Stellar Clusters are very useful laboratories for empirically studying stellar evolution. ... All cluster stars are at the same distance . All cluster stars have the same physical age . ... CM diagram Young Cluster In this case we see the Main Sequence fully represented. The blue dots represent massive stars with short main sequence lifetimes. ... Thus, identifying the most massive star which is still on the main sequence is an effective means of determining the age of a stellar cluster. ...

Why areNuclear Star Clusters interesting? 1) Many -- if not all ­ nuclear star clusters appear to be young, or at least have a young population of stars. ... 3) If nuclear clusters indeed form in the galaxy center, their impact on the dynamics of stars and gas in the central region of the host galaxy needs to be understood, because it can potentially influence the galaxy morphology. For example, it has been suggested that nuclear clusters can destroy stellar bars and thus form galaxy bulges. ...

... Staff . ... Galaxies, AGN, Cosmology . ... A new survey of X-ray clusters of galaxies with the Swift-X-ray Telescope . ... In this framework, an international collaboration between INAF-OAA, INAF-Brera, INAF-OATs, the University for Science and Technology of China-Hefei, the University of Ferrara, and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, is undertaking a new cluster survey using an X-ray facility that was never exploited before for this goal: the X-ray Telescope (XRT) onboard the Swift satellite...

This animation shows a galaxy cluster with two mass concentrations (the pink shading indicates the projected mass density) lensing a background field of faint blue galaxies. ... Inside the Einstein ring radius one has radial arcs, and right in the center of the cluster there are demagnified images. The highest magnifications occur at the Einstein ring radius, giving the large tangential arcs. ... Abell 2218 and CL2244-02 are clusters with tangential arcs. ... Tutorial : Part 1 | Part 2 | ...

... Science . ... The goal is to bring together two communitities: the one working on star formation (mostly galactic) and the one working on the formation of young massive clusters (mostly extra-galactic). We will link galactic with extra-galactic work, optical/NIR techniques with sub-mm/mm/radio ones, the formation of stars with the one of massive star clusters - observations and theory. ... Coordinated by Marina Rejkuba (abstract) . ... How did star formation proceed in Globular Clusters? ...

... GSAOI Home . ... Science . ... Deep J , H , and K imaging is required of Galactic and Magellanic Cloud analogs of the super star clusters identified in starburst galaxies. ... Images of the 30 Doradus star cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud in the visible ( left panels ) and near-infrared ( right panels ) take from the ground ( top panels ) and with the Hubble Space Telescope ( bottom panels ). The fields of the GSAOI detectors are shown as four green squares in each frame. ...

... We address a question if globular clusters (GC) in a protogalaxy could for some time evolve chemically as isolated systems, enriching themselves with heavy elements produced in first supernova events that follow initial star formation. We determine both the critical mass of a protoglobular cluster that is needed to retain the ejecta of the very first supernova, and the critical energy (i.e., number of supernovae) that is needed to expel the residual gas from a cluster of a given mass. ...

Today's APOD | ... Editor's choices for the most educational Astronomy Pictures of the Day about open clusters: . APOD: 2006 January 9 - M45: The Pleiades Star Cluster . ... The Pleiades contains over 3000 stars, is about 400 light years away, and only 13 light years across. ... Two types of star clusters are visible in our Milky Way Galaxy : open clusters and globular clusters . ... Aged 80 million years, M47 is a smaller but looser cluster of about 50 stars spanning 10 light-years. ... Index | ...

... 1st Announcement IAU Symposium 312 Star Clusters and Black Holes Across Cosmic Time, Beijing, China, Aug. 25-29, 2014 . ... SUBJECT: 1st Announcement IAU Symposium 312 Star Clusters and Black Holes Across Cosmic Time, Beijing, China, Aug. 25-29, 2014 . ... which will be held in Beijing, P.R. China, from August 25-29, 2014, hosted by Chinese Academy of Sciences . ... China), . ... 1st Announcement IAU Symposium 312 Star Clusters and Black Holes Across Cosmic Time, Beijing, China, Aug. ...

... Structure of Data . ... Catalog . ... In SAI OCL Catalog, we introduce our work on investigation of the Milky Way system of open star clusters. The main goal of our study is a search for new clusters using huge surveys. 168 new clusters have been already discovered by us using J,H,Ks data from 2MASS point source catalog. ... For 141 new clusters, we found their physical parameters using J,H,Ks data from 2MASS catalog and, for a number of clusters, our UBVRI CCD observational magnitudes. ...

home publications > mercury . ... Big Clusters, Tiny Galaxies . ... Astronomers struggle to understand why giant star clusters form in the tiniest of galaxies . ... These clusters are probably young versions of globular clusters, but they are commonly called super star clusters. Seven dwarf galaxies within 16 million light-years have formed super star clusters, with one of these galaxies, NGC 1569, possessing two young clusters. ... Super star clusters have a lot to tell us about star formation. ...