The luminosity of the brightest stars (tip) of the red giant branch (TRGB) in the color–magnitude diagrams of old stars was used early on to introduce the ‘multiple stellar populations’ concept, in 1944, by Walter Baade. However, the precision and accuracy of the TRGB for distance estimation has not been known well for long. In the modern era, equipped with high spatial resolution imaging telescopes, the TRGB is considered an excellent standard candle for any type of resolved galaxies, thus representing a powerful probe for cosmology. The TRGB has several advantages over the classical Cepheids. I review how we can apply the TRGB in cosmology. Four science cases, from large to small scales, are presented: (1) the Hubble flow with Type Ia supernovae; (2) Virgo Cluster infall and dark matter; (3) dark galaxies; and (4) dark matter-free galaxies.

Jellyfish galaxies are starburst galaxies with ram-pressure-stripped tails and blue star-forming knots. These galaxies show a snapshot of star formation enhancement triggered by ram pressure stripping (RPS), being important targets for studying the RPS-induced star formation in gas-rich galaxies. Here we investigate the star formation activity of five jellyfish galaxies in massive clusters, using Gemini GMOS/IFU observations. From the Hα-derived star formation rates (SFRs), we find that our sample shows higher SFR excess to the star formation main sequence than the jellyfish galaxies in low-mass clusters. From the compiled sample of jellyfish galaxies in low-mass to high-mass host clusters, we suggest that the star formation activity of jellyfish galaxies has positive correlations with host cluster mass and degree of RPS. These relationships imply that higher ram pressure environments tend to trigger stronger starbursts in jellyfish galaxies in the early stage of RPS.

M105 in the Leo I Group is a textbook example of a standard elliptical galaxy. It is only one of the few elliptical galaxies for which we can study their stellar halos using the resolved stars. It is an ideal target to study the structure and composition of stellar halos in elliptical galaxies. We present photometry and metallicity of the resolved stars in the inner and outer regions of M105. These provide strong evidence that there are two distinct stellar halos in this galaxy, a metal-poor (blue) halo and a metal-rich (red) halo. Then we compare them with those in other early-type galaxies and use the dual halo mode formation scenario to describe how massive galaxies formed.

We present an overview of recent findings on the kinematics, age, and metallicity of globular cluster systems in nearby giant elliptical galaxies and their implications for understanding how giant elliptical galaxies formed and evolved.

Astaxanthin is a carotenoid with antioxidant, anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. The pharmacokinetics of astaxanthin after its intravenous (5, 10, and 20 mg/kg) and oral (100 and 200 mg/kg) administration and its first-pass extraction ratios after its intravenous, intraportal or intragastric (20 mg/kg) administration were evaluated in rats. The pharmacokinetic parameters of astaxanthin were dose dependent after its intravenous administration, due to the saturable hepatic metabolism of astaxanthin, but dose independent after oral administration. The gastrointestinal absorption of astaxanthin followed the flip-flop model. The hepatic and gastrointestinal first-pass extraction ratios of astaxanthin were approximately 0·490 and 0·901, respectively. Astaxanthin was metabolised primarily by hepatic cytochrome P-450 1A1/2 in rats. Astaxanthin was unstable up to 4 h incubation in four rat gastric juices and up to 24 h incubation in various buffer solutions having a pH of 1–13. The tissue/plasma ratios of astaxanthin at 8 and 24 h after its oral administration (100 mg/kg) were greater than unity for all tissues studied, except in the heart, at 8 h, indicating that the rat tissues studied had high affinity for astaxanthin.

SMART is a model to derive both star formation history and chemical evolution simultaneously from color-magnitude diagrams of resolved stars in a galaxy. We present current progress and discuss the prospects of SMART for the next decade.

We present a study of star clusters in the interacting galaxy M51 using a star cluster catalog that includes about 3600 star clusters with mF555W < 23 mag, compiled by Hwang & Lee (2008). Combined with mF336W-band imaging data taken with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)'s WFPC2 camera, we have derived the ages and masses of star clusters in M51 using theoretical population synthesis models. The cluster age distribution displays multiple peaks that correspond to the epochs of dynamical encounters predicted by theoretical model studies and the cluster-formation rate appears to increase around the same epochs.

We present a study of star clusters in the starburst galaxy M82 using the BVI mosaic images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. We have selected about 850 clusters with V < 23 mag based on their morphological information. The brightest cluster is as bright as V ~ 16.5 mag (MV ~ −11.2 mag) and most clusters are fainter than V = 18 mag (MV = −9.7 mag). The V-band luminosity function is represented by a power law with a slope α ~ −2.0 in the range of −9.5 < MV < −7 mag. The star clusters in M82 are mainly distributed in the galaxy's disk. However, about a dozen clusters are found far from the disk and are considered to belong to the halo of M82. The color–magnitude diagrams of star clusters show that most star clusters are highly reddened. We have derived the age of the star clusters using a spectral-energy-distribution fitting method with Bruzual & Charlot simple stellar population models. We discuss the age distribution as well as the photometric properties of the star clusters in regard to the formation history of the M82 cluster population.

