We present models that predict spectra of old- and intermediate-aged stellar populations at 2.51 Å (FWHM) with varying [α/Fe] abundance. The models are based on the MILES library and on corrections from theoretical stellar spectra. The models employ recent [Mg/Fe] determinations for the MILES stars and BaSTI scaled-solar and α-enhanced isochrones

A properly calibrated longitudinal magnetograph is an instrument that measures circular polarization and gives an estimation of the magnetic flux density in each observed resolution element. This usually constitutes a lower bound of the field strength in the resolution element, given that it can be made arbitrarily large as long as it occupies a

The Cocoon nebula is an apparently spherical Galactic HII region ionized by a single star (BD+46 3474). This nebula seems to be appropriate to investigate the chemical behavior of oxygen and other heavy elements from two different points of view: a detailed analysis of the chemical content of the ionized gas through nebular spectrophotometry and a

In a search for common proper motion companions using the VISTA Hemisphere Survey (VHS) and the 2MASS catalogs we have identified a very red (J-{{K}s}=2.47 mag) late-L dwarf companion of a previously unrecognized M dwarf VHS J125601.92-125723.9 (hereafter VHS 1256-1257), located at a projected angular separation of 8.″ 06 ± 0.″ 03. In this work we

Aims: We analyze a sample of 3944 low-resolution (R ~ 2000) optical spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), focusing on stars with effective temperatures 5800 ≤ Teff ≤ 6300 K, and distances from the Milky Way plane in excess of 5 kpc, and determine their abundances of Fe, Ca, and Mg. Methods: We followed the same methodology as in the

All studies of unresolved stellar populations rely on a proper characterization of the stellar initial mass function (IMF), i.e. the distribution of stellar masses at birth. Over the past few years, several avenues of research have suggested a systematic variation of the IMF in early-type galaxies, with a departure from the standard IMF in the most