Stars form predominantly in clusters inside dense clumps of molecular clouds that are both turbulent and magnetized. The typical size and mass of the cluster-forming clumps are $\sim 1$ pc and $\sim 10^2 - $ 10$^3$ M$_\odot$, respectively. Here, we discuss some recent progress on numerical simulations of clustered star formation in such parsec-scale dense clumps with emphasis on the role of magnetic fields. The simulations have shown that magnetic fields tend to slow down global gravitational collapse and thus star formation, especially in the presence of protostellar outflow feedback. Even a relatively weak can retard star formation significantly, because the field is amplified by supersonic turbulence to an equipartition strength. However, in such a case, the distorted field component dominates the uniform one. In contrast, if the field is moderately strong, the uniform component remains dominant. Such a difference in the magnetic structure is observed in simulated polarization maps of dust thermal emission. Recent polarization measurements show that the field lines in nearby cluster-forming clumps are spatially well-ordered, indicative of a rather strong field. In such strongly-magnetized clumps, star formation should proceed relatively slowly; it continues for at least several global free-fall times of the parent dense clump ($t_{\rm ff}\sim $ a few $\times 10^5$ yr).
Stars are often observed to form in clusters. It is therefore important to understand how such a region of concentrated mass is assembled out of the diffuse medium and its properties eventually prescribe the important physical mechanisms and determine the characteristics of the stellar cluster. We study the formation of a gaseous proto-cluster inside a molecular cloud by performing high resolution MHD simulations and associate its internal properties to those of the parent cloud by varying the level of the initial turbulence of the cloud, with a view to better characterize the subsequent stell…
The all-sky Milky Way Star Clusters (MWSC) survey provides uniform and precise ages and other parameters for a variety of clusters in the Solar Neighbourhood. We construct the cluster age distribution, investigate its spatial variations, and discuss constraints on cluster formation scenarios of the Galactic disk during the last 5 Gyrs. Due to the spatial extent of the MWSC, we consider spatial variations of the age distribution along galactocentric radius $R_G$, and along $Z$-axis. For the analysis of the age distribution we use 2242 clusters, which all lie within roughly 2.5 kpc of the Sun. T…
Most old globular clusters (GCs) in the Galaxy are observed to have internal chemical abundance spreads in light elements. We discuss a new GC formation scenario based on hierarchical star formation within fractal molecular clouds. In the new scenario, a cluster of bound and unbound star clusters (`star cluster complex', SCC) that have a power-law cluster mass function with a slope (beta) of 2 is first formed from a massive gas clump developed in a dwarf galaxy. Such cluster complexes and beta=2 are observed and expected from hierarchical star formation. The most massive star cluster (`main cl…
We present simulations of the formation and evolution of clusters in spiral arms. The simulations follow two different spiral arm regions, and the total gas mass is varied to produce a range of different mass clusters. We find that including photoionizing feedback produces the observed cluster mass radius relation, increasing the radii of clusters compared to without feedback. Supernovae have little impact on cluster properties. We find that in our high density, high gas mass simulations, star formation is less affected by feedback, as star formation occurs rapidly before feedback has much imp…
We set out to compare the age-metallicity relation (AMR) of massive clusters from Magellanic Cloud mass galaxies in the E-MOSAICS suite of numerical cosmological simulations with an amalgamation of observational data of massive clusters in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC/SMC). We aim to test if: i) star cluster formation proceeds according to universal physical processes, suggestive of a common formation mechanism for young-massive clusters (YMCs), intermediate-age clusters (IACs), and ancient globular clusters (GCs); ii) massive clusters of all ages trace a continuous AMR; iii) the…
Young star clusters (YSCs) with resolved stellar populations are well suited for studying star-cluster formation. In most cases, the (pre-main-sequence) stellar populations found in the YSCs are coeval with an intrinsic age spread of up to 1Myr. Such observations can be understood as the YSCs having formed in one burst, which star formation was truncated by stellar feedback. The recent discovery that the colour-magnitude diagram of the Orion Nebula Clusters (ONC) contains three well defined age-separated populations appears to shatter this model. The implication is that the ONC formed in three…
We investigate the formation and early evolution of star clusters assuming that they form from a turbulent starless clump of given mass bounded inside a parent self-gravitating molecular cloud characterized by a particular mass surface density. As a first step we assume instantaneous star cluster formation and gas expulsion. We draw our initial conditions from observed properties of starless clumps. We follow the early evolution of the clusters up to 20 Myr, investigating effects of different star formation efficiencies, primordial binary fractions and eccentricities and primordial mass segreg…
