In order to build more realistic single stellar population (SSP) models with variable α-enhancement, we have recently determined [Mg/Fe] in a uniform scale with a precision of about 0.1 dex for 752 stars in the MILES empirical library. The [α/Fe] abundance ratio is commonly used as a good temporal scale indicator of star formation, taking Mg as a

We report our investigation of the first transiting planet candidate from the YETI project in the young (˜4 Myr old) open cluster Trumpler 37. The transit-like signal detected in the lightcurve of F8V star 2M21385603+5711345 repeats every 1.364894±0.000015 days, and has a depth of 54.5±0.8 mmag in R. Membership in the cluster is supported by its

Star formation in massive clusters proceeds under the influence of the intense ionizing flux emitted by OB stars. Among the massive star forming regions in our Galaxy, Cygnus OB2 is the best available target to study these processes given its relative proximity and large content of OB and low-mass stars. We present our preliminary results on the

It is well known that at a given [Fe/H] below solar metallicities the thick disk stars are more enhanced in their alpha -element abundances than the thin disk. We report prelminary results for abundances of Cu, Ba and Y in a sample of 762 stars observed with the HARPS spectrograph. Precise and homogeneous abundance analysis reveals interesting

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Here we present the results of a wide-field (˜36 sq. deg.) near-infrared (ZYJHK) survey of the Praesepe cluster using the Data Release 9 (DR9) of the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Galactic Clusters Survey (GCS). We selected cluster candidates of Praesepe based on astrometry and photometry. With our candidate list, we have obtained the