Related papers: The Gould Belt
The existence of stellar cusps in dense clusters around massive black holes is a fundamental, decades-old prediction of theoretical stellar dynamics. Yet, observational evidence has been difficult to obtain. With a new, improved analysis of…
Globular clusters (GCs) are among the oldest and most luminous stellar systems in the Universe, offering unique insights into galaxy formation and evolution. While the physical processes behind their origin have long remained elusive, major…
The gas surrounding galaxies outside their disks or interstellar medium and inside their virial radii is known as the circumgalactic medium (CGM). In recent years this component of galaxies has assumed an important role in our understanding…
For several decades, globular clusters have been considered the best example of simple stellar populations, hosting coeval and chemical homogeneous stars. The last decade of spectroscopic and photometric studies has revealed a more complex…
We report first results on the large-scale distribution of the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) X-ray sources in a 5000 deg^2 field centered on Orion. Our final aim is to study the properties of different widespread populations in the Orion…
The local velocity field of young stars is dominated by the galactic rotation, the kinematics of the Gould Belt and the nearest OB associations and open clusters, and the kinematics of the spiral structure. We re-examined here this local…
The origin of the local population of young, cooling neutron stars is investigated with a population synthesis model taking into account the contribution of neutron stars born in the Gould Belt, in addition to those originating in the…
Results from IRAS and recent X-ray and optical surveys are reviewed to discuss the properties and nature of the interstellar medium in elliptical galaxies. As to the dust component, there is a strong contrast with the situation among spiral…
We present a model of the interaction of interstellar dust grains with a stellar environment, that predicts the distribution of interstellar dust grains in the size range between $0.1 {\rm \mu m}$ and $1 {\rm \mu m}$ around a star for the…
Suggestions have been made that asteroid belts may be important both for the existence of life and perhaps even for the evolution of complex life on a planet. Using numerical models for protoplanetary discs we calculate the location of the…
This article intends to provide a concise overview, from an observational point-of-view, of the current state of our knowledge of the most relevant properties of the Milky Way's nuclear star cluster (MWNSC). The MWNSC appears to be a…
The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is the most extreme star-forming environment in the Milky Way in terms of gas pressures, densities, temperatures, and dynamics. It acts as a critical test bed for developing star formation theories…
Based on published sources, we have created a kinematic database on 220 massive (>10 solar masses) young Galactic star systems located within <3 kpc of the Sun. Out of them, approximately 100 objects are spectroscopic binary and multiple…
This thesis embraces several aspects of theoretical stellar dynamics in clusters, both analytically and numerically. We try to elucidate the phenomena currently observed in all types of galaxies, including AGNs and quasars, some of the most…
Gravitationally-bound clusters that survive gas removal represent an unusual mode of star formation in the Milky Way and similar spiral galaxies. While forming, they can be distinguished observationally from unbound star formation by their…
Interstellar matter (ISM) sets the boundary conditions of the heliosphere and dominates the interplanetary medium. The heliosphere configuration has varied over recent history, as the Sun emerged from the Local Bubble and entered a…
Globular clusters (GCs), the oldest stellar systems observed in the Milky Way, have for long been considered single stellar populations. As such, they provided an ideal laboratory to understand stellar dynamics and primordial star formation…
Globular clusters are stellar dynamical systems which evolve on stellar evolutionary and both internal and external dynamical timescales. Quantitative comparison of cluster properties with realistic evolutionary dynamical models is becoming…
We discuss the current knowledge of the Solar system, focusing on bodies in the outer regions, on the information they provide concerning Solar system formation, and on the possible relationships that may exist between our system and the…
The atmospheres of the four giant planets of our Solar System share a common and well-observed characteristic: they each display patterns of planetary banding, with regions of different temperatures, composition, aerosol properties and…