by Dr. Prasanta Nayak, Pontificia Universidad Catolica De Chile

Abstract:

Star clusters are gravitationally bound, nearly coeval systems of stars with a common distance and chemical composition. They are the best example of simple stellar populations. This intrinsic simplicity enables precise determinations of fundamental stellar properties, such as luminosity, effective temperature, age, mass, and metallicity. This makes the star clusters ideal laboratories for testing and calibrating stellar‐evolution pathways.
On galactic scales, star clusters act as fundamental building blocks of galaxies. The demographics of cluster populations, including their age-mass-metallicity distributions, provide direct insight into the star-formation and chemical enrichment histories across diverse galactic environments. In addition, cluster kinematics provide constraints on galactic gravitational potentials and the distribution of dark-matter. Star clusters also play a critical role in calibrating population-synthesis models for unresolved stellar systems, thereby linking resolved stellar populations in the nearby Universe with the integrated light of distant galaxies.
In this talk, I will demonstrate how multi-wavelength (UV to IR) imaging and spectroscopic observations with current facilities (Gaia, GALEX, UVIT, DOT, VLT, GEMINI, HST, JWST etc.) and next generation telescopes/surveys (LSST, Euclid, Roman, INSIST, UVEX, ELT etc.) advance our understanding of stellar and galaxy evolution.