The abundance ratios between key elements such as iron and α-process elements carry a wealth of information on the star formation history (SFH) of galaxies. So far, simple chemical evolution models have linked [α/Fe ] with the SFH time-scale, correlating large abundance ratios with short-lived SFH. The incorporation of full spectral fitting to the

Context. Nearly one century after their discovery, the carrier or carriers of diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) is/are still unknown and there are few sightlines studied in detail for a large number of DIBs. Aims: We want to study the ISM sightlines toward LS III +46 11 and LS III +46 12, two early-O-type stellar systems, and LS III +46 11 B, a mid

We present deep UBVRI CCD photometry of the resolved stellar content of the Local Group Dwarf Irregular Galaxy NGC 6822. The main advantage of this new data is that the color-magnitude (CM) diagrams obtained contain stars of virtually all ages and metallicities and hence are a record of the full star formation history of the galaxy. The wide field

We present a study of the old and intermediate-age star formation history (SFH) of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy (DIG) NGC 6822. It has been quantitatively obtained from the comparison of the observed [(V-I)_0_, M_I_] CM diagram with a set of model CM diagrams, computed assuming different evolutionary scenarios. The comparison has been

Context. There is still some debate about the presence and the morphological properties of the long bar in the inner Galaxy. Aims: We investigate the morphological properties of the long Galactic bar using the VVV survey extending star counts at least 3 mag deeper than 2MASS. Our study covers the relatively unexplored negative longitudes of the

The first scene opens with the music of Shirley Bassey. The astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt is writing a diary when visited by the famous CBS reporter Edward Roscoe Murrow. Henrietta is surprised that this American television channel should want to pay such a tribute to her, but she agrees to be interviewed. Annie Jump Cannon, her friend and