The distributions of 141 globular clusters in the Galaxy and 54 globular clusters in the LMC in space with coordinates being their dynamical parameters are considered by taxonomical analysis. The majority of clusters are shown to enter several taxons (classes) with narrow enough limits of these parameters. Classes are not isolated and continually transfer between each other. It possibly means an absence of significant gaps in clusters' formation process. Taxonomical analysis of the joint distribution for both samples showed that though LMC clusters essentially differ in color and mass in the space of their dynamical parameters some part of them are similar to Galaxy globular clusters.

In the course of the OGLE II experiment we have collected up to now about one billion BVI observations of ten million stars in the Magellanic Clouds. Based on that data about 1000 star clusters were detected with an automatic algorithm. In a series of papers we published catalogs of clusters, multiple cluster candidates and variable stars located in the fields of detected clusters. We also presented analysis of the properties of detected clusters. This year the new phase of the OGLE project — OGLE III — has started. With the new mosaic detector we will increase the data flow by about an order of magnitude.

We present the photometric results of 21 stellar clusters of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The WFPC2 images were retrieved from the HST archive. Simple stellar populations in a large spread of age are well represented in the sample of color-magnitude diagrams shown here.

We present color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) based on HST F555W (“V”) and F814W (“I”) observations of three old LMC clusters: NGC 2210, NGC 1786, and Reticulum. The fiducial derived from the CMD of NGC 2257, another LMC cluster, provided a good fit to the data for the new clusters. Because NGC 2257 has a similar metallicity ([Fe/H]∼ −1.8) to NGC 2210, NGC 1786, and Reticulum, the agreement between the CMDs of all four clusters indicates that they have the same age. This preliminary analysis suggests that any age differences are smaller than 2 Gyr. These new results mean that there are now 11 old LMC clusters with similar ages. An initial epoch of star cluster formation therefore happened in a short period over a large volume of space, a volume much larger than is now covered by the present-day optical LMC.

We present a preliminary analysis of homogeneous, deep and accurate multiwavelength U, B, V, and I data of the old LMC cluster Reticulum. The comparison between theory and observations seems to suggest that the reddening toward this cluster is a factor of 2 larger than suggested in the literature. Both cluster distance and age are in agreement with the canonical values. Finally, the main goals of this project are briefly discussed.

Washington CCD photometry of intermediate-age clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is presented. The cluster age distribution in the SMC suggests formation epochs at 3 and 6 Gyr, respectively. Recent star formation is confined to the central body of the SMC. The chemical evolution of the SMC appears to be best represented by bursty models.

We present new near-infrared observations of the N11B nebula in the LMC. The presence of IR sources with intrinsic IR excess, a methanol maser and a very prominent PDR regions suggest strong star forming activity in N11B.

The discovery and preliminary spectroscopic orbits of two early O type binaries in very young open clusters in the Magellanic Clouds is reported. The binaries are NGC 346–1 in the Small Magellanic Cloud, and HDE 270145 in NGC 2122 in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

A brief review on globular cluster sub-populations in galaxies, and their constraints on galaxy formation and evolution is given. The metal-poor and metal-rich sub-populations are put in a historical context, and their properties, as known to date, are summarized. We review why the study of these sub-populations is extremely useful for the study of galaxy formation and evolution, but highlight a few caveats with the current interpretations. We re-visit the current globular cluster system formation scenarios and show how they boil down to a single scenario for the metal-poor clusters (namely the formation in “universal”, small fragments at high z) and that a hierarchical formation seems favored for the metal-rich clusters.

New and archival HST images of the globular cluster systems of 17 relatively nearby galaxies and 6 more distant galaxies have been used to establish the characteristics of GC subpopulations over a range of host galaxy morphological type from E5 to Sa. GC color/metallicity, size and luminosity distributions have been examined in the nearby galaxies and color distributions have been determined for the more distant sample. Correlations with parent galaxy properties and trends with galactocentric radius have been explored. Supplemented with Keck spectroscopy, our results are best explained by an in situ formation scenario in which both GC subpopulations formed at early times within the potential well of the protogalaxy, in multiple episodes of star formation. We have also discovered a third population of clusters, fundamentally distinct from the compact red and blue clusters common in early type galaxies.

We present the results of our detailed WFPC2-based photometric study of the globular cluster systems (GCS) of over 60 elliptical and SO galaxies. Approximately 50% of the GCSs of ellipticals, and at least 15–20% of S0s reveal bimodality in the color distribution. We trace the variation in GCS properties with Hubble type and discuss the implications on the various models of galaxy (and cluster system) formation. We also provide evidence that the globular cluster luminosity function is an excellent distance indicator with an accuracy comparable to the surface brightness fluctuation method.

In this overview of the key properties of globular cluster (GC) systems I show that the GCs in elliptical and spiral host galaxies have more in common than previously thought. After contrasting these properties I briefly comment on GC formation.

