Solar magnetic fields leave their fingerprints in the polarization signatures of the emergent spectral line radiation. This occurs through a variety of rather unfamiliar physical mechanisms, not only via the Zeeman effect. In particular, magnetic fields modify the atomic level polarization (population imbalances and quantum coherences) that

Integral field spectroscopy has been obtained for the nuclear regions of three large, well-studied, early-type galaxies. From these spectra we have obtained line-strength maps for about 20 absorption lines, mostly belonging to the Lick system. An extensive comparison with multilenslet spectroscopy shows that accurate kinematic maps can be obtained

We report the discovery of burst oscillations at the spin frequency in ten thermonuclear bursts from the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar (AMXP) IGR J17511-3057. The burst oscillation properties are, like those from the persistent AMXPs SAX J1808.4-3658 and XTE J1814-338, anomalous compared to burst oscillations from intermittent pulsars or non

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The nearby young σ Orionis cluster (˜360 pc, ˜3 Myr) is becoming one of the most important regions for the study of ultra low-mass star formation and its extension down to the mass regimes of the brown dwarfs and planetary-mass objects. Here, I introduce the σ Orionis cluster and present three studies that the {JOVIAN} group is developing: a pilot

We review here the multiplicity properties of ultracool dwarfs (spectral type later than M6) observed in three different environments and at three different ages: in the field, where the objects are relatively old (1-5 Gyrs) and isolated, in the Pleiades young (˜120 Myr) open cluster, and in the young (˜5 Myr) Upper Scorpius OB association (USco)