Dynamical arguments indicate that 944 Hidalgo is most likely an extinct or dormant comet. Hidalgo's Tisserand invariant (T = 2.07) suggests strongly that this object came either from the Kuiper belt or the Oort cloud (e.g., Weissman et al. 2002). We obtained low-resolution near-infrared spectra in the 0.8-2.4 micron region on UT Oct 22, 23, Nov 19

Following the report of a new outburst of the accreting millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 by Markwardt and Swank (ATel #1728), the source was observed using the CTIO/SMARTS 1.3m telescope on MJD 54732.0998, in I- and H- bands. We clearly detected the source at magnitudes significantly higher than its quiescent level, confirming that the source is

C60 and C70 fullerenes were neutron-bombarded to an integral dose of 3.28×1016 n cm−2. After the neutron treatment the trichloromethane soluble fraction was determined spectrophotometrically and C60 insoluble fraction was found at 3.8% while the insoluble fraction of C70 17.9%. The formation of the CHCl3 insoluble fraction is due to polymerization

Context. It is still being debated whether the well-known metallicity-giant planet correlation for dwarf stars is also valid for giant stars. For this reason, having precise metallicities is very important. Precise stellar parameters are also crucial to planetary research for several other reasons. Different methods can provide different results

Here we present a review of the new generation near infrared spectrographs (1 to 5 microns) available in telescopes from 3.5 m to 10 m in diameter. These instruments have in common the new infrared (IR) detectors with a large 1024 x 1024 pixel format, low read-out noise and low dark current both in the 1-2.5 and 1-5 micron range.

The bipolar outflow source NGC 1333 (HH 7-11) was observed in the J = 2-1 transition of (C-12)O, and evidence was found for a strong westerly termination of the red outflow lobe at a velocity V(lsr) about 27 km/s, together with maximal mean red-flow velocities Delta v centered upon both the driving source SVS 13 and the westerly limit of the