title: Globular clusters, Hipparcos, and the age of the galaxy.
abstract: We discuss the impact of the results from the recent Hipparcos astrometric satellite on distance estimates of galactic globular clusters. Recalibrating the clusters not only implies a relatively small change in the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud, and hence a rescaling of several estimates of the Hubble constant, but also leads to significantly younger cluster ages. Although the data are not yet conclusive, the results so far point to a likely resolution of the apparent paradox of a universe younger than its constituents, without requiring significant modifications to simple cosmological models.
authors.affiliation: Palomar Observatory, 105-24, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Reid