Observational studies of galaxy assembly and evolution. Properties of star clusters in galaxies along the Hubble sequence. Assembly history of early-type galaxies and bulges of spiral galaxies. Stellar Populations in external galaxies. The multi-phase ISM in early-type galaxies. Formation and evolution of globular clusters and globular cluster systems. The nature of multiple stellar populations in star clusters. Simulation of astronomical data. Optimization of instrument operations & calibration.
My full list of refereed publications
Recent and Ongoing Research Projects
The Nature of Multiple Stellar Populations in Star Clusters
- Selected Recent Papers on Extended Main Sequence Turnoffs in Intermediate-Age Star Clusters in the Magellanic Clouds:
Paper I: Properties of the Extended Main Sequence Turnoff (eMSTO) in NGC 1846 (2009)
Paper II: New Insights from eMSTOs in 7 LMC Clusters (2011)
Paper III: Evidence for a Range of Ages Being Responsible for eMSTOs in Intermediate-Age Star Clusters (2011)
The Star Formation History of the 1.5 Gyr old LMC Star Cluster NGC 1751 (2011)
The Star Formation History of the LMC Star Clusters NGC 1783 and NGC 1846 (2013)
An eMSTO in the Small Magellanic Cloud Star Cluster NGC 411 (2013)
A Correlation Between Turnoff Width and Escape Velocity among Intermediate-Age Star Clusters in the Magellanic Clouds (2014)
On the Interpretation of Sub-Giant Branch Morphologies of Intermediate-Age Star Clusters with Extended Main Sequence Turnoffs (2015) (see also this PR (in italian))
A Extended Main Sequence Turnoffs in Intermediate-Age Star Clusters: Stellar Rotation diminishes, but does not eliminate, Age Spreads (2017)
The Minimum Mass of Rotating Main Sequence Stars and its Impact on the Nature of Extended Main Sequence Turnoffs in Intermediate-Age Star Clusters in the Magellanic Clouds (2018)
The Wide Upper Main Sequence and Main Sequence Turnoff of the ~800 Myr old Star Cluster NGC 1831 (2021)
- Recent and Ongoing Observing or Archival Programs on Intermediate-Age Star Clusters in the Magellanic Clouds:
HST-GO-10595 (PI Goudfrooij): HST/ACS, A Reference Database for Accurate Ages and Metallicities of Globular Clusters in the Magellanic Clouds
HST-GO-12257 (PI Girardi): HST/WFC3, The Nature of Multiple Main Sequence Turn-offs and Dual Red Clumps in Magellanic Cloud Star Clusters
HST-GO-12908 (PI Goudfrooij): HST/WFC3, What Causes Extended Main Sequence Turn-offs in Intermediate-Age Star Clusters?
HST-GO-13011 (PI Puzia): HST/WFC3, Searching for the Hα "Smoking Gun" of Prolonged Star Cluster Formation
ESO 090.D-0368(A) (PI Puzia): ESO/VLT/FLAMES, The Light-Element Enrichment in Magellanic Cloud Star Clusters featuring extended Main-Sequence Turnoff Regions
HST-AR-13901 (PI Fouesneau): HST/WFC3 and ACS, A Legacy Magellanic Clouds Star Clusters Sample for the Calibration of Stellar Evolution Models
HST-GO-14174 (PI Goudfrooij): HST/WFC3, Probing Extended Star Formation in the Young Massive Cluster NGC 1850
HST-GO-14688 (PI Goudfrooij): HST/WFC3, Extended Star Formation or a Range of Stellar Rotation Velocities? The Nature of Extended Main Sequence Turnoffs in Intermediate-Age Star Clusters
HST-AR-15023 (PI Goudfrooij): HST/WFC3 and ACS, Looking for Photometric Signatures of Fast Rotation in Intermediate-Age Star Clusters in the Magellanic Clouds
The Nature of Globular Clusters (GCs) Associated with Galaxies
- Selected Recent Papers on the Nature of Metal-Rich GCs in Early-Type Galaxies:
Kinematics, Ages and Metallicities of GCs in NGC 1316: a 3-Gyr-Old Merger Remnant (2001)
The GC System of the 3-Gyr-old Merger Remnant NGC 1316: Clues from Optical and Near-IR Photometry (2001)
Deep Luminosity Functions of Old and Intermediate-Age GCs in NGC 1316: Evidence for Dynamical Evolution of Second-Generation GCs (2004)
Dynamical Evolution of GC Systems Formed in Galaxy Mergers: Deep HST/ACS Imaging of Old and Intermediate-Age GCs in NGC 3610 (2007)
Sizes, Half-mass Densities, and Mass Functions of GCs in the Merger Remnant NGC 1316: Clues to the Fate of Second-Generation GCs (2012)
New insights into the Star Formation Histories of Candidate Intermediate-Age Early-Type Galaxies From K'-band Imaging of GCs (2012)
