We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of the low-mass X-ray binary GR Mus (XB 1254-690), and find strong evidence for the presence of a negative superhump with a period that is 2.4 ± 0.3 per cent shorter than the orbital. This provides further support that GR Mus indeed harbours a precessing accretion disc (with a period of 6.74 ± 0

We present azimuthally averaged radial profiles of R-band surface brightness for a complete sample of 47 early-type, unbarred galaxies, as a complement to our previous study of early-type barred galaxies. Following very careful sky subtraction, the profiles can typically be determined down to brightness levels well below 27 mag arcsec-2 and in the

Symbiotic stars, which are interacting binary stars usually composed by a late type giant and a very hot/luminous white dwarf, are a powerful laboratory to investigate mass loss phenomenon relevant to a wide range of astrophysical topics: aspherical mass loss, collimated winds from accretion disks, colliding winds, mass loss induced by violent

First results from the AGN-Heidelberg program aimed at spatially resolving the central pc region of the closest Active Galactic Nuclei are presented. The core region of prototype active nuclei are clearly unveiled at IR waves and at distances from the nucleus - few pc- where circumnuclear starforming regions appear not to be present. Within that

Aims: We present basic atmospheric parameters (Teff, log g, vt, and [Fe/H]) as well as luminosities, masses, radii, and absolute radial velocities for 348 stars, presumably giants, from the ~1000 star sample observed within the Penn State-Toruń Centre for Astronomy Planet Search with the High Resolution Spectrograph of the 9.2 m Hobby-Eberly

Searches for planets around giants represent an essential complement to 'traditional' surveys, because they furnish information about properties of planetary systems around stars that are the descendants of the A-F main sequence (MS) stars with masses as high as ~5 M⊙. As the stars evolve off the MS, their effective temperatures and rotation rates