Relazione su invito
The impact of extragalactic globular clusters on galaxy formation research: the experience with VST/VEGAS and beyond.
Cantiello M., Hazra N., Lonare P., Mirabile M., Raimondo G., Brocato E.
To understand the formation and evolution mechanisms of galaxies, data must be collected from various observables and accurately interpreted by models or by comparison with reference objects with known properties. Extragalactic globular clusters (GCs) are a particularly efficient tool for studying galaxies. This is due to several properties of these objects. After stars, GCs are probably among the simplest astronomical objects, as they host a (relatively) simple stellar population. The GC system in the Milky Way is an excellent comparative term for systems in other galaxies. They are typically old (age $t \ge 10$ Gyr), bright (so that they can be observed out to large distances) and very numerous (up to tens of thousands in some galaxies). Finally, the study of the GC system in numerous galaxies has revealed many properties that are useful for studying various features of the host environment. In my talk, I will give an overview of the properties of GC systems and the results of their study, obtained mainly in recent years thanks to the availability of wide-field imaging data from observing campaigns such as the VST Early Type GAlaxies Survey (VEGAS).