Stellar Populations

Our knowledge of stellar populations and its use to study the formation and evolution of galaxies is integral to our understanding of the evolution of structure in the Universe as a whole. At the same time, the properties of stellar populations are intimately tied to our understanding of nearby stars including the Sun. This book will connect our knowledge of the Sun and nearby stars to our knowledge of the Galaxy, external galaxies, and the Universe on the largest scales.

The book will be organized around the concept of diagnostic diagrams that are important to the study of stellar populations. Each diagram will be discussed in its entirety from how it is constructed to how it is used to better understand the properties of stellar populations and therefore the galaxies hosting them.

These diagrams are (1) the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (or Color-Magnitude Diagram [CMD]) and its cousin the Luminosity Function (LF), (2) Metallicity Distribution Function (MDF), (3) Age-Metallicity Relation (AMR), (4) Age-Galactocentric Distance Relation, (5) Metallicity-Galactocentric Distance Relation, (6) [/Fe] vs [Fe/H] Relation, (7) [Fe/H] vs Horizontal Branch Morphology Relation, (8) Bailey Diagram for RR Lyrae variables, (9) Luminosity Function of Star Clusters, and (10) Specific Frequency of Globular Clusters (SN) vs Galaxy Luminosity.