We follow, using both optical spectroscopy and photometry, the ``textbook'' colliding-wind WR+O binary WR 140 through and between the periastron passages of 1993 and 2001. An extensive collection of high-quality spectra allows us to derive precise orbital elements for both components simultaneously. We confirm the extremely high eccentricity of the

We present the possible use of spectro-polarimetric measurements on a set of data recorded with La Palma Stokes Polarimeter attached to the Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope. The stratification over the solar atmosphere of different physical parameters is retrieved from these data using the Stokes Inversion based on Response functions (SIR). We derive

We discuss the possibilities of exploiting the UV spectral using the J-PAS survey to disentangle young contributions from apparently old galaxies. We show that the feasibility of determining such young stellar components in early-type galaxies at moderately high redshift.

The UV-Excess survey of the northern Galactic plane images a 10° × 185° wide band, centred on the Galactic equator using the 2.5-m Isaac Newton Telescope in four bands (I5875) down to ~21-22 mag ( in I5875). The setup and data reduction procedures are described. Simulations of the colours of main-sequence stars, giant, supergiants, DA and DB white

The Variable Star One-shot Project (VSOP) aimed at providing to the world-wide stellar community the necessary one-shot spectrum of unstudied variable stars, too often classified as such by an analysis of photometric data only. The VSOP has established an new kind of observational model, where all steps from observations to spectral analysis, are

Context. Dynamical and albedo properties suggest that asteroids in cometary orbits (ACOs) are dormant or extinct comets. Their study provides new insights for understanding the end-states of comets and the size of the comet population. Aims: We intend to study the visible and near-infrared (NIR) spectral properties of different ACO populations and