We performed a uniform and detailed analysis of 1112 high-resolution spectra of FGK dwarfs obtained with the HARPS spectrograph at the ESO 3.6 m telescope (La Silla, Chile). Most stars have effective temperatures 4700 K ≤ Teff ≤ 6300 K and lie in the metallicity range of -1.39 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ 0.55. Our main goal is to investigate whether there are any

Here we give a brief outline of the activities developed during the International Year of Astronomy specifically addressed to people with various disabilities, both physical and/or intellectual. Among the different activities that we carried out we wish to highlight the publication of an astronomy book in Braille, astronomy talks for the

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We hypothesize that hot Jupiters with inflated sizes represent a separate planet formation channel, the merging of two low-mass stars. We show that the abundance and properties of W UMa stars and low mass detached binaries are consistent with their being possible progenitors. The degree of inflation of the transiting hot Jupiters correlates with

Tenerife is not Jakarta. Neither is 2009 the year 1965, nor the Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos (Museum of Science and the Cosmos) the hotel "Indonesia", meeting point of reporters from around the world. Nor am I the journalist Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver) in the Australian Peter Weir film. But 2009, a year of international commitment to

The X-ray transient XTE J1719-291 was discovered with Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer/Proportional Counter Array (RXTE/PCA) during its outburst in 2008 March, which lasted at least 46 d. Its 2-10 keV peak luminosity is 7 × 1035 erg s-1 assuming a distance of 8 kpc, which classifies the system as a very faint X-ray transient. The outburst was monitored