Line-of-sight velocities and improved metal abundance estimates are available for a representative sample of 58 giants located by an objective prism survey (Ratnatunga and Freeman 1985), in a 20 square degree field near SA 127 (1 = 272, b = +39). These in-situ K-giants of the outer regions of our galactic halo give a direct comparison of the field population with the globular cluster system. Fig. 1 illustrates the distribution of line-of-sight velocity with abundance for the sample of giant stars in SA 127. The mean and dispersion of the sample appears to be discontinuous at [FeH] ~ −0.8. Fig. 2 shows the distribution of [Fe/H] with distance from the Sun for the same stars. The metal stronger giants (filled symbols) represent a population of stars up to 6 kpc above the plane of the disk and have a velocity dispersion of about 50 km/s. In contrast, the metal weaker giants have a typical halo dispersion of about 120 km/s.

We use the radial velocities of galactic globular clusters, corrected for solar motion to calculate their apparent angular momentum. Comparing the apparent angular momentum with a numerical simulation we show, with 90% confidence, that the globular cluster system is in prograde rotation. The distribution of angular momentum with Fe/H reveals three distinct groups of clusters with different kind of rotation:

1) 19 clusters with Fe/H > −0.8 have a solid-body rotation in the direct sense.

2) 33 clusters with −1.75 < Fe/H < −0.8 do not exhibit any rotation (80%. confidence).

3) 27 clusters with Fe/H < −1.75 have a uniform rotational velocity in the direct sense (90% confidence).

With high-precision radial velocities and proper motions, one can equate the proper motion and radial velocity dispersions to obtain astrometric distances independent of any standard candles. We discuss the method and the small distance it yields to M 22.

Proper motions of globular clusters referred to extragalactic background objects provide absolute proper motions leading to space velocities. Some results from the Bonn Observatory proper motion program for galactic globular clusters are shown. Reference stars from the Lick program linked to galaxies are used. Low orbital angular momenta for NGC 4147, NGC 5466 and NGC 6218 were detected. In a further program, proper motions of 47 Tuc and NGC 362 are currently being measured relative to the background of the SMC.

It has been estimated that up to several tens of globular clusters in our Galaxy remain undiscovered, because they are hidden by the dust. Most of those clusters are expected to be in the bulge area, but some may be anywhere in the galactic plane. This search is based on the use of IRAS catalogs as candidate lists for the obscured globular clusters. It was found that the properties of detected known clusters are sufficiently distinct for a meaningful sifting through the PSC. A sequence of statistical “filters”, described below, was applied on the PSC, until a couple of hundred most promising candidates were found in the bulge.

The interstellar reddening of globular clusters of the Galaxy is still an important unresolved problem, especially for metal-rich objects that are found usually at low galactic latitudes in the general direction of the galactic center. Their color excesses are needed in order to correct their color-magnitude diagrams and to determine their intrinsic integrated color indices. For this we need some method which is not related to measures of the cluster stars. One such method is to use foreground field stars in the direction of the globular cluster to measure the interstellar reddening. Because most of the globular clusters lie outside the galactic plane, we need information about the reddening in all the layer of absorbing dust in different directions. This information can be obtained by investigating stars which are at different distances from the Sun up to the edge of the absorbing dust layer. On the other hand, these stars should be as close as possible to the position of the globular cluster to avoid possible variations in the interstellar reddening in the area of the cluster.

A complete search on KPNO 4-m plates has been undertaken in order to determine the whole observable part of the cluster luminosity function of the late-type spiral galaxy NGC 2403. Automatic procedures have been used for object detection and analysis, and then selection criteria, based on geometric and photometric properties, have been applied in order to define the sample of cluster candidates.

We report on the search for globular clusters around NGC 3109, a SB(s)m nearby galaxy using observations taken with the wide field telescope at La Silla. Clusters are discriminated by using the advanced image processing software (MOAN). From 320 objects, 23 candidates are retained. Their luminosity function peaks at mv − 19.8, thus giving the distance of the parent galaxy as 2.13 Mpc. The radial distribution follows the Dp1/4 law well. The total number of clusters is estimated at 40 ± 25 and the specific frequency Sv = 3 clusters per Mv = −15.

We present the results of an unbiased survey to search for globular clusters around the nearby elliptical galaxy NGC 5128. A total of 44 clusters has been identified on the basis of radial velocities alone. The cluster system appears to be flattened towards the major axis of the galaxy but does not show any dynamically significant rotation. There is a deficit of clusters in the core when compared with the power law density profile seen at large radii.

