We present a comparison between the ionized gas and stellar kinematics for a sample of five early-to-intermediate disc galaxies. We measured the major axis V and σ radial profiles for both gas and stars, and the h_3 and h_4 radial profiles of the stars. We also derived from the R-band surface photometry of each galaxy the light contribution of

Images are presented of some of the galaxies in the sample of the BARS `International Time Project' in the near-infrared JHK_s bands, obtained with the Infra-Red Camera at the 1.5 m Carlos Sánchez Telescope, Teide Observatory, between 1996 and 1998. We discuss the scientific importance of imaging galaxies in the near-infrared bands and recent and

We explore the behaviour of the most popular spectroscopic absorption features in the optical region as a function of the initial mass function (IMF), while taking into account the spectral resolution and galaxy velocity dispersion. We conclude that the IMF produces a negligible effect on the Lick indices contained in the wavelength interval λ 3800

H_α luminosities of a sample of galaxies in nearby compact groups are presented. Our purpose is to study the influence of the group environment on the star formation rates (SFRs) of the galaxies in the groups, provided that the H_α luminosity is a good tracer of the SFR of disc galaxies. Measuring the global L/L_B of the groups - including early

The spectroscopic parallaxes in the Hipparcos catalogue can be used to translate absolute stellar fluxes observed at Earth to the fluxes emerging at the stellar surface for nearby stars. The comparison of these fluxes with the predictions of theoretical model atmospheres allows us to determine the effective temperature and the metallicity of the

We report the detection of a bisymmetric nuclear spiral structure in the spiral galaxy NGC 5248. The two red spiral arms can be followed for about 3 arcsec, before they appear to end inside the radius of the circumnuclear starburst `ring' at about 5.5 arcsec or 400 pc distance from the nucleus. We combine our near-infrared Canada-France-Hawaii