Stellar clusters are born in cold and dusty molecular clouds and the youngest clusters are embedded to various degrees in dusty dark molecular material. Such embedded clusters can be considered protocluster systems. The most deeply buried examples are so heavily obscured by dust that they are only visible at infrared wavelengths. These embedded protoclusters constitute the nearest laboratories for direct astronomical investigation of the physical processes of cluster formation and early evolution. I review the present state of empirical knowledge concerning embedded cluster systems and discuss…
The properties of young star clusters formed within a galaxy are thought to vary in different interstellar medium (ISM) conditions, but the details of this mapping from galactic to cluster scales are poorly understood due to the large dynamic range involved in galaxy and star cluster formation. We introduce a new method for modeling cluster formation in galaxy simulations: mapping giant molecular clouds (GMCs) formed self-consistently in a FIRE-2 MHD galaxy simulation onto a cluster population according to a GMC-scale cluster formation model calibrated to higher-resolution simulations, obtaini…
Radiative feedback is an important consequence of cluster formation in Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) in which newly formed clusters heat and ionize their surrounding gas. The process of cluster formation, and the role of radiative feedback, has not been fully explored in different GMC environments. We present a suite of simulations which explore how the initial gravitational boundedness, and radiative feedback, affect cluster formation. We model the early evolution ($<$ 5 Myr) of turbulent, 10$^6$ M$_{\odot}$ clouds with virial parameters ranging from 0.5 to 5. To model cluster formation, we u…
We present a new implementation of star formation in cosmological simulations, by considering star clusters as a unit of star formation. Cluster particles grow in mass over several million years at the rate determined by local gas properties, with high time resolution. The particle growth is terminated by its own energy and momentum feedback on the interstellar medium. We test this implementation for Milky Way-sized galaxies at high redshift, by comparing the properties of model clusters with observations of young star clusters. We find that the cluster initial mass function is best described …
In this contribution I present a review of star formation in clusters. I begin by discussing the various definitions of what constitutes a star cluster, and then compare the outcome of star formation (IMF, multiplicity, mass segregation and structure and morphology) in different star-forming regions. I also review recent numerical models of star formation in clusters, before ending with a summary of the potential effects of dynamical evolution in star clusters.
We present a new approach to understanding star-to-star helium abundance variations within globular clusters. We begin with detailed radiation hydrodynamics simulations of cluster formation within giant molecular clouds, and investigate the conditions under which multiple populations could be created. Chemical enrichment occurs dynamically as the cluster is assembled. We test two extreme mechanisms for injection of enriched gas within the clusters, and find that realistic multiple populations can be formed in both mechanisms. The stochastic cluster formation histories are dictated by the inher…
We present a suite of galaxy formation simulations that directly model star cluster formation and disruption. Starting from a model previously developed by our group, here we introduce several improvements to the prescriptions for cluster formation and feedback, then test these updates using a large suite of cosmological simulations of Milky Way mass galaxies. We perform a differential analysis with the goal of understanding how each of the updates affects star cluster populations. Two key parameters are the momentum boost of supernova feedback $f_{\mathrm{boost}}$ and star formation efficienc…
The formation of globular clusters (GCs) remains one of the main unsolved problems in star and galaxy formation. The past decades have seen important progress in constraining the physics of GC formation from a variety of directions. In this review, we discuss the latest constraints obtained from studies of present-day GC populations, the formation of young massive clusters (YMCs) in the local Universe, and the observed, large-scale conditions for star and cluster formation in high-redshift galaxies. The main conclusion is that the formation of massive, GC progenitor clusters is restricted to h…
Young massive clusters are as young as open clusters but more massive and compact compared with typical open clusters. The formation process of young massive clusters is still unclear, and it is an open question whether the formation process is the same as typical open clusters or not. We perform a series of $N$-body simulations starting from initial conditions constructed from the results of hydrodynamical simulations of turbulent molecular clouds. In our simulations, both open clusters and young massive clusters form when we assume a density-dependent star formation efficiency. We find that …
