Of the over 400 known exoplanets, there are about 70 planets that transit their central star, a situation that permits the derivation of their basic parameters and facilitates investigations of their atmospheres. Some short-period planets, including the first terrestrial exoplanet (CoRoT-7b), have been discovered using a space mission designed to

C60 fullerene can be easily hydrogenated in aromatic solvent under mild conditions with aqueous hydrogen iodide (HI). The resulting black product has the molecular formula C60H24 center dot 2I2 on the basis of the FT-IR spectroscopy and of the thermogravimetric analysis. When this compound is heated under N2 it releases I2 and HI producing

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Three years of optical monitoring of the low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) 4U 1957+11 is presented. The source was observed in V, R and i bands using the Faulkes Telescopes North and South. The light curve is dominated by long-term variations which are correlated (at the >3σ level) with the soft X-ray flux from the All Sky Monitor on board the Rossi X

Available from the Minor Planet Center.

The discovery of ɛ Indi Ba, Bb, a binary brown dwarf system very close to the Sun, makes possible a concerted campaign to characterise the physical parameters of two T dwarfs. Recent observations suggest substellar atmospheric and evolutionary models may be inconsistent with observations, but there have been few conclusive tests to date. We