Old star clusters: Bench tests of low mass stellar models

Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, 12 Quays House, Birkenhead CH41 1LD, UK

^a e-mail: ms@astro.livjm.ac.uk

Abstract

Old star clusters in the Milky Way and external galaxies have been (and still are) traditionally used to constrain the age of the universe and the timescales of galaxy formation. A parallel avenue of old star cluster research considers these objects as bench tests of low-mass stellar models. This short review will highlight some recent tests of stellar evolution models that make use of photometric and spectroscopic observations of resolved old star clusters. In some cases these tests have pointed to additional physical processes efficient in low-mass stars, that are not routinely included in model computations. Moreover, recent results from the Kepler mission about the old open cluster NGC6791 are adding new tight constraints to the models.