We investigate the dynamical evolution of star clusters during their formation, assuming that they are born from a turbulent starless clump of a given mass that is embedded within a parent self-gravitating molecular cloud characterized by a particular mass surface density. In contrast to the standard practice of most $N$-body studies, we do not assume that all stars are formed at once. Rather, we explore the effects of different star formation rates on the global structure and evolution of young embedded star clusters, also considering various primordial binary fractions and mass segregation l…
Modern hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy formation are able to predict accurately the rates and locations of the assembly of giant molecular clouds in early galaxies. These clouds could host star clusters with the masses and sizes of real globular clusters. I describe current state-of-the-art simulations aimed at understanding the origin of the cluster mass function and metallicity distribution. Metallicity bimodality of globular cluster systems appears to be a natural outcome of hierarchical formation and gradually declining fraction of cold gas in galaxies. Globular cluster formation was mo…
It is believed that the majority of stars form in clusters. Therefore it is likely that the gas physical conditions that prevail in forming clusters, largely determine the properties of stars that form and in particular the initial mass function. We develop an analytical model to account for the formation of low mass clusters and the formation of stars within clusters. The formation of clusters is determined by an accretion rate, the virial equilibrium and energy as well as thermal balance. For this latter both molecular and dust cooling are considered using published rates. The star distribut…
The realization that most stars form in clusters, raises the question of whether star/planet formation are influenced by the cluster environment. The stellar density in the most prevalent clusters is the key factor here. Whether dominant modes of clustered star formation exist is a fundamental question. Using near-neighbour searches in young clusters Bressert et al. (2010) claim this not to be the case and conclude that star formation is continuous from isolated to densely clustered. We investigate under which conditions near-neighbour searches can distinguish between different modes of cluste…
The implementation of star formation and stellar feedback in cosmological simulations plays a critical role in shaping galaxy properties. In the first paper of the series, we presented a new method to model star formation as a collection of star clusters. In this paper, we improve the algorithm by eliminating accretion gaps, boosting momentum feedback, and introducing a subgrid initial bound fraction, $f_i$, that distinguishes cluster mass from stellar particle mass. We perform a suite of simulations with different star formation efficiency per freefall time $ε_{\rm ff}$ and supernova momentum…
A recent study shows that bars can be induced via interaction of galaxy clusters, but it has been unclear if the bar formation by the interaction between clusters is related to the enhancement of star formation. We study galaxies in 105 galaxy clusters at $0.015<z<0.060$ detected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey data, in order to examine whether the fraction of star-forming galaxies ($f_\mathrm{sf}$) in 16 interacting clusters is enhanced compared with that of the other non-interacting clusters and to investigate the possible connection between the $f_\mathrm{sf}$ enhancement and the bar formatio…
We investigate the star formation rate and its location in the major merger cluster Abell 2465 at $z$ = 0.245. Optical properties of the cluster are described in Paper I. Measurements of the H$α$ and infrared dust emission of galaxies in the cluster were made with an interference filter centred on the redshifted line at a wavelength of 817 nm and utilized data from the WISE satellite 12 $μ$m band. Imaging in the Johnson $U$ and $B$ bands was obtained, and along with SDSS $u$ and $r$ was used to study the blue fraction, which appears enhanced, as a further signatures of star formation in the cl…
Some formation scenarios that have been put forward to explain multiple populations within Globular Clusters (GCs) require that the young massive cluster have large reservoirs of cold gas within them, which is necessary to form future generations of stars. In this paper we use deep observations taken with Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) to assess the amount of molecular gas within 3 young (50-200 Myr) massive (~10^6 Msun) clusters in the Antennae galaxies. No significant CO(3--2) emission was found associated with any of the three clusters. We place upper limits for the mo…
The process of radiative feedback in Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) is an important mechanism for limiting star cluster formation through the heating and ionization of the surrounding gas. We explore the degree to which radiative feedback affects early ($\lesssim$5 Myr) cluster formation in GMCs having masses that range from 10$^{4-6}$ M$_{\odot}$ using the FLASH code. The inclusion of radiative feedback lowers the efficiency of cluster formation by 20-50\% relative to hydrodynamic simulations. Two models in particular --- 5$\times$10$^4$ and 10$^5$ M$_{\odot}$ --- show the largest suppression …
