Related papers: On the Globular Cluster IMF below 1 Solar Mass

(... abridged) The observed luminosity function can be constructed in a range of absolute integrated magnitudes $I_{M_V}= [-10, -0.5]$ mag, i.e. about 5 magnitudes deeper than in the most nearby galaxies. It increases linearly from the…

We present a detailed investigation of the cluster stellar mass-to-light (M*/L) ratio and cumulative stellar masses, derived on a galaxy-by-galaxy basis, for 12 massive (M500 ~ 10^14 - 10^15 Msun), nearby clusters with available optical…

We present a new measurement of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) based on ultra-deep, high-resolution photometry of >5,000 stars in the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) galaxy. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced…

We present the results of a Near-Infrared deep photometric survey of a sample of six embedded star clusters in the Vela-D molecular cloud, all associated with luminous (~10^3 Lsun) IRAS sources. The clusters are unlikely to be older than a…

The distribution of core radii of rich clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) systematically increases in both upper limit and spread with increasing cluster age. Cluster-to-cluster variations in the stellar initial mass function…

We have determined the composite luminosity function (LF) for galaxies in 60 clusters from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey. The LF spans the range $-22.5<M_{b_{\rm J}}<-15$, and is well-fitted by a Schechter function with ${M_{b_{\rm…

(abridged) The case can be made for a rather universal stellar IMF form that can be approximated by a two-part power-law function in the stellar regime. However, there exists a possible hint for a systematic variation with metallicity. A…

I-band CCD images of two large regions of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 1261 have been used to construct stellar luminosity functions (LF) for 14000 stars in three annuli from 1.4' from the cluster center to the tidal radius. The LFs…

We study the luminosity function (LF) of the star clusters in M51. Comparing the observed LF with the LF resulting from artificial cluster populations suggests that there exists an upper mass limit for clusters and that this limit and/or…

The observed masses of the most massive stars do not surpass about 150Msun. This may either be a fundamental upper mass limit which is defined by the physics of massive stars and/or their formation, or it may simply reflect the increasing…

I track the history of star count estimates of the Milky Way field star and open cluster IMFs, concentrating on the neglected mass range from 1 to 15 M${_\odot}$. The prevalent belief in a universal IMF appears to be without basis for this…

We have undertaken a detailed analysis of HST/WFPC2 and STIS imaging observations, and of supplementary wide-field ground-based observations obtained with the NTT of two young ~10-25 Myr) compact star clusters in the LMC, NGC 1805 and NGC…

Several observational and theoretical indications suggest that the initial mass function (IMF) becomes increasingly top-heavy (i.e., overabundant in high-mass stars with mass $m > 1M_{\odot}$) with decreasing metallicity and increasing gas…

The initial cluster mass function (ICMF) in spiral galaxy discs is constrained and compared with data for old globular clusters and young clusters in starbursts. It is found that the observed ages and luminosities of the brightest clusters…

We review selected measurements of the galaxy luminosity function including the global field, the local group, the local sphere, nearby clusters (Virgo, Coma and Fornax) and clusters in general. We conclude that the overall cluster…

We present a uniform analysis of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) from integrated light spectroscopy of 15 compact stellar systems (11 globular clusters in M31 and 4 ultra compact dwarfs in the Virgo cluster, UCDs) and two brightest…

We demonstrate the feasibility of detecting directly low mass stars in unresolved super-star clusters with ages < 10 Myr using near-infrared spectroscopy at modest resolution (R ~ 1000). Such measurements could constrain the ratio of high…

The properties of 939 star clusters in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds were determined from ground-based CCD images in UBVR passbands. The areal coverage was extensive, corresponding to 11.0 sq-kpc in the LMC and 8.3 sq-kpc in the…

We present velocity dispersion measurements of 20 Local Group stellar clusters (7 < log(age [yrs]) < 10.2) from integrated light spectra and examine the evolution of the stellar mass-to-light ratio, Upsilon_*. We find that the clusters…

We report the result of a study in which we have used very deep broadband V and I WFPC2 images of the R136 cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud from the HST archive, to sample the luminosity function below the detection limit of 2.8 Mo…