The study of satellite galaxies can provide information on the merging and aggregation processes which, according to the hierarchical clustering models, form the larger spiral galaxies we observe. With the aim of testing hierarchical models of galaxy formation, we have conducted an observational program which comprises H$alpha$ imaging for both the

Barred galaxies frequently exhibit central starburst activity, typically concentrated in circumnuclear rings. Much of direct and circumstantial evidence speaks in favor of bar-induced fueling of star-forming activity in these galaxies. We present results, partly preliminary, for three galaxies which were studied through high-resolution imaging in

The study of gas transport to the inner regions of galaxies is a fundamental aspect in our understanding of the way galaxies evolve. In this context, star-forming nuclear rings are key features as they contain large amounts of gas and are the sites where a significant fraction of the current star formation is taking place in their host galaxies

One major difficulty in probing the nature of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z ˜ 3 is the mismatch between our best images of LBGs, which are in the rest-UV, and the best images of local galaxies, which are in the rest-optical. To make direct comparisons between LBGs at z ˜ 3 and more local star-forming galaxies, we use HST/STIS to image a set of

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Dwarf galaxies offer an opportunity to understand the properties of low metallicity star formation both today and at the earliest times at the epoch of the formation of the first stars. Here we concentrate on two galaxies in the Local Group: the dwarf irregular galaxy Leo A, which has been the recent target of deep HST/ACS imaging (Cole et al. 2007