OmegaWhite is a wide-field, high cadence, synoptic survey targeting fields in the southern Galactic plane, with the aim of discovering short period variable stars. Our strategy is to take a series of 39 s exposures in the g band of a 1 deg2 of sky lasting 2 h using the OmegaCAM wide field imager on the VLT Survey Telescope (VST). We give an

In this Letter we report new evidence for a close three-galaxy interaction in the compact group of galaxies HCG 95. Deep optical imaging in the Johnson UBVRI bands and in narrowband H alpha have shown four long tidal tails emanating from the two disk galaxies as well as signs of transfer of material between one of the tidal tails and the elliptical

The Open Cluster Chemical Analysis and Mapping (OCCAM) survey aims to produce a comprehensive, uniform, infrared-based data set for hundreds of open clusters, and constrain key Galactic dynamical and chemical parameters from this sample. This first contribution from the OCCAM survey presents analysis of 141 members stars in 28 open clusters with

Aims: The association of Type Ic supernovae (SNe) with long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is well established. We endeavor, through accurate ground-based observational campaigns, to characterize these SNe at increasingly high redshifts. Methods: We obtained a series of optical photometric and spectroscopic observations of the Type Ic SN 2012bz

The Kepler mission has made an important observation: the first detection of photons from a terrestrial planet by observing its phase curve (Kepler-10b). This opens a new field in exoplanet science: the possibility of obtaining information about the atmosphere and surface of rocky planets, objects of prime interest. In this Letter, we apply the

There is a long-lasting debate, started in the nineteenth century by d‟Arbois de Jubainville and Jullian, among others, regarding the pan-Celtic nature of the mid-season (or rather, start of season) feasts known from the Mediaeval Ireland (set on 1st November, February, May and August). D‟Arbois indicated that one of these feasts coincided with the