We present a rapid timing analysis of VLT (optical) and RXTE data of the Galactic black hole GX 339-4 in the low/hard state in June 2007, soon after emerging from outburst. Both optical and X-ray power density spectra are qualitatively similar with QPO-like feature or a break around 0.05-0.1 Hz. A cross-correlation function (CCF) analysis finds no

There are several hundred thousand R = 2000 stellar spectra reported in the final public release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-I) and the continuing project SEGUE (Sloan Extension for Galactic Exploration and Understanding), which has completed roughly half of its scheduled set of observations to date. The stars in this sample were targeted

The Zeeman pattern of Mn I lines is sensitive to hyperfine structure (HFS), and because of this, they respond to hectogauss magnetic field strengths differently than the lines commonly used in solar magnetometry. This peculiarity has been employed to measure magnetic field strengths in quiet-Sun regions, assuming the magnetic field to be constant

The proper motion measurements for 143 previously known L and T dwarfs are presented. From this sample we identify and discuss eight high-velocity L dwarfs. We also find four new wide common proper motion binaries/multiple systems. Using the moving cluster methods we have also identified a number of L dwarfs that may be members of the Ursa Major

We present long-slit, optical spectra of the merging system Arp220, obtained using the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) on La Palma. These data were taken as a part of a large study of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) with the aim of investigating the evolution and star formation histories of such objects. Spectral synthesis modelling has

There is not as yet full agreement on the mechanism that causes the rapid damping of the oscillations observed by TRACE in coronal loops. It has been suggested that the variation of the observed values of the damping time as function of the corresponding observed values of the period contains information on the possible damping mechanism. The aim