Star clusters are born in a highly compact configuration, typically with radii of less than about 1 pc roughly independently of mass. Since the star formation efficiency is less than 50 per cent by observation and because the residual gas is removed from the embedded cluster, the cluster must expand. In the process of doing so it only retains a

We present an extensive spectroscopic investigation of evolved old- and intermediate-age stellar tracers of the Carina dSph galaxy. We discuss the approach we devised to calibrate the two European Southern Observatory multi-object spectrographs (FLAMES, FORS2). Pros and cons of the two instruments are also mentioned. Finally, we present preliminary

Radial velocity studies of X-ray binaries still provide the most solid evidence for the existence of stellar-mass black holes. We currently have 20 confirmed cases, with dynamical masses in excess of 3 M[sun]. Accurate masses have been obtained for a subset of systems which give us a hint on the mass spectrum of the black hole population. These

Context: Interpretation of linearly polarized parameters of the lines of complex atoms for the second solar spectrum needs a lot of collisional coefficients which are often poorly known. Aims: We provide general and simple formulae giving the coefficients of the atomic master equation (depolarization, polarization transfer, population transfer, and

In this paper, we present a thorough study of the T Tauri system MO Lup. We report on its previously unrecognized triple spectroscopic nature. Our study is mainly based on high-resolution spectroscopic monitoring. The elements of the spectroscopic orbits are derived from a detailed analysis of radial velocity data for the short-period spectroscopic

The influence of microlensing on the profiles of emission lines generated in a biconical geometry is discussed. Microlensing amplification in this anisotropic model is not directly related to the bicone's intrinsic size but, rather, depends on the orientation of the bicone axis and on the cone aperture. The orientation of the projected bicone with