In a series of three papers, we introduced a novel cluster formation model that describes the formation, growth, and disruption of star clusters in high-resolution cosmological simulations. We tested this model on a Milky Way-sized galaxy and found that various properties of young massive clusters, such as the mass function and formation efficiency, are consistent with observations in the local universe. Interestingly, most massive clusters -- globular cluster candidates -- are preferentially formed during major merger events. We follow the dynamical evolution of clusters in the galactic tidal…
We have identified two channels for the formation of compact dwarf galaxies in the Illustris simulation by reconstructing mass and distance histories of candidates located in the vicinity of the simulation's most massive cluster galaxies. One channel is tidal stripping of Milky Way mass galaxies that form outside of clusters and eventually sink into them, spiraling in toward central massive objects. Second channel of formation is an in-situ formation (in reference to the parent cluster) of dwarf mass galaxies, with negligible evolution and limited change in stellar mass. We find 19 compact dwa…
This review summarises the main properties of Young Massive Clusters (YMCs), including their population properties, particularly focusing on extragalactic cluster samples. We discuss potential biases and caveats that can affect the construction of cluster samples and how incompleteness effects can result in erroneous conclusions regarding the long term survival of clusters. In addition to the luminosity, mass and age distributions of the clusters, we discuss the size distribution and profile evolution of the clusters. We also briefly discuss the stellar populations within YMCs. The final part …
We apply the idea that dense stellar systems in the central region of galaxies are formed via globular cluster mergers to the formation of the nuclear star cluster of the Milky Way, where a massive black hole is present. Our high precision N-body simulations show a good fit to the observational characteristics of the Milky Way nuclear cluster, giving further reliability to the so called migratory model for the formation of compact systems in the inner galaxy regions keywords galaxies: nuclei - galaxies: black holes - galaxies: globular clusters - galaxies: Milky Way - N-body: simulations
Young massive clusters (YMCs) are recently formed astronomical objects with unusually high star formation rates. We propose the collision of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) as a likely formation mechanism of YMCs, consistent with the YMC conveyor-belt formation mode concluded by other authors. We conducted smoothed particle hydrodynamical simulations of cloud-cloud collisions and explored the effect of the clouds' collision speed, initial cloud density, and the level of cloud turbulence on the global star formation rate and the properties of the clusters formed from the collision. We show that g…
The formation histories of globular clusters (GCs) are a key diagnostic for understanding their relation to the evolution of the Universe through cosmic time. We use the suite of 25 cosmological zoom-in simulations of present-day Milky Way-mass galaxies from the E-MOSAICS project to study the formation histories of stars, clusters, and GCs, and how these are affected by the environmental dependence of the cluster formation physics. We find that the median lookback time of GC formation in these galaxies is ${\sim}10.73~$Gyr ($z=2.1$), roughly $2.5~$Gyr earlier than that of the field stars (${\s…
The Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) is an excellent example for understanding the formation of star clusters. Recent studies have shown that ONC has three distinct age populations and anisotropy in velocity dispersions, which are key characteristics for understanding the formation history of the ONC. In this study, we perform a smoothed-particle hydrodynamics/$N$-body simulation of star cluster formation from a turbulent molecular cloud. In this simulation, stellar orbits are integrated using a high-order integrator without gravitational softening; therefore, we can follow the collisional evolution…
We report the discovery of 652 star clusters, stellar groups and candidates in the Milky Way with WISE. Most of the objects are projected close to Galactic Plane and are embedded clusters. The present sample complements a similar study (Paper I) which provided 437 star clusters and alike. We find evidence that star formation processes span a wide range of sizes, from populous dense clusters to small compact embedded ones, sparse stellar groups or in relative isolation. The present list indicates multiple stellar generations during the embedded phase, with giant molecular clouds collapsing into…
Clusters of galaxies usually contain rich populations of globular clusters (GCs). We investigate how different star formation histories (SFHs) shape the final mass distribution of star clusters. We assume that every star cluster population forms during a formation epoch of length dt at a constant star-formation rate (SFR). The mass distribution of such a population is described by the embedded cluster mass function (ECMF), which is a pure power law extending to an upper limit M_max. Since the SFR determines M_max, the ECMF implicitly depends on the SFR. Starting with different SFHs, each SFH i…
