Mn-Cr data are reported for chondrules from the Bishunpur and Chainpur LL chondrites. It is shown that variations in Mn/Cr for these chondrules were established during condensation of solids from the solar nebula; the whole-chondrule isochrons should give an upper limit to the time of chondrule formation and an estimate of when the chondrule

Using optical images and spectra of the bipolar nebula M 2-9 we show that, in addition to the well-known bright inner nebula, the object has fast, highly collimated outflows reaching a total extent of 115". These radially opposed and point-symmetric outer lobes are both redshifted, leading us to model the radiation from them in terms of light

Martian meteorite EETA79001 is composed of two distinct magmatic lithologies, astutely named A and B, joined by an igneous contact. Lithology B is a coarse-grained, ferroan basalt, while lithology A is both finer-grained and more magnesian. In addition, lithology A contains xenocrysts and xenoliths of olivine, orthopyroxene and chromite, which are

Using CGS4 on UKIRT, we have obtained the first 2.05-2.45 μm infrared spectra of the Galactic bulge low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) GX1+4 and GX13+1. We report the detection of Brackett gamma emission from the accretion disc in both systems, confirming the identification of the IR counterpart to GX13+1. In addition, both spectra show CO molecular

We have obtained an H-band infrared light curve of the low-mass X-ray binary transient Nova Muscae 1991. We model the light curve as being due to the tidal distortion of the secondary star in the gravitational field of a black hole, and thus deduce the binary inclination to be 54 deg, with 90 per cent confidence limits of +20 deg/-15 deg. Combining

We present a uniform and high quality set of infrared photometric (JHK) observations of the 6 peculiar carbon giant stars V Ari, UV Cam, BD+34 911, TU Gem, BD+57 2161 and BD+34 4134. All of these belong to the small group of known cool CH giants populating the Galactic halo. Comparison of the J-H and H-K colours to "normal" C stars show our stars