Light bridges are elongated and bright structures protruding into the umbra of sunspots. The presence of light bridges has a significant role in the evolution of sunspots and the heating of their overlying atmosphere. Therefore, investigating these structures is crucial to understanding fundamental aspects of sunspots. By applying a novel code based on deep-learning algorithms called SICON to spectropolarimetric observations acquired with the Hinode satellite, we computed atmospheric parameters that allowed us to infer the variation of the physical properties of light bridges on a geometric

Massive stars, those over ten times heavier than our Sun, are the conduits of most elements of the periodic table and drive the morphological and chemical makeup of their host galaxies. Yet the origin of the most luminous and hottest stars among them, called 'blue supergiants', has been debated for many decades. Blue supergiants are strange stars. First, they are observed in large numbers, despite conventional stellar physics expecting them to live only briefly. Second, they are typically found alone, despite most massive stars being born with companions. Third, the majority of them harbour

The development of the latest generation of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) over recent decades has led to the discovery of new extreme astrophysical phenomena in the very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray regime. Time-domain and multi-messenger astronomy are inevitably connected to the physics of transient VHE emitters, which show unexpected (and mostly unpredictable) flaring or exploding episodes at different timescales. These transients often share the physical processes responsible for the production of the gamma-ray emission, through cosmic-ray acceleration