The mechanism proposed by Kormendy (1984) for the formation of counterrotating cores in elliptical galaxies is investigated using self-consistent numerical simulations of mergers between a high- and a low-luminosity elliptical galaxies. The conditions for a counterrotation to appear are determined, observational properties of the remnants are

It is well known that newly formed planetary systems undergo processes of orbital reconfiguration and planetary migration. As a result, planets or protoplanetary objects may accrete onto the central star, being fused and mixed into its external layers. If the accreted mass is sufficiently high and the star has a sufficiently thin convective

Context. The ongoing Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey is using FLAMES at the VLT to obtain high-quality medium-resolution Giraffe spectra for about 105 stars and high-resolution UVES spectra for about 5000 stars. With UVES, the Survey has already observed 1447 FGK-type stars. Aims: These UVES spectra are analyzed in parallel by several state-of

This paper discusses synthetic horizontal branches constructed from a grid of horizontal-branch (HB) evolutionary tracks with the alpha-elements enhanced by a factor of 5 with respect to the solar-scaled mixture and various surface helium and heavy-element abundances. The luminosity log L(3.83) and the luminosity-to-mass ratio A(3.83) of the ZAHB

The progress on the dynamics of the radiative zone by global Doppler velocity measurements aboard SoHO (GOLF+ MDI) and with ground networks (BiSON and GONG) opens a new perspective for solar and stellar physics. It is why we prepare a new generation of solar resonant spectrometer. The objectives of the GOLF-NG instrument and its present status are

We briefly review the revised classification of the radial surface brightness profiles focusing on the outer disk structure, discussing possible formation scenarios, and posing some open questions.