Bars are prominent features that occur in most disc galaxies and have important dynamical effects on their hosts. This paper describes some of the known properties of bars, illustrating the discussion with images that show the beauty of the galaxies under consideration. The focus of this article is on the evolution of bars and on their influence on

Observational results concerning possible changes in the granulation of Main Sequence stars were found by analysing their seismic power spectra obtained from photometric microvariability. We analysed as many as 178 stars with spectral types F, G, K, and M observed for 54 days. We present evidence of changes in the lifetime and contrast of the

We have selected a sample of nearby galaxies where an AGN (Seyfert or LINER) coexists with circumnuclear star formation. We use the highest spatial resolution data available now (HST UV, optical, and near-infrared [IR]; radio) and in the future (mid-IR with Spitzer and CanariCam) with spatial resolutions of 3-25 pc for our sample. The main goal of

First results from the AGN-Heidelberg program aimed at resolving the central pc region of the closest Active Galactic Nuclei in the IR are presented. The core region of prototype active nuclei are clearly unveiled at IR waves and at distances from the nucleus - few pc- where circumnuclear starforming regions appear not to be present. Within that

Absorption line-strengths have allowed us to carry out a comprehensive stellar populations analysis, providing very strong constraints for discriminating and constraining current galaxy formation scenarios. I describe the main features of this approach, pinpointing the most popular indices and diagnostic diagrams, and the main problems affecting

We present the first deep, optical, wide-field imaging survey of the young open cluster Collinder 359, complemented by near-infrared follow-up observations. This study is part of a large programme aimed at examining the dependence of the mass function on environment and time. We have surveyed 1.6 square degree in the cluster in the I and z filters