Related papers: Old Open Clusters as Tracers of Galactic Evolution
This talk investigates the formation of early-type galaxies from a deliberately observational view point. I begin by reviewing the conclusions that can be reached by comparing the detailed properties of galaxies in present-day clusters,…
Clusters of galaxies are used in a variety of ways to do cosmology. Some of them are presented here. Their X-ray emitting gas allows us to determine the baryon fraction, dark matter distribution and the matter density $\Omega_{m}$ of the…
Evidence is presented for a recent evolution of the relaxation processes in clusters of galaxies, using large optical and X-ray cluster samples. The criteria of the cluster relaxation used are the cluster ellipticity, the ICM temperature…
Galaxy haloes contain fundamental clues about the galaxy formation and evolution process: hierarchical cosmological models predict haloes to be ubiquitous, and to be (at least in part) the product of past merger and/or accretion events. The…
In this contribution the ongoing effort to build a statistical sample of clusters of galaxies over a wide range of redshifts to study the evolution of clusters and member galaxies is reviewed. The starting point for this project has been…
We present some early results from our deep imaging survey of galaxy clusters intended to detect and study intracluster light (ICL). From our observations to date, we find that ICL is common in galaxy clusters, and that substructure in the…
We describe a long term project aimed at deriving information on the chemical evolution of the Galactic disk from a large sample of open clusters. The main property of this project is that all clusters are analyzed in a homogeneous way, to…
We discuss some of the key open questions regarding the formation and evolution of globular clusters (GCs) during galaxy formation and assembly within a cosmological framework. The current state-of-the-art for both observations and…
We investigate the distribution of Blue Straggler stars in the field of three open star clusters. The main purpose is to highlight the crucial role played by general Galactic disk fore-/back-ground field stars, which are often located in…
Star cluster formation is a major mode of star formation in the extreme conditions of interacting galaxies and violent starbursts. These newly-formed clusters are built from recycled gas, pre-enriched to various levels within the…
Globular clusters (GCs) are among the oldest and most luminous stellar systems in the Universe, offering unique insights into galaxy formation and evolution. While the physical processes behind their origin have long remained elusive, major…
The evolution of galaxies is driven strongly by dynamical processes including internal instabilities, tidal interactions and mergers. The cluster environment is a useful laboratory for studying these effects. I present recent results on…
The evolution of the structural and kinematic properties of early-type galaxies (ETGs), their scaling relations, as well as their stellar metallicity and age contain precious information on the assembly history of these systems. We present…
I review recent progress in the study of the large-scale structure of the Universe through the distribution of clusters of galaxies, concentrating on new results using X-ray selected samples. After discussing the importance of understanding…
Star clusters - open and globulars - experience dynamical evolution on time scales shorter than their age. Consequently, open and globular clusters provide us with unique dynamical laboratories for learning about two-body relaxation, mass…
This review focuses on how galaxies and their globular cluster systems form. I first discuss the now fairly convincing evidence that some globular clusters form in galaxy starbursts/mergers. One way these observations are valuable is they…
Open clusters offer a unique possibility to study the time evolution of the radial metallicity gradients of several elements in our Galaxy, because they span large intervals in age and Galactocentric distance, and both quantities can be…
We review current knowledge on the structure, properties and evolution of galactic bulges, considering particularly common preconceptions in the light of recent observational results.
The present paper presents a tabulation of data on all 600 Galactic open clusters for which it is presently possible to calculate linear diameters. As expected, the youngest `clusters' with ages < 15 Myr, contain a significant (greater than…
Because of their deep gravitational potential wells, clusters of galaxies retain all the metals produced by the stellar populations of the member galaxies. Most of these metals reside in the hot plasma which dominates the baryon content of…