Observational evidence accumulated over the last decade strongly supports the idea that the ionizing radiation field in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is anisotropic. Here we report on new evidence for this anisotropy in the particular case of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 5252. H I observations of this galaxy reveal neutral gas surrounding the nucleus

High-resolution spectroscopy (R>25,000) is a robust and powerful tool in the near-infrared characterization of exoplanet atmospheres. It has unambiguously revealed the presence of carbon monoxide and water in several hot Jupiters, measured the rotation rate of beta Pic b, and suggested the presence of fast day-to-night winds in one atmosphere. The

The HST/ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters includes F606W and F814W observations of 66 clusters (Sarajedini et al. 2007). We present new global mass functions (MFs) for a significant sub-sample of clusters in the survey. We also present updated core radii, tidal radii, and concentrations for many of these clusters. This new information allows

We present an integral field spectroscopic study of the central 2 × 2 kpc2 of the blue compact dwarf galaxy Mrk 409, observed with the Potsdam MultiAperture Spectrophotometer (PMAS). This study focuses on the morphology, two-dimensional chemical abundance pattern, excitation properties, and kinematics of the ionized interstellar medium in the

The preliminary results of STEPHI 2006 campaign are reported.

The proto-planetary nebula Hen 3-1475 (IRAS 17423--1755) shows a remarkable highly--collimated optical jet with a spectacular S-shaped string of shock-excited knots (Bobrowsky et al. 1995, Riera et al. 1995, Borkowski et al. 1997). Moreover, extremely high velocities have been observed in the innermost regions of its optical jet, which decreases