Near-infrared spectroscopy was conducted to search for molecular material around 40 post-AGB stars. We present the detection of molecular emission lines of H2, 1-0S(1) at 2.122 microns and 2-1S(1) at 2.248 microns in 11 of the post-AGB observed. In addition, Brγ lines at 2.166 microns also were detected in these objects. To investigate the

Ionized gas and stellar kinematical parameters have been measured along the major axis of 20 nearby disc galaxies. We discuss the properties of each sample galaxy, distinguishing between those characterized by regular or peculiar kinematics. In early-type disc galaxies, ionized gas tends to rotate faster than stars and to have a lower velocity

We discuss several lines of evidence indicating that gas is flowing into the solar neighborhood and go on to offer a theoretical framework to explain this phenomenon, which is important for any model of the chemical and dynamical evolution of the Galaxy. We derive a theoretical age distribution for the G dwarf stars in the solar neighborhood that

The GRB010222 optical and near-infrared (NIR) afterglow was monitored at the TNG and other Italian telescopes starting ~ 1 day after the high-energy prompt event. The BVR light curves, which are the best sampled, are continuously steepening and can be described by two power laws, f(t) ~ t-alpha , of indices alpha1 ~ 0.7 and alpha2 ~ 1.3 before and

Several proof corrections were not carried faithfully to the published version of this article. In particular, a central sentence of the abstract should readThis can be achieved by varying the relative bulge-to-disk stellar density while maintaining the same effective bulge-to-disk size ratio.In Astron. J. 121, 820 (2001), there is an erroneous

Hen 3-1475 (IRAS 17423-1755) has recently been identified via ground-based and HST optical images as a bipolar proto-planetary nebula displaying a remarkable highly--collimated optical jet and a spectacular S-shaped string of knots along its bipolar axis, associated to extremely high velocities which decrease with the distance to the central star