2006/11/13 by Cioni, M. -R. L.
#Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0611389
The Ks magnitude distribution of asymptotic giant branch stars provides important constraints on the spatial variation of metallicity and mean-age of the stellar population of galaxies. Here, I present results of the investigation of these parameters across the Magellanic Clouds, M33, NGC 6822 and SagDIG and I discuss the tremendous improvement that new wide-field near-infrared instruments (i.e. VISTA) will provide on our understanding of the global intrinsic as well as dynamical history of these systems.