We present the first sub-arcsecond resolution two-dimensional stellar kinematics and X-ray observations of the prototypical starburst galaxy NGC 253 which define the position and nature of the galactic nucleus. These observations comprise some of the best probes of the central 300 pc of NGC 253, the nearest massive galaxy undergoing a powerful

We have carried out a long term project to analyse the role played by bars in bulge formation and the formation and evolution of bars from the point of view of their star formation histories and stellar population. To this aim, we have obtained high S/N long-slit spectra of 20 barred galaxies, ranging in morphological types between S0 and Sb

We study Milky Way kinematics using a sample of 18.8 million main-sequence stars with r 20 and proper-motion measurements derived from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and POSS astrometry, including ~170,000 stars with radial-velocity measurements from the SDSS spectroscopic survey. Distances to stars are determined using a photometric-parallax

On June 8th 2009 the SUNRISE mission was successfully launched. This mission consisted of a 1m aperture solar telescope on board of a stratospheric balloon within the Long Duration Balloon NASA program. The flight followed the foreseen circumpolar trajectory over the Artic and the duration was 5 days and 17 hours. One of the two postfocal

Aims: Previous studies have found that the coefficients and intrinsic dispersions of both the Kormendy relation and the Fundamental Plane depend on the magnitude range within which the galaxies are contained. We study whether this type of behaviour is also present for the Faber-Jackson relation. Methods: We take a sample of early-type galaxies from

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