Marco Tronccoso Balbiano   (Chile)

 matroncoso @ mpia.de

Characterization of stellar clusters in nearby galaxies and quantification of their impact on ISM dynamics

Star formation is governed by the availability and properties of gas in galaxies, which vary systematically with the local galactic environment on kiloparsec scales. However, how these environmental variations shape the resulting stellar populations remains unclear. While most studies of star clusters have focused on the Milky Way, this limits the statistical power and environmental diversity needed to fully address this question.

Extragalactic star clusters provide access to a broader range of conditions, but their study requires high angular resolution observations. Nearby galaxies offer the optimal balance between resolution and sample size, making them ideal targets for systematic studies such as those enabled by the PHANGS collaboration.

My project focuses on the characterization of star clusters in PHANGS galaxies using a combined spectrophotometric SED analysis based on HST, JWST, and MUSE observations. This approach aims to reduce the degeneracies inherent to these studies and to derive robust physical properties of the clusters. I will focus in particular on isolated clusters, which are closest to simple stellar populations, to assess the impact of template libraries in well-controlled cases and then extend this framework to more complex systems, enabling more reliable parameter estimates across the full cluster population. Finally, using the derived parameters, I will link the clusters to their host galaxy environments and assess their impact on the ISM.

Supervisor:    Eva Schinnerer   (MPIA)