Hot Stellar Populations in Globular Clusters: a Photometrist's View

Abstract

We briefly review the recent results on hot horizontal-branch stars in globular clusters. Since the first Ivanfest, in 1992, there have been a number of new observational lines of evidence which have allowed significant progress in our understanding of blue-tail stars, though new, even more intriguing questions arise. Despite this progress, we still do not know the answer to the main question: why are there blue-HB-tail stars? The new photometric data bases collected in the last few years, and the forthcoming multi-fiber observational campaigns on 10m-class telescopes, might be the key to solve this puzzle. We will show an example of how these data bases can disclose important properties of blue HB stars.