Most, if not all, disk galaxies have a thin (classical) disk and a thick disk. In most models thick disks are thought to be a necessary consequence of the disk formation and/or evolution of the galaxy. We present the results of a study of the thick disk properties in edge-on galaxies from mid-IR imaging obtained in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar

NGC 300 was observed by the Chandra X-ray Observatory on 24 Sept. 2010 for 63 ks as part of the Chandra Local Volume Survey. Roughly one hundred highly significant X-ray point sources were detected down to a limiting luminosity of 1035 erg/s, including high- and low-mass X-ray binaries, supernova remnants, and background AGN. Many of these X-ray

We present light curves from the novae detected in the long-term, M 31-monitoring WeCAPP project. The goal of WeCAPP is to constrain the compact dark matter fraction of the M 31 halo with microlensing observations. As a by product we detected 91 novae benefiting from the high cadence and highly sensitive difference imaging technique required for

There is an ongoing debate regarding the onset luminosity of dusty mass loss in population-II red giant stars. We present VLT/VISIR mid-infrared (MIR) 8.6 μm imaging of 47 Tuc, the centre of attention of a number of space-based Spitzer observations and studies. The VISIR high-resolution (diffraction limited) observations allow excellent matching to

We use deep Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys/High Resolution Channel observations of a field within M32 (F1) and an M31 background field (F2) to determine the star formation history (SFH) of M32 from its resolved stellar population. We find that 2-5 Gyr old stars contribute ~40% ± 17% of M32's mass, while ~55% ± 21% of M32's mass

We present wide-field photometry of resolved stars in the nearby Sculptor and Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxies, going down to the oldest Main Sequence Turn-Off. The accurately flux calibrated wide-field Colour-Magnitude Diagrams are used directly in combination with spectroscopic metallicities of individual RGB stars to constrain the ages of