We study the dynamical evolution of the M87 globular cluster (GC) system using the most advanced and realistic Fokker-Planck (FP) model.By comparing our FP models with both mass function (MF) and radial distribution (RD) of the observed GC system, we find the best-fit initial (at M87`s age of 2-3 Gyr) MF and RD for three GC groups: all GCs, blue GCs, and red GCs. We estimate the initial total mass in GCs to be , which is about 100 times larger than that of the Milky Way GC system. We also find that the fraction of the total mass currently in GCs is 34\%. When blue and red GCs are fitted separately, blue GCs initially have a larger total mass and a shallower radial distribution than red GCs. If one assumes that most of the significant major merger events of M87 have ended by the age of 2-3 Gyr, our finding that blue (metal-poor) GCs initially had a shallower radial distribution supports the major merger scenario for the origin of metallicity bimodality.

UBVI CCD photometry is obtained for the Ruprecht 93 (Ru 93)region. We are unable to confirm the existence of an intermediate-age open cluster in Ru 93 from the spatial distribution of blue stars. On the other hand, we find two young star groups in the observed field: the nearer one (Ru 93 group) comprises the field young stars in the Sgr-Car arm at kpc, while the farther one (WR 37 group) is the young stars around WR 37 at kpc. We derive an abnormal extinction law (

In order to study properties of the pulsation in the infrared emission for long period variables, we collect and analyze the infrared observational data at L band for 12 OH/IR. The observation data cover about three decades including recent data from the ISO and Spitzer. We use the Marquardt-Levenberg algorithm to determine the pulsation period and amplitude for each star and compare them with results of previous investigations at infrared and radio bands. We obtain the relationship between the pulsation periods and the amplitudes at L band. Contrary to the results at K band, there is no difference of the trends in the short and long period regions of the period-luminosity relation at L band. This may be due to the molecular absorption effect at K band. The correlations among the L band parameters, IRAS [12-25] colors, and K band parameters may be explained as results of the dust shell parameters affected by the stellar pulsation. The large scatter of the correlation could be due to the existence of a distribution of central stars with various masses and pulsation modes.

We present the result of our investigation on the impact of the low Solar abundance of Asplund and collaborators (2004) on the derived ages for the oldest star clusters based on isochrone fittings. We have constructed new stellar models and corresponding isochrones using this new solar mixture with a proper Solar calibration. We have found that the use of the Asplund et al. (2004) metallicity causes the typical ages for old globular clusters in the Milky Way to be increased roughly by 10%. Although this may appear small, it has a significant impact on the interpretation for the formation epoch of Milky Way globular clusters. The Asplund et al. (2004) abundance may not necessarily threaten the current concordance cosmology but would suggest that Milky Way globular clusters formed before the reionization epoch and before the main galaxy body starts to build up. This is in contrast to the current understanding on the galaxy formation.