Recent searches for brown dwarfs have succeeded in finding these elusive objects. Massive brown dwarfs (40-70 Jupiter masses) have been found in the Pleiades, orbiting around a nearby star and, very recently, in the field. A review is given of their observed photometric and spectroscopic properties in the optical and near-infrared. The diagnosis of

We present mid-resolution spectroscopic observations of 35 stars reported to be weak T Tauri stars (WTTS) discovered by ROSAT in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region (Wichmann et al. 1996). We have measured the equivalent widths of Hα and Li 1 670.8 nm in our spectra. On the basis of our higher-resolution data, we reassess the evolutionary status

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Preliminary results from spatially resolved spectroscopy and photometry of the star-forming dwarf galaxy II Zw 33 are presented. Our study has revealed the presence of a prominent central bar harboring a chain of very young (4.5-8 Myr) starburst regions, which appear to be superimposed on an older extended population. Physical properties and