Related papers: The Binary Galaxies NGC 147 And NGC 185
(abridged) The Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31) galaxies possess rotating planes of satellites. Their formation has not been explained satisfactorily yet. It was suggested that the MW and M31 satellites are ancient tidal dwarf galaxies,…
We describe the properties and kinematics of the neutral gas in the two dwarf elliptical galaxies NGC 185 and NGC 205, companions of M31. The kinematics of the HI suggest that an internal origin for the gas (i.e. stellar mass loss) should…
A current issue in the study of planetary nebulae with close binary central stars is the extent to which the binaries affect the shaping of the nebulae. Recent studies have begun to show a high coincidence rate between nebulae with…
The open star cluster NGC 1605 has recently been reported to in fact consist of two clusters (one intermediate-aged and one old) that merged via a flyby capture. Here we show that Gaia data do not support this scenario. We also report the…
Both major galaxies in the Local Group (LG) are surrounded by thin planes of mostly co-orbiting satellite galaxies, the vast polar structure (VPOS) around the Milky Way (MW) and the Great Plane of Andromeda (GPoA) around M31. We summarize…
We present the analysis of photometric and spectroscopic data of two bright Galactic Cepheids, X Puppis and XX Sagittarii. Based on the available data in the literature as well as own observations spanning 75 years, we conclude that both…
The potential association of the globular cluster (GC) NGC 4147 with the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf spheroidal galaxy has been proposed due to their comparable locations and radial velocities. However, there are still debates about this…
We report preliminary results of a project to homogeneously measure star formation histories for the majority of Local Group dwarf galaxies, based on archival WFPC2 observations. For the dwarf spheroidal and elliptical galaxies, we find…
Compact stellar binaries are expected to survive in the dense environment of the Galactic Center. The stable binaries may undergo Kozai-Lidov oscillations due to perturbations from the central supermassive black hole (Sgr A*), yet the…
We present kinematic and metallicity profiles for the M31 dwarf elliptical (dE) satellite galaxies NGC 147 and NGC 185. The profiles represent the most extensive spectroscopic radial coverage for any dE galaxy, extending to a projected…
Studies of young clusters have shown that a large fraction of O-/early B-type stars are in binary systems, where the binary fraction increases with mass. These massive stars are present in clusters of a few Myrs, but gradually disappear for…
We report on the discovery and analysis of 14 short-period variable stars in the field of the southern globular cluster NGC 3201, located within roughly two magnitudes on either side of the main-sequence turnoff. 11 of these variable stars…
Analysing all Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) galaxies within a factor two (+/- 0.3 dex) of the stellar mass of the Milky Way (MW), there is a 11.9% chance that one of these galaxies will have a close companion (within a projected…
Recent images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) of the interacting disk galaxies NGC 4038/4039 (the Antennae) reveal clusters of many dozens and possibly hundreds of young compact massive star clusters within projected regions…
Previous studies on the stellar content of the two nearby dwarf galaxies NGC147 and NGC185 reveal a rich population of late-type giants in both systems, including a large number of carbon-rich objects. These stars are known to show…
Despite the efforts of the past decade, the origin of the bimodal horizontal-branch (HB) found in some globular clusters (GCs) remains a conundrum. Inspired by the discovery of multiple stellar populations in the {\it most massive} Galactic…
We have used a sample of high-resolution spectra obtained with the multi-fiber facility FLAMES at the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory, to derive the kinematical and chemical properties of the two young Large…
We present the deepest optical photometry for any dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxy based on Hubble Space Telescope ACS observations of the Local Group dE galaxies NGC 147 and NGC 185. The resulting F606W and F814W color-magnitude diagrams are…
The thin, extended planes of satellite galaxies detected around both the Milky Way and Andromeda are not a natural prediction of the LCDM paradigm. Galaxies in these distinct planes may have formed and evolved in a different way (e.g.,…
We have observed the old open clusters M 67 and NGC 188 with the ROSAT PSPC. In M 67 we detect a variety of X-ray sources. The X-ray emission by a cataclysmic variable, a single hot white dwarf, two contact binaries, and some RS CVn systems…