The JEM-X Signal Multiplexing Systems are large HURA codes "written" in a pure tungsten plate 0.5 mm thick. 24.247 hexagonal pixels (25% open) are spread over a total area of 535 mm diameter. The tungsten plate is embedded in a mechanical structure formed by a Ti ring, a pretensioning system (Cu-Be) and an exoskeleton structure that provides the

Observations of the black hole binary XTE J1859+226 revealed an unexpected optical re-brightening. Images were taken with the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) using ALFOSC on Jul 13-14, the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) with ACAM on Aug 8 and the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) with WFC on Aug 19 at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, La

The dwarf irregular galaxy IC10 in Cassiopeia, is the youngest available starburst galaxy and home to many X-ray sources. Using the Gemini multi-object spectrograph (GMOS), in the wavelength range containing H-alpha, we obtained spectra of twenty five stars that are positionally coincident with X-ray sources, at the 95% significance level. The

Phase-resolved medium-resolution VLT spectroscopy of the low-mass X-ray binary GX9+9 has revealed narrow CIII emission lines that move in phase relative to our new estimate of the ephemeris, and show a velocity amplitude of 230 +/- 35 km s-1. We identify the origin of these lines as coming from the surface of the donor star, thereby providing the

This is the first paper of a series aimed at studying the structural and photometric properties in the optical band of a sample of 95 radio galaxies. Detailed surface photometry in the B and R bands is reported here for 29 objects. We give contour plots and complete structural (ellipticity, position angle, Fourier coefficients) and photometric

The newly identified black hole candidate X-ray binary MAXI J1659-152 (ATel #2873, #2881, GCN #11307), originally designated GRB100925A (GCN #11296) has now been detected at radio (ATel #2874), sub-mm (GCN #11304), optical (GCN #11298, #11301, #11302, #11305, #11306, #11307, #11308, #11314) and X-ray (GCN #11296, ATel #2875, #2877) wavelengths