The globular cluster system in M31 is an ideal laboratory for studying the formation and evolution of M31 as well as the globular clusters themselves. There have been numerous surveys and studies of the globular clusters in M31. However, only recently has the entire body of M31 been searched for globular clusters using wide-field CCD images by our group. A new era for the M31 globular cluster system has begun with the advent of wide-field CCD surveys of M31. We have discovered more than 100 new globular clusters in M31. Our catalog currently includes more than 500 globular clusters confirmed either based on spectra or HST images, many more than in the Milky Way. We present the structure, kinematics and chemical abundance of the M31 globular cluster system based on this large sample, and the implications for the formation and evolution of M31.

We present a star cluster population study in the interacting galaxy system M51 based on HST ACS BV I mosaic images taken by the Hubble Heritage Team to commemorate the HST's 15th anniversary. We have found and classified star clusters in M51 using SExtractor and visual inspection. We have derived the photometry, size, and age of the clusters. It is found that the companion SB0 galaxy NGC 5195 harbors about 50 faint fuzzy clusters and that the age distribution of star clusters appears to be correlated with the epochs of dynamical events in M51 system.

We present a new numerical model of star formation history and chemical evolution using the color-magnitude diagrams of resolved stars in galaxies. Our model differs from previous models in that it generates the simulated color-magnitude diagrams with the metal enrichment law calculated from the galactic chemical evolution model. We present a case of applying our model to a resolved galaxy in the Local Group: the Sextans dwarf spheroidal galaxy. It is found the the primary origin of the radial gradient of stellar population in this galaxy is star formation followed by metallicity.

We present a study of the nature of the blue early-type galaxies found in the HST/ACS images of the GOODS north and south fields.

We present a discovery of a giant stellar halo in NGC 6822, a dwarf irregular galaxy in the Local Group. This halo is mostly made of old red giants, showing striking features: 1) it is several times larger than the main body of the galaxy seen in the optical images, and 2) it is elongated in the direction almost perpendicular to the HI disk of NGC 6822. The structure of this stellar halo looks similar to the shape of dwarf elliptical galaxies, indicating that the halos of dwarf irregular galaxies share the same origin with those of the dwarf elliptical galaxies.

We report the discovery of three new star clusters in the halo of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822. These clusters were found in the deep images taken with the MegaPrime at the CFHT covering a total field of 2 deg $\times$ 2 deg. The most remote cluster is found to be located as far as 79 arcmin away from the center of NGC 6822. This distance is several times larger than the size of the region in NGC 6822 where star clusters were previously found. Morphological structures of the clusters and color-magnitude diagrams of the resolved stars in the clusters show that at least two of these clusters are proabably old globular clusters.

Through time-series CCD photometry of the globular cluster NGC 5466, we found three double-radial-mode SX Phe stars, all of which are consistent with the theoretical period ratio of the first overtone mode to the fundamental mode (P1H/PF); their period ratios are 0.7825, 0.7826 and 0.7919, respectively. We also detected a double-radial-mode SX Phe star in M71. Its period ratio is 0.781, which is also consistent with the theoretical value.

A two color CCD survey for globular clusters in the galactocentric range from 2 to 7 arcmin from the galaxy centers is presented for NGC 1399 and NGC 4486 (M87), two systems that, for a long time, have been considered as class archetypes of the so called “high specific frequency phenomenon”. The new results, combined with previously published HST data for the inner 2 arcmin, and with a re-discussion of the surface brightness profiles, allow a new estimate of the globular cluster specific frequencies. The resulting SN values cannot be considered as anomalously large and, rather, they are consistent with values obtained for other galaxies with similar morphologies.

We present a preliminary analysis of HST-WFPC2 observations of globular cluster systems in the two brightest galaxies, UGC 9799 (cD) and NGC 1129 (non-cD), located in the center of rich clusters.

We present the surface photometry of star clusters in the nearby dwarf elliptical galaxies NGC 185 and NGC 205, obtained from deep HST WFPC2 F555W (V) and F814W (I) images. We have obtained surface brightness and color profiles of six star clusters in NGC 185, seven star clusters in NGC 205, and one recently discovered non-stellar object in NGC 205. The surface brightness profiles of ten star clusters are fitted well by the King model, and those of four star clusters are fitted well by the power-law. Three out of ten star clusters fitted well with King model show signs of tidal tails.

We present a photometric study of the stars in ionizing star clusters embedded in several giant H II regions of M33 (CC93, IC 142, NGC 595, MA2, NGC 604 and NGC 588). Our photometry is based on the HST-WFPC2 images of these clusters. Color-magnitude diagrams and color-color diagrams of these clusters are obtained and are used for estimating the reddenings and ages of the clusters. The luminosity functions (LFs) and initial mass functions (IMFs) of the massive stars in these clusters are also derived. The slopes of the IMFs range from Γ = −0.5 to −2.1. Interestingly, it is found that the IMFs get steeper with increasing galactocentric distance and with decreasing [O/H] abundance.

We present a progress report on Washington photometry of several hundred new globular cluster (GC) candidates in M31 which were recently found from our new CCD survey of GCs. The Washington CMT1 filters that we used are very efficient to survey extragalactic GCs and to estimate the metallicity of GCs. Preliminary color-magnitude diagrams and color-color diagrams of the new GC candidates and known GCs in M31 are obtained.