Aims: The nature of the thick disc and its relation to the thin disc is presently an important subject of debate. In fact, the structural and chemo-dynamical transition between disc populations can be used as a test of the proposed models of Galactic disc formation and evolution. Methods: We used the atmospheric parameters, [α/Fe] abundances, and

Context. Knowledge of the abundance distribution of star forming regions and young clusters is critical to investigate a variety of issues, from triggered star formation and chemical enrichment by nearby supernova explosions to the ability to form planetary systems. In spite of this, detailed abundance studies are currently available for relatively

WEAVE is the next-generation optical spectroscopy facility for the William Herschel Telescope and aims at spectroscopic follow-up of ground-based (LOFAR) and space-based (Gaia) surveys. WEAVE places in the re-fitted prime focus either 1000 fibres, 20 fibre-coupled mini-IFUs or a single large 600 fibre IFU. A spectrograph on the Nasmyth platform

FRIDA (inFRared Imager and Dissector for the Adaptive optics system of the Gran Telescopio Canarias) is a diffraction limited instrument that will offer broad and narrow band imaging and integral field spectroscopy with low, intermediate and high spectral resolutions in the 0.9 - 2.5 μm wavelength range. FRIDA will be installed at a Nasmyth focus

We present ~47,000 periodic variables found during the analysis of 5.4 million variable star candidates within a 20,000 deg2 region covered by the Catalina Surveys Data Release-1 (CSDR1). Combining these variables with type ab RR Lyrae from our previous work, we produce an online catalog containing periods, amplitudes, and classifications for ~61

The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope for Polarimetry (BLASTPol) is a suborbital mapping experiment, designed to study the role played by magnetic fields in the star formation process. BLASTPol observes polarized light using a total power instrument, photolithographic polarizing grids, and an achromatic half-wave plate to