Not Available

We demonstrate that a massive asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star is a good candidate as the main source of short-lived radionuclides in the early solar system. Recent identification of massive (4-8 M?) AGB stars in the galaxy, which are both lithium- and rubidium-rich, demonstrates that these stars experience proton captures at the base of the

We present the results of a survey of radial velocities over a wide region extending from r ~= 10 out to 80 arcmin (~1.5 tidal radii) within the massive star cluster ω Centauri (ω Cen). The survey was performed with FLAMES@VLT, to study the velocity dispersion profile in the outer regions of this stellar system. We derived accurate radial

Aims: We analyse the current build-up of stellar mass within the disks and bulges of nearby galaxies through a comparison of the spatial distributions of forming and old stellar populations. Methods: Hα and R-band imaging are used to determine the distributions of young and old stellar populations in 313 S0a-Im field galaxies out to ~40 Mpc

Aims: We characterise the underlying stellar host in a sample of 20 blue compact galaxies (BCGs), by fitting their two-dimensional light distributions. Their derived host structural parameters and those of eight other BCGs already obtained in a previous paper are related to galaxy properties, such as colours and gas content. These properties are

Aims: The importance of disc-disc major mergers in galaxy evolution remains uncertain. We study the major merger fraction in a SPITZER/IRAC-selected catalogue in the GOODS-S field up to z 1 for luminosity- and mass-limited samples. Methods: We select disc-disc merger remnants on the basis of morphological asymmetries/distortions, and address three