The giant early-type merger remnant galaxy NGC 1316 is an ideal probe for studying the long-term effects of a major merger on its globular cluster (GC) system, given its spectroscopically derived merger age of ∼3 Gyr which we reported in a recent paper. Here we report several pieces of photometric evidence showing that the second-generation GCs in NGC 1316 are at an evolutionary phase in between that of luminous GCs found in younger merger remnants such as (e.g.) NGC 7252 and that of ‘red’ GCs found in ‘normal, old’ ellipticals. The observation that massive, second-generation GCs formed during major mergers can survive for at least 3 Gyr provides strong evidence that these clusters can have ‘normal’ mass functions including low-mass stars, and hence that they can survive to reach ‘old age’ similar to those of ‘normal’ ellipticals.

A two color CCD survey for globular clusters in the galactocentric range from 2 to 7 arcmin from the galaxy centers is presented for NGC 1399 and NGC 4486 (M87), two systems that, for a long time, have been considered as class archetypes of the so called “high specific frequency phenomenon”. The new results, combined with previously published HST data for the inner 2 arcmin, and with a re-discussion of the surface brightness profiles, allow a new estimate of the globular cluster specific frequencies. The resulting SN values cannot be considered as anomalously large and, rather, they are consistent with values obtained for other galaxies with similar morphologies.

We present recent multi-object spectroscopy of globular clusters in the Virgo gEs M49 and M87. In M49, we have a total of 144 confirmed clusters out to 8 arcmin radius (∼ 6 Reff or 35 kpc). We find that the blue (metal-poor) clusters have both a higher velocity dispersion and rotation than the red (metal-poor) clusters. For the metal-rich population we place an upper limit of (v/σ)proj < 0.34 at 99% confidence. We calculate the velocity dispersion as a function of radius, and show that this is consistent with isotropic cluster orbits and the M49 mass distribution determined from X-ray data. For M87, we combine new CFHT data with previous data to obtain a total sample of 278 clusters out to 10 arcmin radius (∼ 45 kpc). We find a similar global rotation for the metal-poor and metal-rich clusters of 160–170 km/sec. Beyond ⋍ 2 Reff (15 kpc), both the metal-poor and metal-rich clusters appear to rotate about the photometric minor axis. The combined cluster sample is consistent with isotropic orbits, but when considered separately, the metal-poor clusters show significant tangential bias of βcl ⋍ −0.4, while the metal-rich clusters show a radial bias with βcl ⋍ +0.4. In both galaxies, the metal-rich and metal-poor clusters share different kinematics, but there is no clear preference for any one formation scenario.

We performed spectroscopy of globular clusters associated with NGC 1399 and measured radial velocities of about 450 clusters, the largest sample ever obtained for dynamical studies. In this progress report, we present the sample and the first preliminary results. Red and blue clusters have slightly different velocity dispersions in accordance with their different density profiles in the case of a spherical and isotropic model. We then measure a constant circular velocity of 422 ± 20 km/s, which agrees well with that of the inner luminous component.

We have obtained multislit spectroscopy of 40 known globular clusters in the nearby peculiar elliptical galaxy NGC 5128 at the ESO NTT telescope. Measurements of metal and hydrogen absorption line indices have been used to estimate the age and metal content of individual clusters. The results have been combined with previous data from multifibre spectroscopy of clusters in the halo of NGC 5128 to study the age and metallicity distribution of the globular cluster system.

We present results from a study to identify the globular cluster systems of six of the brightest galaxies of the Sculptor Group. From Mosaic II CMR images of the area surrounding the galaxies NGC 45, NGC 55, NGC 247, NGC 253, NGC 300, and NGC 7793, we identify cluster candidates through their morphology, luminosity, and color. We show that many of the Milky Way's globular clusters would appear extended in our images if placed in the Sculptor Group; only in the two most distant galaxies, NGC 45 and NGC 7793, is the discrimination difficult. We find 50–100 candidates per galaxy with integrated properties similar to Milky Way clusters. Published spectroscopic identifications of candidates in NGC 253 lead us to expect that ∼50% of the candidates are true clusters, while the remainder are background galaxies. Study of the Sculptor Group galaxies increases the sample of late-type spiral and Magellanic-type galaxies with known globular cluster systems from 2 to ∼10.

In this contribution, first results of deep VLT (V,I) photometry in the central region of the Hydra I galaxy cluster are presented. Many star clusters have been identified not only around several early-type galaxies, but also in the intra-cluster field, as far as 250 kpc from the cluster center. Outside the bulges of the central galaxies NGC 3311 and NGC 3309, the intra-cluster globular cluster system is dominated by blue clusters whose spatial distribution is similar to that of the (newly discovered) dwarf galaxies in Hydra I. The color distributions of globular clusters around NGC 3311 and NGC 3309 are multimodal, with a sharp blue peak and a slightly broader distribution of the red cluster population.

We have used the 2dF spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope to obtain a complete spectroscopic sample of all objects in the magnitude range, 16.5 < bJ < 19.8, regardless of morphology, in an area centred on the Fornax Cluster of galaxies. Among the unresolved targets are five objects which are members of the Fornax Cluster. They are extremely compact stellar systems with scale lengths less than 40 parsecs. These ultra-compact dwarfs are unlike any known type of stellar system, being more compact and significantly less luminous than other compact dwarf galaxies, yet much brighter than any globular cluster.