As part of a long-term programme, we analyse the evolutionary status and properties of the old and populous open cluster Trumpler 5 (Tr 5), located in the Galactic anticentre direction, almost on the Galactic plane. Tr 5 was observed with Wide Field Imager@MPG/ESO Telescope using the Bessel U, B, and V filters. The cluster parameters have been

We present spectra of the nuclear regions of 50 nearby (D = 1 - 92 Mpc, median = 20 Mpc) galaxies of morphological types E to Sm. The spectra, obtained with the Gemini Near-IR Spectrograph on the Gemini North telescope, cover a wavelength range of approximately 0.85-2.5 μm at R∼1300-1800. There is evidence that most of the galaxies host an active

While wide-field surveys of M31 have revealed much substructure at large radii, understanding the nature and origin of this material is not straightforward from morphology alone. Using deep Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys data, we have derived further constraints in the form of quantitative star formation histories (SFHs) for 14

We used FLAMES+GIRAFFE (Medusa mode) at the VLT to obtain moderately high resolution spectra for 30 red horizontal branch (RHB) stars, 4 RR Lyrae variables, and 17 blue horizontal branch (BHB) stars in the low-concentration, moderately metal-rich globular cluster NGC 6723 ([Fe/H] = -1.22 ± 0.08 from our present sample). The spectra were optimized

We have measured the radial light profiles and global shapes of bars using two-dimensional 3.6 μm image decompositions for 144 face-on barred galaxies from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies. The bar surface brightness profile is correlated with the stellar mass and bulge-to-total (B/T) ratio of their host galaxies. Bars in massive

The Gaia-ESO survey is a large public spectroscopic survey aimed at investigating the origin and formation history of our Galaxy by collecting spectroscopy of representative samples (about 105 Milky Way stars) of all Galactic stellar populations, in the field and in clusters. The survey uses globular clusters as intra- and inter-survey calibrators