In the course of work done in the Astronomy Department of Bologna University on “Search and Study of Globular Clusters in M 31”, a remarkable quantity of data in the literature concerning optical, X-ray and radio surveys in the field of Andromeda Galaxy has been accumulated.

CCD images in UBVR of 33 star clusters in the disk of M31 show them to be mainly bright and very young. Few cataloged clusters in the disk are likely to be as old as 109 years.

The spatial distribution of globular clusters in M 31 has been analyzed using the catalogues of Sargent et al. (1977) and Crampton et al. (1985). It is concluded that the globular clusters within the distance of 54′ from the center of M 31 show an elliptical distribution aligned to the major axis of the disk. This is similar to the distribution of metal-rich clusters in our galaxy.

We present the results of low dispersion spectrophotometry (resolution about 5 å, using IDS at ESO 3.6 m and 1.5 m telescopes) of 80 red supergiants in the Magellanic Clouds: 31 SMC field stars, 26 LMC field stars and 23 suspected members of young populous clusters. From these spectra, spectrophotometric indices have been derived which simulate Strömgren photometry and measure the strengths of the Ca I (4226) line and of the G-band. The indices are calibrated with respect to red giants and provide a set of metallicity indicators.

In close connection with a parallel theoretical study (see Sweigart, Greggio and Renzini 1987) CCD photometry in the B and V bands of star clusters in the LMC and SMC was started in 1983 using the ESO telescopes. To study the development of the red giant branch (RGB) we selected intermediate age clusters using the following criteria: 1) integrated (B-V) color between 0.3 and 0.6 and/or 2) membership in the type IV group of the Searle, Wilkinson and Bagnuolo (1980) classification (SWB). A few other clusters (e.g. NGC 121) were observed for calibration purposes. The observed clusters are NGC 121, 152, 1756, 1831, 1841, 1987, 2164, 2173, 2209, 2249, 1466, 1866, 2107, 2108 and 2134 and good or very good quality CM diagrams have been obtained for the first ten of them. Out of this list, those clusters with a well developed RGB are NGC 121, 152, 1841, 1987 and 2173. Using the CCD frames, integrated (B-V) colors have also been obtained for some of the clusters.

CCD images and UBV integrated photometry of 31 clusters comprising a magnitude limited sample in a remote northern region of the LMC have provided reliable ages and consistent abundances using isochrone ‘fits’ to deep color-magnitude (CM) diagrams for the 15 clusters with CCD data. Ages for the remaining clusters have been inferred from their integrated colors. The resulting LMC cluster age distribution is markedly different from the age distribution of Galactic clusters suggesting a significant ‘burst’ in the cluster formation rate in the outer LMC 2-4 Gyr ago. The age-metallicity relation (AMR) for our LMC cluster sample is also presented.

Integral fluxes (Bolometric and U, B, V) are computed in a completely theoretical frame in order to investigate the structural properties and stellar content of coeval stellar systems of various ages and metal abundance. Some results concerning the problem of the color gap in the distribution of the sample of Magellanic Cloud clusters are discussed.

It is at present difficult from the literature to intercompare ages of clusters in the Magellanic Clouds owing to the variety of ways in which authors have interpreted the observational data and the several theoretical models used. With these considerations in mind we have embarked on a homogeneous investigation of clusters within a sky area of about 1 square degree. Because of its large concentration of clusters, we have chosen for study the so-called Bok region (Bok and Bok 1969) located in the northwestern part of the LMC bar. Photographic BVRI color-magnitude and color-color diagrams are provided for the 14 clusters listed in Table 1. None of these clusters have had previous stellar photometry in R, I and only four of them in the BV passbands.

It has long been apparent that the rich star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds differ widely in age, a circumstance which renders these clusters particularly useful in tracing the age-metallicity relations of their parent systems. We have attempted to exploit this potential by studying the integrated light of red globular clusters in the Large and Small Clouds.

It is believed that stellar systems become mass-segregated on a time scale comparable to the two-body relaxation time (Tr). Globular clusters in the Magellanic Clouds have an extensive range in age and richness. Thus, in the clouds, there are candidate clusters with ratios of Tr to age both > 1 and < 1. Our objective is to study the radial density structure of clusters as a function of mass (magnitude) and compare with expectations based upon Tr. We report here preliminary results on two such clusters at the age extremes in our sample: NGC 458 (SMC) and 121SCO3 (LMC).