stellar associations and moving groups. The study of these groups goes back more than one century ago however, their origin is still misunderstood. Although their…
(Abridged) Age derivation techniques for unresolved stellar populations at high redshifts are explored using the NUV spectrum of LBDS~53W091 and LBDS~53W069. The photometry and morphology of these galaxies suggest they are early-type…
In Galactic studies a distinction is made between (open) star clusters and associations. For barely resolved objects at a distance of several Mpc this distinction is not trivial to make. Here we provide an objective definition by comparing…
The Galactic Bulge, as the center of the Galaxy, is the closest laboratory for studying galaxy formation and evolution. However, its study faces significant challenges due to heavy dust extinction. This paper is devoted to deriving the…
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…