The Advanced X-ray Spectroscopic Imaging Observatory (AXSIO) is a NASA facility class X-ray observatory which can carry out many of the science goals of the International X-ray Observatory as outlined in the NWNH Astro2010 Decadal Survey. Studies of the mission configuration and science reach will inform NASA technology investments over the next

We present the first investigation of the Blue Straggler star (BSS) population in two isolated dwarf spheroidal galaxies of the Local Group, Cetus and Tucana. Deep Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys photometry allowed us to identify samples of 940 and 1214 candidates, respectively. The analysis of the star formation histories of the

EX Lup is the prototype of the EXor class of eruptive young stars. These objects show optical outbursts which are thought to be related to runaway accretion onto the star. In a previous study we observed in situ crystal formation in the disk of EX Lup during its latest outburst in 2008, making the object an ideal laboratory to investigate

A possible correlation between spiral galaxy pitch angle (P) and the mass of the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) of the galaxy (M) was reported (Seigar et al. 2008) from a sample of 27 nearby galaxies. Here we investigate the extension of this result to intermediate and high redshifts. We have selected AGN showing spiral structure in their

We present the discovery of substellar-mass companions to three giant stars by the ongoing Penn State-Toruń Planet Search conducted with the 9.2 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope. The most massive of the three stars, K2-giant HD 240237, has a 5.3 MJ minimum mass companion orbiting the star at a 746 day period. The K0-giant BD +48 738 is orbited by a >=0.91

The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) will undertake an H-band (1.52-1.68 micron) spectroscopic survey of 1E5 red giant stars spanning the Galactic disk, bulge, and halo, with typical limiting magnitude H 12.5. During the commissioning of APOGEE a number of plates containing stellar clusters were observed. Some of