Recent studies have claimed the existence of very massive stars (VMS) up to 300 M ⊙ in the local Universe. As this finding may represent a paradigm shift for the canonical stellar upper-mass limit of 150 M ⊙, it is timely to discuss the status of the data, as well as the far-reaching implications of such objects. We held a Joint Discussion at the

Context. Model atmosphere analyses have been previously undertaken for both Galactic and extragalactic B-type supergiants. By contrast, little attention has been given to a comparison of the properties of single supergiants and those that are members of multiple systems. Aims: Atmospheric parameters and nitrogen abundances have been estimated for

We present an imaging survey that searches for the stellar counterparts of recently discovered ultra-compact high-velocity H i clouds (UCHVC). It has been proposed that these clouds are candidate mini-haloes in the Local Group and its surroundings within a distance range of 0.25-2.0 Mpc. Using the Large Binocular Telescope we obtained wide-field (≃

A Li-rich red giant (RG) star (2M19411367+4003382) recently discovered in the direction of NGC 6819 belongs to the rare subset of Li-rich stars that have not yet evolved to the luminosity bump, an evolutionary stage where models predict Li can be replenished. The currently favored model to explain Li enhancement in first-ascent RGs like 2M19411367

One of the most outstanding predictions of the radial migration theory was a progressive increase in the age of the stellar populations toward the galaxy outskirts. This gradual change in the age is caused by a net flux of old stars formed in the inner disk moving toward the outskirts. Thanks to the fact that the age of stellar populations can be