A fine analysis of spectral line widths and Doppler shifts employing Fourier transform and cross-correlation techniques has been applied to Chandra HETG spectra obtained in 1999 October of the rapidly rotating young star AB Doradus in order to investigate its coronal topology. The observation lasted 52.3 ks, covering 1.2 rotation periods. The X-ray

We report observations of the recently discovered, nearby late-M dwarf WISE J072003.20-084651.2. New astrometric measurements obtained with the TRAPPIST telescope improve the distance measurement to 6.0 ± 1.0 pc and confirm the low tangential velocity (3.5 ± 0.6 km s‑1) reported by Scholz. Low-resolution optical spectroscopy indicates a spectral

Azimuthally averaged surface brightness profiles of disc galaxies provide a most useful practical classification scheme which gives insights into their evolution. Freeman (1970) first classified disc profiles into Type I, with a single exponential decline in surface brightness, and Type II, having a split exponential profile, whose inner radial

Recent studies have claimed the existence of very massive stars (VMS) up to 300 M ⊙ in the local Universe. As this finding may represent a paradigm shift for the canonical stellar upper-mass limit of 150 M ⊙, it is timely to discuss the status of the data, as well as the far-reaching implications of such objects. We held a Joint Discussion at the

Context. Model atmosphere analyses have been previously undertaken for both Galactic and extragalactic B-type supergiants. By contrast, little attention has been given to a comparison of the properties of single supergiants and those that are members of multiple systems. Aims: Atmospheric parameters and nitrogen abundances have been estimated for

We present an imaging survey that searches for the stellar counterparts of recently discovered ultra-compact high-velocity H i clouds (UCHVC). It has been proposed that these clouds are candidate mini-haloes in the Local Group and its surroundings within a distance range of 0.25-2.0 Mpc. Using the Large Binocular Telescope we obtained wide-field (≃