The universe's biggest galaxies have both vast atmospheres and supermassive central
black holes. This article reviews how those two components of a large galaxy couple and …

Numerical simulations have become a major tool for understanding galaxy formation and
evolution. Over the decades the field has made significant progress. It is now possible to …

We address the origin of the robust bimodality observed in galaxy properties about a
characteristic stellar mass∼ 3× 1010 M⊙. Less massive galaxies tend to be ungrouped …

We review the physical properties of nearby, relatively luminous galaxies, using results from
newly available massive data sets together with more detailed observations. First, we …

We study the formation and dynamical evolution of clusters with multiple stellar generations.
Observational studies have found that some globular clusters host a population of second …

The distribution of elements in the cosmos provides a powerful tool to study the Big Bang,
the density of baryonic matter, nucleosynthesis and the formation and evolution of stars and …

Abundance anomalies observed in globular cluster stars indicate pollution with material
processed by hydrogen burning. Two main sources have been suggested: asymptotic giant …

We have carried out a survey for CO J= 1–0 and J= 2–1 emission in the 260 early-type
galaxies of the volume-limited ATLAS3D sample, with the goal of connecting their star …

We present an updated and improved M bh–σ diagram containing 64 galaxies for which M
bh measurements (not just upper limits) are available. Because of new and increased black …

We determine an absolute calibration of the initial mass function (IMF) of early-type galaxies,
by studying a sample of 56 gravitational lenses identified by the Sloan Lenses ACS Survey …