Related papers: Old Open Clusters as Tracers of Galactic Evolution
Open clusters are the only example of single-age, single initial chemical composition populations in the Galaxy, and they play an important role in the study of the formation and evolution of the Galactic disk. In addition, they have been…
The long term goal of large-scale chemical tagging is to use stellar elemental abundances as a tracer of dispersed substructures of the Galactic disk. The identification of such lost stellar aggregates and the exploration of their chemical…
We present preliminary results of an ongoing survey to probe the physical nature of a sample of open clusters (POCRs, Bica et al. 2001) believed to be in an advanced stage of dynamical evolution. This kind of object is very important to…
Open clusters are known as excellent tools for various topics in Galactic research. For example, they allow accurately tracing the chemical structure of the Galactic disc. However, the metallicity is known only for a rather low percentage…
For several decades now, open clusters have been used to study the structure and chemical evolution of the disk of our Galaxy. Due to the fact that their ages and metallicities can be determined with relatively good precision, and since…
The study of open clusters has a classic feel to it since the subject predates anyone alive today. Despite the age of this topic, I show via an ADS search that its relevance and importance in astronomy has grown faster in the last few…
It is textbook knowledge that open clusters are conspicuous members of the thin disk of our Galaxy, but their role as contributors to the stellar population of the disk was regarded as minor. Starting from a homogenous stellar sky survey,…
In order to understand the Galactic structure, we perform a statistical analysis of the distribution of various cluster parameters based on an almost complete sample of Galactic open clusters yet available. The geometrical and physical…
Star clusters are ideal tracers of star formation activity in systems outside the volume that can be studied using individual, resolved stars. These unresolved clusters span orders of magnitude in brightness and mass, and their formation is…
We review several aspects of clusters of galaxies and their application to cosmology. We present first results of numerical simulations of the dynamics of the intra-cluster gas and of different interaction processes between cluster galaxies…
Old open clusters (OCs) can constrain the chemical evolution of the Galactic disc through their metallicity gradients and age-metallicity relation but they are affected by low statistics. This work aims to determine precise and homogeneous…
Based on the most complete sample of Galactic open star clusters up to 1.8 kpc, we performed statistical analysis of the distribution of open cluster parameters in order to understand the Galactic structure. The geometrical characteristics…
Almost 80 years have passed since Trumpler's analysis of the Galactic open cluster system laid one of the main foundations for understanding the nature and structure of the Milky Way. Since then, the open cluster system has been recognised…
High-mass stars are major players in the chemical and dynamical evolution of galaxies. Open clusters and associations represent the natural laboratories to study their evolution. In this review, I will present a personal selection of…
Star clusters are fundamental units of stellar feedback and unique tracers of their host galactic properties. In this review, we will first focus on their constituents, i.e.\ detailed insight into their stellar populations and their…
We present an overview of observational progress in the study of extragalactic globular cluster systems. Globular clusters turn out to be excellent tracers not only for the star-formation histories in galaxies, but also for kinematics at…
In this paper we have compiled two new open cluster catalogues. In the first one, there are 119 objects with ages, distances and metallicities available, while in the second one, 144 objects have both absolute proper motion and radial…
Open clusters and associations are groups of young stars, respectively bound and unbound, that share the same origin and disperse over time into the galactic field. As such, their formation and evolution are the key to understand the origin…
Open and globular star clusters have served as benchmarks for the study of stellar evolution due to their supposed nature as simple stellar populations of the same age and metallicity. After a brief review of some of the pioneering work…
Clusters of galaxies can be used for very different kinds of cosmological tests. I review a few of the methods: determination of cluster masses and dark matter content, metal enrichment and its connection to the origin of the intra-cluster…