Context. The optical counterpart of the neutron star X-ray binary and well known X-ray burster, 4U 1636-53 (=4U 1636-536 = V801 Ara) has been studied for three decades. However, no infrared studies have been reported to date. Aims: Our aims are to identify and investigate the near-infrared (NIR) counterpart of 4U 1636-53. Methods: We present deep

Phase-resolved spectroscopy of the newly discovered X-ray transient MAXI J0556-332 has revealed the presence of narrow emission lines in the Bowen region that most likely arise on the surface of the mass donor star in this low-mass X-ray binary. A period search of the radial velocities of these lines provides two candidate orbital periods (16.43 ±

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The J-band structural parameters of a magnitude-limited sample of 148 unbarred S0--Sb galaxies were obtained using the GASP2D algorithm and then analyzed to recover the intrinsic shape of their bulges. We developed a new method to derive the intrinsic shape of bulges based only on photometric data and on the geometrical relationships between the

The Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey has begun and will obtain high quality spectroscopy of some 100000 Milky Way stars, in the field and in open clusters, down to magnitude 19, systematically covering all the major components of the Milky Way. This survey will provide the first homogeneous overview of the distributions of kinematics and

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