2025-11-23 - 2025-11-27
Natalia Lahén
MPA Garching
Star clusters are collections of stars that most often share a common origin. Their stellar counts span from a few tens in the youngest and smallest open clusters to millions in the oldest and largest globular clusters. Observations of the stellar ages, chemical compositions and internal kinematics of star clusters can provide us with a powerful fossil record of stellar life cycles as well as interstellar conditions in different galactic environments. Young star clusters are also the cradles of some of the most massive stars. Stars more massive than the Sun release copious amounts of radiation and chemical enrichment during their short lifetimes, hence they play a key role in regulating the phase structure of the galactic interstellar medium. By studying how star clusters form and evolve we can therefore improve our understanding of the evolution of both stars and galaxies throughout the cosmic epochs.
This lecture series begins with a review of the observational census of star clusters and their stellar contents in the era of adaptive optics and space based telescopes. We then focus on globular clusters, which 360 years after their first discovery still puzzle theoretical and observational astronomers alike. We continue with an overview of the current state-of-the-art hydrodynamical and N-body techniques used in numerical studies of star cluster formation and evolution. We finish with current open questions and active research topics.
