The dwarf nova GW Librae (GW Lib) is the first cataclysmic variable (CV) discovered to have a primary in a white dwarf instability strip, making it the first multimode, non-radially pulsating star known to be accreting. The primaries of CVs, embedded in hot, bright accretion discs, are difficult to study directly. Applying the techniques of

The Local Group provides an interesting and representative sample of galaxies in the rest of the Universe. The high accuracy with which many problems can be addressed in Local Group galaxies is of paramount importance fur understanding galaxy formation and evolution. This contribution presents a short review of overall Local Group properties

In this article we compare and contrast the predictions of models we have published previously, with the most recent observational data on the G-dwarf/K-dwarf metallicity distribution in the local Galaxy, as well as with up to date plots showing the relation between the Be and B abundances of local stars and their Fe abundances. We show how the

We derived the stellar parameters of a sample of Galactic early-O type stars by analyzing their UV and far-UV spectra from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (905-1187 Å), the International Ultraviolet Explorer, the Hubble Space Telescope STIS, and the Orbiting and Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (1200-2000 Å). The data

We use a large sample of galaxies from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to explore the distribution of galaxy luminosities, stellar and baryonic masses, and sizes in the local Universe. Assuming a universally-applicable stellar IMF, highlights include the following. i) The 'faint end slope' of the

We present a study of the stellar parameters, distances and spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of HD 34282 and HD 141569, two pre-main sequence Herbig AeBe stars. Both objects have been reported to show ``anomalous positions'' in the HR diagram in the sense that they appear below the main sequence. A significant result of this work is that both