CODEX and ESPRESSO are concepts for ultra-stable, high-resolution spectrographs at the E-ELT and VLT, respectively. Both instruments are well motivated by distinct sets of science drivers. However, ESPRESSO will also be a stepping stone towards CODEX both in a scientific as well as in a technical sense. Here we discuss this role of ESPRESSO with

From C, T1 Washington photometry in the field of NGC 1697, SL 133, NGC 1997, SL 663, and OHSC 28, five mostly unstudied star clusters in the LMC, we estimate the cluster radii, ages and metallicities. With the exception of NGC 1697 (age = 0.7 Gyr, [Fe/H] = 0.0 dex), the remaining four clusters are of intermediate-age (from 2.2 to 3.0 Gyr) and

In the frame of the call for proposal for the E-ELT instrumentation studies, the CODEX team carried out the feasibility study for a spectrograph for extremely stable Doppler measurements. The CODEX project and its scientific goals are described in [L. Pasquini, S. Cristiani et al. in Messenger 122, 10 (2005)]. During the development of this study

The decrease of the evaporation residue yields in reactions with massive nuclei is explained by an increase of the competition between quasifission and complete fusion processes and by the decrease of the survival probability of the heated and rotating nuclei against fission along the de-excitation cascade of the compound nucleus. The experimental

The eclipsing X-ray pulsar XTE J1855-026 (Corbet & Mukai 2002, ApJ 577, 923) has been unambiguously identified by a recent Swift observation (Romano et al., ATel #1875) with the reddened early-type star proposed as candidate counterpart by Verrecchia et al. (ATel #102). High-quality spectra of the counterpart taken in August 2003 with the 4.2-m WHT

M 87 is the only known non blazar radio galaxy to emit very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays. During a monitoring program of M 87, a rapid flare in VHE gamma-rays was detected by the MAGIC telescope in early 2008. The flux was found to be variable above 350 GeV on atimescaleas short as 1 day at a significance level of 5.6σ. The highest measured flux