Based on photometry of deep CCD frames of the central region of the OB cluster Berkeley 86, we derive the cluster mass function. The absence of current star formation, and the cluster's young age of about 6Myrs, leads to the conclusion that the initial mass function (IMF) and the current mass function are identical for stars with m

On 4 July 2005, many observatories around the world and in space observed the collision of Deep Impact with comet 9P/Tempel 1 or its aftermath. This was an unprecedented coordinated observational campaign. These data show that (i) there was new material after impact that was compositionally different from that seen before impact; (ii) the ratio of

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We present a new deep determination of the spectroscopic luminosity function (LF) within the virial radius of the nearby and massive Abell 85 (A85) cluster down to the dwarf regime (M* + 6) using Very Large Telescope/Visible Multi-Object Spectrograph (VLT/VIMOS) spectra for ˜2000 galaxies with mr ≤ 21 mag and ≤ 24 mag arcsec-2. The resulting LF

We report on new results in the search for diffuse bands, signatures of still unknown origin, in the circumstellar envelopes of evolved (post-AGB) stars.

The spectral analyser of the Visible light Imager and Magnetograph (VIM) is a critical device whose concept is dependent on scientific requirements and technical trade-offs, which are directly driven by the nature of the mission. Here, we report on the choices that were made to fulfill the scientific needs, while constantly keeping an eye on