We describe results from our study of a sample of spiral galaxies of a wide range of Hubble types on the basis of near-IR imaging obtained with INGRID on the WHT. We focus on the determination of bar torques, or bar strengths, from our images, and show that this bar strength only very weakly correlates with de Vaucouleurs bar type, or with bar axis

The existence of density-bounded HII regions in spiral galaxies is supported by means of a spectral indicator based on the intensity of the [OI]λ6300 forbidden line. A grid of photoionization models providing spectral information on density-bounded nebulae is presented in order to test the validity of our indicator. The indicator is applicable to

AutoFib2, the prime focus, multi-object spectrograph of the WHT, was recently upgraded with the installation of the Small Fibre Module. This allows to reach a fainter limiting magnitude and to observe a larger number of objects than with the previous large fibres.

We report on the discovery of a free-floating methane dwarf toward the direction of the young star cluster σ Ori. Based on the object's far-red, optical, and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy, we conclude that it is a possible member of this association. We have named it S Ori J053810.1-023626 (S Ori 70 is the abridged name). If it is a

We present the results of a high spectral resolution (lambda / Delta lambda = 49 000) study of the circumstellar (CS) gas around the intermediate mass, pre-main sequence star UX Ori. The results are based on a set of 10 échelle spectra covering the spectral range 3800-5900 Å, monitoring the star on time scales of months, days and hours. A large

The soft X-ray transient GU Mus has been detected by XMM-Newton in the quiescent state. The source is very faint, with a 0.5-10.0 keV unabsorbed flux of =~ 1.1 x 10-14 ergs cm-2 s-1. The spectra is well fit by an absorbed powerlaw with a photon index of alpha = 1.6 +/- 0.4, close to the value seen when the source was in the low/hard state in Aug