A large fraction of all stars, after experiencing heavy winds at the end of the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase, leave behind a core that is below the Chandrasekhar mass limit. This core eventually photoionizes the stellar ejecta giving birth to a planetary nebula (PN). PN and AGB stars are therefore the remnants of stars that through their

Here we present a self-consistent stationary solution for spherically symmetric winds driven by massive star clusters under the impact of radiative cooling. We demonstrate that cooling may modify drastically the distribution of temperature if the rate of injected energy approaches a critical value and that the stationary wind solution does not

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As part of an ongoing program to test Newton’s law of gravity in the low acceleration regime using globular clusters, we present here new results obtained for NGC 6171. Combining VLT spectra for 107 stars with data from the literature, we were able to trace the velocity dispersion profile up to 16 pc from the cluster center, probing accelerations

We have found evidence for the presence of two distinct ancient stellar components (both >=10 Gyr old) in the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy. We used the ESO Wide Field Imager in conjunction with the Very Large Telescope/FLAMES spectrograph to study the properties of the resolved stellar population of Sculptor out to and beyond the tidal radius

We have the unique opportunity to observe and model nearby streams around the two large Local Group spirals Milky Way and M31 in great detail. However, the detection of streams around other external galaxies is required to verify the general application of the derived results. We give a short summary of streams around other galaxies known in the