We report the results of spectroscopic observations, obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph, of eight planetary nebulae (PNe) in the dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy NGC 147, a companion of M31. The physico-chemical properties of the six brightest PNe were derived using both the empirical ICF method and photoionization modelling with

We review the properties of young superstellar clusters and the impact that their evolution has in their host galaxies. In particular we look at the development of strong isotropic winds emanating from massive clusters, capable of disrupting the remains of the parental cloud as well as causing the large-scale restructuring of the surrounding ISM

We give two examples of spiral galaxies that show non-circular gas motions in the inner kiloparsecs, from SAURON integral field spectroscopy. We use harmonic decomposition of the velocity field of the ionized gas to study the underlying mass distribution, employing linear theory. The higher order harmonic terms and the main kinematic features of

As previously shown, the special relativistic dynamical equation of the Lorentz force type can be regarded as a consequence of a succession of space-time dependent infinitesimal Lorentz boosts and rotations. This insight indicates that the Lorentz-Force-like equation has a fundamental meaning in physics. We show how this result may be spinorially

Aims: We develop an accurate and general semi-classical formalism that deals with the definition and the calculation of the collisional depolarizing constants of the levels of simple and complex singly-ionized atoms in arbitrary s-states perturbed by collisions with hydrogen atoms. The case of ions with hyperfine structure is investigated fully

We report on time-resolved optical spectroscopy of 10 non-eclipsing nova-like cataclysmic variables in the orbital period range between 3 and 4 h. The main objective of this long-term programme is to search for the characteristic SWSextantis behaviour and to eventually quantify the impact of the SWSex phenomenon on nova-likes at the upper boundary