We present results from an ongoing investigation using the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS) on the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) to provide a census of ultra-compact massive galaxies (UCMGs), defined as galaxies with stellar masses {M_{\star }}> 8 × 10^{10} { M_⊙} and effective radii {R_e} 1.5 kpc. UCMGs, which are expected to have undergone very few merger

We perform a tomographic analysis of structure growth and expansion rate from the anisotropic galaxy clustering of the combined sample of Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release 12, which covers the redshift range of 0.2 z 0.75. In order to extract the redshift information of anisotropic galaxy clustering, we analyse this data

We announce the discovery of two planetary companions orbiting around the low-mass stars Ross 1020 (GJ 3779, M4.0V) and LP 819-052 (GJ 1265, M4.5V). The discovery is based on the analysis of CARMENES radial velocity (RV) observations in the visual channel as part of its survey for exoplanets around M dwarfs. In the case of GJ 1265, CARMENES

The black hole transient V404 Cygni exhibited a bright outburst in June 2015 that was intensively followed over a wide range of wavelengths. Our team obtained high time resolution optical spectroscopy (! ˜ ! 90 s), which included a detailed coverage of the most active phase of the event. We present a data base consisting of 651 optical spectra

We report the detection of a transiting planet around π Men (HD 39091), using data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The solar-type host star is unusually bright (V = 5.7) and was already known to host a Jovian planet on a highly eccentric, 5.7 yr orbit. The newly discovered planet has a size of 2.04 ± 0.05 R ⊕ and an orbital

The next generation of solar observatories aim to understand the magnetism of the solar chromosphere. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the polarimetric signatures of chromospheric spectral lines. For this purpose, we here examine the suitability of the three Fraunhofer Mg I b1, b2, and b4 lines at 5183.6, 5172.7, and 5167.3 Å, respectively