We present near-infrared and optical imaging of 15 candidate black hole X-ray binaries. In addition to quiescent observations for all sources, we also observed two of these sources (IGR J17451-3022 and XTE J1818-245) in outburst. We detect the quiescent counterpart for 12 out of 15 sources, and for the remaining 3, we report limiting magnitudes

Context. Main sequence stars with a convective core are predicted to stochastically excite internal gravity waves (IGWs), which effectively transport angular momentum throughout the stellar interior and explain the observed near-uniform interior rotation rates of intermediate-mass stars. However, there are few detections of IGWs, and fewer still

The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability has been proposed as a mechanism to extract energy from magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) kink waves in flux tubes, and to drive dissipation of this wave energy through turbulence. It is therefore a potentially important process in heating the solar corona. However, it is unclear how the instability is influenced by the

We developed a new approach to provide accurate estimates of the metal content, reddening, and true distance modulus of RR Lyrae stars (RRLs). The method is based on homogeneous optical (BVI) and near-infrared (JHK) mean magnitudes and on predicted period–luminosity–metallicity relations (IJHK) and absolute mean magnitude–metallicity relations (BV)

Stellar rotation, parameterized by a star's projected rotational velocity v sin i, is a fundamental parameter linked to star formation, evolution, and dynamical interaction.These are still poorly understood for OB stars, which typically rotate faster than their lower-mass counterparts. We determine v sin i for 210 field OB stars in the Small

We present the discovery of a small kinematically decoupled core of 0.″2 (60 pc) in radius as well as an outflow jet in the archetypical AGN-starburst "composite" galaxy NGC 7130 from integral field data obtained with the adaptive optics-assisted MUSE-NFM instrument on the VLT. Correcting the already good natural seeing at the time of our science