The interplay between AGB interiors and their outermost layers, where molecules and dust form, is a problem of high complexity. As a consequence, physical processes like mass loss, which depend on the chemistry of the circumstellar envelope, are often oversimplified. The best candidates to drive mass-loss in AGB stars are dust grains, which trap

We report on two state-of-the-art codes designed to characterise the spectra of late-type stars. STEPAR is a Python 3.X code that implements the EW method to calculate stellar atmospheric parameters (Teff, log(g), and [Fe/H]) of FGK stars. This code has already been extensively used to analyse high-resolution stellar spectra of thousands of Gaia

Subdwarf B stars are core-helium-burning stars located on the extreme horizontal branch (EHB). Extensive mass loss on the red giant branch is necessary to form them. It has been proposed that substellar companions could lead to the required mass loss when they are engulfed in the envelope of the red giant star. J08205+0008 was the first example of

We analyse the near-infrared colour-magnitude diagram of a field including the giant molecular cloud G0.253+0.016 (a.k.a. The Brick) observed at high spatial resolution, with HAWK-I@VLT. The distribution of red clump stars in a line of sight crossing the cloud, compared with that in a direction just beside it, and not crossing it, allow us to

Spectroscopy of transiting exoplanets can be used to investigate their atmospheric properties and habitability. Combining radial velocity (RV) and transit data provides additional information on exoplanet physical properties. We detect a transiting rocky planet with an orbital period of 1.467 days around the nearby red dwarf star Gliese 486. The

GJ 9827 is a bright star hosting a planetary system with three transiting planets. As a multiplanet system with planets that sprawl within the boundaries of the radius gap between terrestrial and gaseous planets, GJ 9827 is an optimal target to study the evolution of the atmospheres of close-in planets with a common evolutionary history and their