The Optical Colors of Giant Elliptical Galaxies and their Metal-Rich Globular Clusters Indicate a Bottom-Heavy Stellar IMF (2013)
Color-Magnitude Relations within GC Systems of Giant Elliptical Galaxies: The Effects of GC Mass Loss and the Stellar IMF (2014)
Dissolved Massive Metal-Rich Globular Clusters Can Cause the Range of UV Upturn Strengths Found Among Early-Type Galaxies (2018)
- Selected Recent Papers on the Dynamical Evolution of GCs:
Sizes, Half-mass Densities, and Mass Functions of GCs in the Merger Remnant NGC 1316: Clues to the Fate of Second-Generation GCs (2012)
Evolution of the Mass and Luminosity Functions of Globular Star Clusters (2016)
Dissolved Massive Metal-Rich Globular Clusters Can Cause the Range of UV Upturn Strengths Among Early-type Galaxies (2018)
- Selected Recent Papers on GC Systems of Early-Type Post-Starburst (E+A) Galaxies:
Evidence for Three Subpopulations of GCs in the Early-Type Post-Starburst Shell Galaxy AM 0139-655 (2007)
GC Populations in Four Early-Type Post-Starburst Galaxies (2009)
- Selected Recent Papers on the Formation of Spiral Galaxies and their GC Systems:
HST Observations of GC Systems Along the Hubble Sequence of Spiral Galaxies (2003)
The Formation of Spheroids in Early-Type Spirals: Clues from their GCs (2010)
The Strikingly Metal-rich Halo of the Sombrero Galaxy (2020)
The Accuracy and Precision of Population Synthesis Models
- Selected Recent Papers:
Integrated-light VRI Imaging Photometry of GCs in the Magellanic Clouds (2006) (see also this)
A Database of 2MASS Near-IR Colors of Magellanic Cloud Star Clusters (2006)
A Comparison of Optical and Near-IR Colors of Magellanic Cloud Star Clusters with Predictions of Simple Stellar Population Models (2008)
On the Precision of Full-spectrum Fitting of Simple Stellar Populations. I. Well-sampled Populations (2020)
On the Precision of Full-spectrum Fitting of Simple Stellar Populations. II. The Dependence on Star Cluster Mass in the Wavelength Range 0.3 – 5.0 µm (2021)
On the Precision of Full-spectrum Fitting of Simple Stellar Populations. III. Identifying Age Spreads (2021)
On the Precision of Full-spectrum Fitting of Simple Stellar Populations. IV. A Systematic Comparison with Results from Colour-magnitude Diagrams (2022)
The HST/ACS Treasury Survey of the Coma Cluster (see project website)
Mentoring/Advising
Postdoctoral Fellows:
- Dr. Roger Cohen (Aug 2017 - Jul 2021, STScI) --> Now Postdoctoral Fellow at Rutgers U.
- Dr. Matteo Correnti (Sep 2013 - Jan 2017, STScI) --> Now STScI Scientist at STScI
- Dr. Iskren Georgiev (Apr 2009 - Sep 2009, STScI) --> Now Fellow at MPIA, Heidelberg, Germany
- Dr. Aparna Maybhate (Oct 2005 - Mar 2008, STScI) --> Now Deputy Lead of Research & Instrument Analyst Branch at STScI
- Dr. Thomas Puzia (Oct 2003 - Sep 2006, STScI) --> Now Faculty at P. Universidad Catolica, Santiago, Chile
- Dr. Lucimara Martins (May 2005 - Apr 2006, STScI) --> Now Faculty at Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Graduate Students:
- Dr. Iskren Georgiev (Oct 2005 - Sep 2008, STScI & U. Bonn) --> Now Fellow at MPIA, Heidelberg, Germany
- Dr. Peter Pessev (Mar 2005 - Mar 2008, STScI & U. Sofia) --> Now Researcher at University of Bern
Undergraduate or Summer Students:
- Raquel Chicharro (Summer 2012, STScI, from U. Complutense de Madrid) --> Deceased while pursuing her Ph. D. Sincere condolences to her family.
- Xinyi Guo (Summer 2010, STScI, from Pomona College) --> Received Ph. D. in Astronomy at Harvard U. Now researcher at D. E. Shaw Research.
- Corey Dow (Summer 2002, STScI, from U. Oregon) --> Received M.S. in Physics at UCSC. Now Researcher at Bend Research (now Lonza).
- Jay Strader (Summer 2001, STScI, from Duke U.) --> Now Faculty at Michigan State University
- Erin McNally (Summer 1999, STScI, from Cornell U.) --> Received M.A. in Science Education at Tufts U.
- Laura Brenneman (1998 - 1999, STScI, from Williams College) --> Now Astrophysicist at Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Research Analysts/Scientists:
- Michael Wolfe (2014 - 2018, STScI)
- Michael Dulude (2013 - 2014, STScI)
- Vera Kozhurina-Platais (2004 - 2014, STScI)
- Diane Karakla (2002 - 2005, STScI)
- Jennifer Mack (1999 - 2000, STScI)