We investigate the triggering of star formation and the formation of stellar clusters in molecular clouds that form as the ISM passes through spiral shocks. The spiral shock compresses gas into $\sim$100 pc long main star formation ridge, where clusters forming every 5-10 pc along the merger ridge. We use a gravitational potential based cluster finding algorithm, which extracts individual clusters, calculates their physical properties and traces cluster evolution over multiple time steps. Final cluster masses at the end of simulation range between 1000 and 30000 M$_{\odot}$ with their characte…
One of the leading models for the formation of multiple stellar populations within globular clusters is the "Fast Rotating Massive Star" (FRMS) scenario, where the ejecta of rapidly rotating massive stars is mixed with primordial material left over from the star-formation process, to form a second generation of stars within the decretion discs of the high mass stars. A requirement of this model, at least in its current form, is that young massive (i.e. proto-globular) clusters are not able to eject the unused gas and dust from the star-formation process from the cluster for 20-30 Myr after the…
Whether or not the initial star cluster mass function is established through a universal, galactocentric-distance-independent stochastic process, on the scales of individual galaxies, remains an unsolved problem. This debate has recently gained new impetus through the publication of a study that concluded that the maximum cluster mass in a given population is not solely determined by size-of-sample effects. Here, we revisit the evidence in favor and against stochastic cluster formation by examining the young ($\lesssim$ a few $\times 10^8$ yr-old) star cluster mass--galactocentric radius relat…
It is well known from the Butcher-Oemler effect that galaxies in dense environment are mostly red with little star formation and the fraction of blue galaxies in galaxy groups/clusters also declines rapidly with redshifts. A recent work by Hashimoto et al. reported a local 'blue cluster' with high fraction of blue galaxies ($\sim 0.57$), higher than the model predictions. They ascribed this blue cluster to the feeding of gas along a filamentary structure around the cluster. In this work we use group catalog from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS DR7) and the state-of-art of sem…
Bars are an elongated structure that extends from the centre of galaxies, and about one-third of disk galaxies are known to possess bars. These bars are thought to form either through a physical process inherent in galaxies, or through an external process such as galaxy-galaxy interactions. However, there are other plausible mechanisms of bar formation that still need to be observationally tested. Here we present the observational evidence that bars can form via cluster-cluster interaction. We examined 105 galaxy clusters at redshift $0.015 < z < 0.060$ that are selected from the Sloan Digital…
In the last decades, extended old stellar clusters have been observed. These extended objects cover a large range in masses, from extended clusters or faint fuzzies to ultra compact dwarf galaxies. It has been demonstrated that these extended objects can be the result of the merging of star clusters in cluster complexes (small regions in which dozens to hundreds of star clusters form). This formation channel is called the `Merging Star Cluster Scenario'. This work tries to explain the formation of compact ellipticals in the same theoretical framework. Compact ellipticals are a comparatively ra…
The fraction of star formation that results in bound stellar clusters (cluster formation efficiency or CFE) is a central quantity in many studies of star formation, star clusters and galaxies. Recent results suggest that contrary to popular assumption, the CFE is not (solely) set by gas expulsion, but is also influenced by the primordial environment, although its precise behaviour remains unknown. Here it is discussed which mechanisms set the CFE, which recent advancements have been made to disentangle their contributions, and which studies are needed in the near future to achieve a quantitati…
We show that the termination of the star formation process by winds from massive stars in protocluster forming clumps imposes dual constraints on the star formation efficiencies (SFEs) and stellar age spreads ($Δτ_{*}$) in stellar clusters. We have considered two main classes of clump models. One class of models in one in which the core formation efficiency (CFE) per unit time and as a consequence the star formation rate (SFR) is constant in time and another class of models in which the CFE per unit time, and as a consequence the SFR, increases with time. Models with an increasing mode of star…
Young massive clusters (YMCs) are usually accompanied by lower-mass clusters and unbound stars with a total mass equal to several tens times the mass of the YMC. If this was also true when globular clusters (GCs) formed, then their cosmic density implies that most star formation before redshift ~2 made a GC that lasted until today. Star-forming regions had to change after this time for the modern universe to be making very few YMCs. Here we consider the conditions needed for the formation of a ~10^6 Msun cluster. These include a star formation rate inside each independent region that exceeds ~…
Stellar cluster formation in a Milky Way-sized galaxy at z>4 -- II. A hybrid formation scenario for the nuclear star cluster and its connection to the nuclear stellar ring
