Recent studies have claimed that the Hubble sequence of late-type spirals, and spirals in general, is scale-free. Within the photometric data used in these works, a trend exists between morphological type and bulge profile shape such that late-type spiral bulges are described by an exponential luminosity profile, where-as the early-type spiral

Assuming that photoionization is the self-limiting process for continued star formation, we estimate the maximum number of massive (OB) stars that can form within a molecular cloud. The most efficient cloud destruction mechanism in the early stages of H II region evolution is the evaporation of the cloud by stars located near the cloud boundary

Fullerene C60 and C70 were discovered in 2010 by means of infrared spectroscopy in a series of astrophysical objects like for example planetary and protoplanetary nebulae and reflection nebulae. These discoveries suggest that C60 and C70 must be widespread in the interstellar medium and may contribute as neutral species or as radical cation (C60+•

Flattened bulges with disk-like properties are considered to be the end product of secular evolution processes at work in the inner regions of galaxies. On the contrary, classical bulges are characterized by rounder shapes and thought to be similar to low-luminosity elliptical galaxies. We aim at testing the variety of observational diagnostics

Context: The topology of penumbral magnetic fields is poorly known. The satellite Hinode has recently revealed penumbral structures of a magnetic polarity that is opposite to the main sunspot polarity. They may be direct confirmation that magnetic field lines and mass flows return to the solar interior throughout the penumbra, a configuration

The existence of compact H ii regions around massive stellar clusters with ages exceeding several Myr challenges our understanding of the physical processes occurring inside such clusters, and their impact on the interstellar medium of the host galaxy. Here, we summarize our recent results dealing with the hydrodynamics of matter ejected by massive