Near-infrared images are useful for analyzing the stellar backbone of disk galaxies, and in particular can be used to derive gravitational potentials (Quillen, Frogel, and Gonzalez 1994, ApJ, 437, 162). We have shown (Buta and Block 2001, ApJ, 550, 243) that from such potentials, the maximum value of the ratio of the tangential force to the mean

The idea of finding extrasolar planets (ESPs) through observations of drops in stellar brightness due to transiting objects has been around for decades. It has only been in the last ten years, however, that any serious attempts to find ESPs became practical. The discovery of a transiting planet around the star HD 209458 (Charbonneau et al. cite

(4) Vesta is the unique large asteroid with a basaltic surface present in the Asteroid Belt. In recent years, several smaller asteroids having similar composition have been discovered in the neighbourhood of Vesta and even far away from it. It has been suggested that all these small asteroids came from Vesta even if dynamical studies do not fully

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High-resolution observations of quiescent filaments point out that their fine structure is made of small-scale threads or fibrils. These fibrils can be represented as thin loops having cool tops, i.e. the prominence material, while the rest of the loop displays coronal temperatures. Then, the stacking of these thin loops in the vertical and

We determine the inclinations of the vector magnetic field and flow velocity in a sunspot penumbra by interpreting full Stokes profiles of three infrared lines observed with the Tenerife Infrared Polarimeter. It is shown that analyses based on one-component atmospheres deliver flow velocities which are more horizontal than the average magnetic