Observational and theoretical arguments support the idea that violent events connected with $AGN$ activity and/or intense star forming episodes have played a significant role in the early phases of galaxy formation at high red shifts. Being old stellar systems, globular clusters seem adequate candidates to search for the eventual signatures that might have been left by those energetic phenomena. The analysis of the colour distributions of several thousands of globular clusters in the Virgo and Fornax galaxy clusters reveals the existence of some interesting and previously undetected features. …
Star cluster formation is unlikely to be a sudden event: instead, matter will flow to a cluster's formation site over an extended period, even as stars form and inject energy to the region. A cluster's gaseous precursor must persist under the competing influences of accretion and feedback for several crossing times, insofar as star formation is a slow process. The new-born stellar cluster should therefore preserve a memory of this competition. Using analytical approximations we assess the dynamical state of the gas, mapping regimes in which various types of feedback are weak or strong. Protost…
The aim of this work is to test to what extent the star cluster population of a galaxy can be utilised to constrain or estimate the star formation history, with the Large Magellanic Cloud as our testbed. We follow two methods to extract information about the star formation rate from star clusters, either using only the most massive clusters (Maschberger & Kroupa 2007) or using the whole cluster population, albeit this is only possible for a shorter age span. We compare these results with the star formation history derived from colour-magnitude diagrams and find good overall agreement for the m…
Currently there are two competing scenarios to explain the origin of the stellar population in globular clusters (GCs). The main difference between them is whether or not multiple events of star formation took place within GCs. In this paper we present the star formation history (SFH) of Cluster 1, a massive young cluster in NGC 34 $(\sim10^7\mbox{ M}_\odot)$. We use DynBaS, a spectrum fitting algorithm, to retrieve the SFH and find that Cluster 1 is consistent with a single stellar population of solar metallicity with an age of $100\pm30$ Myr and a mass of $1.9\pm0.4\times10^7\mbox{ M}_\odot$…
We investigate the possibility that multiple populations in globular clusters arise as a natural by-product of massive star-cluster formation. We use 3D radiative hydrodynamics simulations for the formation of young massive clusters to track their chemical self-enrichment during their first 5 Myr. These clusters form embedded within filamentary Giant Molecular Clouds by a combination of gas accretion and rapid merging of protoclusters. Chemical enrichment is a dynamic process happening as the young cluster assembles, so that the original (1P) and enriched (2P) subpopulations of stars form almo…
Abell 1767 is a dynamically relaxed, cD cluster of galaxies with a redshift of 0.0703. Among 250 spectroscopically confirmed member galaxies within a projected radius of 2.5r_{200}, 243 galaxies (~ 97%) are spectroscopically covered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Based on this homogeneous spectral sample, the stellar evolutionary synthesis code, STARLIGHT, is applied to investigate the stellar populations and star formation histories (SFHs) of cluster galaxies. The star formation properties of galaxies, such as mean stellar ages, metallicities, stellar masses, and star formation rates…
(Abridged) The formation and evolution of star cluster populations are related to the galactic environment. Cluster formation is governed by processes acting on galactic scales, and star cluster disruption is driven by the tidal field. In this paper, we present a self-consistent model for the formation and evolution of star cluster populations, for which we combine an N-body/SPH galaxy evolution code with semi-analytic models for star cluster evolution. The model includes star formation, feedback, stellar evolution, and star cluster disruption by two-body relaxation and tidal shocks. We apply …
We study numerically the formation of dSph galaxies. Intense star bursts, e.g. in gas-rich environments, typically produce a few to a few hundred young star clusters, within a region of just a few hundred pc. The dynamical evolution of these star clusters may explain the formation of the luminous component of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSph). Here we perform a numerical experiment to show that the evolution of star clusters complexes in dark matter haloes can explain the formation of the luminous components of dSph galaxies.
We study the relationship between the field star formation and cluster formation properties in a large sample of nearby dwarf galaxies. We use optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope and from ground-based telescopes to derive the ages and masses of the young (t_age < 100Myr) cluster sample. Our data provides the first constraints on two proposed relationships between the star formation rate of galaxies and the properties of their cluster systems in the low star formation rate regime. The data show broad agreement with these relationships, but significant galaxy-to-galaxy scatter exists. I…
