ticularly as astronomers came to realize that
globulars are among the first stellar systems
formed in the universe and that some were
probably born earlier than the galaxies they
are associated with. “Globular clusters belong to the first stellar populations that show
up,” he said. “On average, they are older than
the average age of the stellar populations in
a galaxy.”
Juan Carlos and his colleagues have been
looking for a way not only to differentiate
globular cluster stars from galactic populations, but also see if a quantitative connection exists between them. “Some results do
suggest that such a connection exists and
allows the description of the dominant (nonresolved) stellar populations in a galaxy just
by properly reading the globular clusters’
characteristics,” he said.
“A young lady at the Asociacion used to say that
‘Astronomy enters through the eyes and then flows
through the veins‘… I’ve always found that to be a
delightful and powerful definition.”
In addition to his research, Juan Carlos is wellknown as a fantastic teacher and supporter
of his students. Former Ph.D. student Sergio
Cellone reminisced about his first days under
Juan Carlos’s tutelage. “Among other things,
he explained how he and his colleagues managed to subtract a galaxy’