After a brief description of how spectral emission lines can be studied by the self-absorption-curve method, we show what happens when it is used to examine the FeIII and NII lines of P Cygni. An extremely surprising result is obtained; more highly-excited pure-emission lines without blueshifted absorption appear to be optically thicker than less

IAUC 7617 available at Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams.

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Time-distance analysis is emerging as a powerful diagnostic tool in local helioseismology. By directly measuring propagation times of wave packets between selected locations at the surface of the sun, and their variations over specific areas, a directed diagnostic of the physical properties of the region below these areas can be achieved. We

Photometric optical data of QSO 0957+561 covering the period 1984-1999 are analyzed to discern between the two values of the time delay (417 and 424 days) mostly accepted in the recent literature. The observations, performed by groups from three different institutions-Princeton University, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and Instituto

Broad-band optical observations of the extraordinarily bright optical afterglow of the intense gamma-ray burst GRB 991208 started ~2.1 days after the event and continued until 4 Apr. 2000. The flux decay constant of the optical afterglow in the R-band is -2.30 +/- 0.07 up to ~5 days, which is very likely due to the jet effect, and it is followed by