Related papers: Where are the First Stars now?
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…
The first bound star-forming systems in the universe are predicted to form at redshifts of about 30 and to have masses of the order of 10^6 M_sun. Although their sizes and masses are similar to those of present star-forming regions, their…
We study stellar-halo formation using six Milky Way-mass galaxies in FIRE-2 cosmological zoom simulations. We find that $5-40\%$ of the outer ($50-300$ kpc) stellar halo in each system consists of $\textit{in-situ}$ stars that were born in…
To understand the formation of stellar groups, one must first document carefully the birth pattern within real clusters and associations. In this study of Taurus-Auriga, we combine pre-main-sequence ages from our own evolutionary tracks…
We present first results concerning the metallicities and stellar populations of galaxies formed in a cosmologically motivated simulation. The calculations include dark matter, gas dynamics, radiation processes, star formation, supernovae…
A minimum age of the universe can be estimated directly by determining the age of the oldest objects in the our Galaxy. These objects are the metal-poor stars in the halo of the Milky Way. Recent work on nucleochronology finds that the…
We use observations and evolutionary models of local objects to interpret a recent determination of the star-formation history of the universe. By fitting the global star-formation rate, the model predicts the ratio of spheroid to disk mass…
Tidally limited star clusters are started on nearly circular orbits in the dark matter sub-halos present at high redshift and evolved with an n-body code augmented with gravitational interactions in the clusters. The tidally removed stars…
We present an analysis of the radial age gradients for the stellar halos of five Milky Way mass-sized systems simulated as part of the Aquarius Project. The halos show a diversity of age trends, reflecting their different assembly…
I assess the similarities and differences between the star-formation modes in quiescent spiral galaxies versus those in violent starburst regions, including galactic nuclei. As opposed to the quiescent star-formation mode, current empirical…
We demonstrate a new approach of indirectly constraining both early star and structure formation via mature galaxy clusters at cosmic noon (z~2), using the cluster XLSSC 122 as an example. With the standard Press Schechter formalism, we…
Early-type galaxies are not the simple Population II systems they have long been assumed to be. While upwards of 80% of the stellar mass of early-type galaxies likely formed at high redshift, small frostings of intermediate-age stellar…
JWST and HST observations have revealed numerous elongated, pickle-shaped galaxies at high to intermediate redshifts, with masses close to those expected for Milky Way progenitors. Here we use reduced-mass eigentensors to quantify the…
A short overview is given on the development of our present paradigm of the large scale structure of the Universe with emphasis on the role of Ya. B. Zeldovich. Next we use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data and show that the distribution of…
We present a summary of our recent work on the vertical distribution of the resolved stellar populations in six low mass, edge-on, spiral galaxies observed with the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS). In each…
We study the age and metallicity distribution function (MDF) of metal-poor stars in the Milky Way halo as a function of galactocentric radius by combining N-body simulations and semi-analytical methods. We find that the oldest stars…
In popular cold dark matter cosmological scenarios, stars may have first appeared in significant numbers around a redshift of 10 or so, as the gas within protogalactic halos with virial temperatures in excess of 20,000 K (corresponding to…
Star formation history shows a gradual decline since the last 8-9 Gyr (z=1). The bulk of present-day stellar mass and metal content was formed at redshifts lower than 2-3, which is consistent with a hierarchical scenario of galaxy…
We summarise some recent results about nearby galactic bulges that are relevant to their formation. We highlight a number of significant advances in our understanding of the surface brightness profiles, stellar populations, and especially…
We study the radial dependence in stellar populations of 33 nearby early-type galaxies with central stellar velocity dispersions sigma* > 150 km/s. We measure stellar population properties in composite spectra, and use ratios of these…