We present a progress report on a project aimed at determining the absolute proper motion of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), with respect to background Quasi Stellar Objects (QSOs) that can be used as fiducial reference points (Anguita et al. 2000, Pedreros et al. 2002, Pedreros et al. 2005). The motions thus derived, when combined with existing

We present optical and infrared monitoring of the 2005 outburst of the halo black hole X-ray transient XTE J1118+480. We measured a total outburst amplitude of ~5.7+/-0.1 mag in the R band and ~5 mag in the infrared J, H, and Ks bands. The hardness ratio HR2 (5-12 keV:3-5 keV) from the RXTE ASM data is 1.53+/-0.02 at the peak of the outburst

We present a detailed surface density analysis of a large sample of simulated collisionless mergers of disc galaxies with bulges (mass ratios 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1 and 6:1) and without bulges (mass ratios 1:1 and 3:1). A dissipative component was not included. The randomly projected remnants were fit with a single Sérsic function and a Sérsic function

A spectroscopic analysis is presented, where elliptical galaxies in Hickson Compact Groups (HCG) are compared with their counterparts in the field. The stellar population study shows that low-mass galaxies in HCGs present an enhanced [Mg/Fe] abundance ratio, interpreted as a relic of an event which truncated their star formation

We present a statistical analysis of voids in the two-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS). In order to detect the voids, we have developed two robust algorithms. We define voids as non-overlapping maximal spheres empty of haloes or galaxies with mass or luminosity above a given value. We search for voids in cosmological N-Body simulations

We report on results from the first solar Fitting at Low-Angular degree Group (solar FLAG) hare-and-hounds exercise. The group is concerned with the development of methods for extracting the parameters of low-l solar p-mode data (`peak bagging'), collected by Sun-as-a-star observations. Accurate and precise estimation of the fundamental parameters