Context. The great majority of early-type dwarf galaxies, in the Local Group as well as in other galaxy groups, are found in the vicinity of much larger galaxies, making it hard to disentangle the role of internal versus external effects in driving their evolution. Aims: In order to minimize environmental effects and gain an insight into the

We have conducted a systematic search for stellar disk truncations in disk--like galaxies at intermediate redshift (z

We analyze the stellar distribution in the Galactic disk via NIR color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). Extinction measurements in the K band are also extracted from the diagrams both for supporting stellar counts predictions of the Besaçon and "SKY" models and for comparing with a three dimensional model of the Galactic extinction. The method is based

The NLTE Fe I line formation problem in a three-dimensional granulation model of the metal-poor halo star HD 140283 is considered. The self-consistent solutions of the kinetic and radiative transfer equations were obtained with a realistic atomic model Fe I + Fe II. The effects of horizontal radiative transfer are neglected. The near-UV

Between February 2010 and May 2011, our group has observed five stellar occultations by Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), giving the size and shape for some of the biggest TNO's: Varuna, Eris, 2003 AZ84, Makemake and Quaoar. Here we present two of them: the January 08 stellar occultation by 2003 AZ84, and the May 04 by Quaoar. For the event of 2003

While studies of gas-phase metallicity gradients in disc galaxies are common, very little has been done towards the acquisition of stellar abundance gradients in the same regions. We present here a comparative study of the stellar metallicity and age distributions in a sample of 62 nearly face-on, spiral galaxies with and without bars, using data