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NGC~6558 is a low-galactic latitude globular cluster projected in the direction of the Galactic bulge. Due to high reddening, this region presents challenges in deriving accurate parameters, which require meticulous photometric analysis. We present a combined analysis of near-infrared and optical photometry from multi-epoch high-resolution images collected with Gemini-South/GSAOI+GeMS (in the $J$ and $K_S$ filters) and HST/ACS (in the F606W and F814W filters). We aim to refine the fundamental parameters of NGC~6558, utilizing high-quality Gemini-South/GSAOI and HST/ACS photometries. Additionally, we intend to investigate its role in the formation of the Galactic bulge. We studied the impact of two differential reddening corrections on the age derivation. When removing as much as possible the Galactic bulge field star contamination, the isochrone fitting combined with synthetic colour-magnitude diagrams gives a distance of $8.41^{+0.11}_{-0.10}$ kpc, an age of $13.0\pm 0.9$ Gyr, a reddening of E($B-V$)$\,\,=0.34\pm0.02$, and a total-to-selective coefficient R$_V = 3.2\pm0.2$ thanks to the simultaneous near-infrared$-$Optical synthetic colour-magnitude diagram fitting. The orbital parameters showed that NGC~6558 is confined whitin the inner Galaxy and it is not compatible with a bar-shape orbit, indicating that it is a bulge member. The old age of NGC~6558, combined with similar metallicity and a blue horizontal branch in the Galactic bulge, indicates that it is part of the moderately metal-poor globular clusters. Assembling the old and moderately metal-poor ([Fe/H]$\,\,\sim-1.1$) clusters in the Galactic bulge, we derived their age-metallicity relation with star formation stars at $13.6\pm0.2$ Gyr and effective yields of $\rho=0.007\pm0.009\,\, Z_\odot$ showing a chemical enrichment ten times faster than the ex-situ globular clusters branch., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 14 pages, 12 figures, and 4 tables. The abstract is a reduced version of the accepted one

The number of known globular clusters in the Galactic bulge has been increasing steadily thanks to different new surveys. The aim of this study is to provide a census of the newly revealed globular clusters in the Galactic bulge, and analyze their characteristics. In recent years, many globular clusters have been discovered or identified. The stellar populations to which they belong are indicated in their original studies: they are mostly bulge clusters, with some identified as disk or halo members. We collected 41 new globular clusters revealed in the last decade and compared them to the known bulge clusters. The new clusters are intrinsically faint with $M_V$ of around -6.0 mag. The distance to the Sun of the ensemble of well-known and new bulge clusters is compatible with the Galactocentric distance measurements from the Galactic black hole location. The ensemble sample shows metallicity peaks at [Fe/H] ~ -1.08 $\pm$ 0.35 and -0.51 $\pm$ 0.25 dex, confirming previous findings. The age-metallicity relation of the new clusters younger than 10 Gyr is compatible with that of the ex situ samples of the dwarf galaxies Sagittarius, Canis Majoris, and Gaia-Enceladus-Sausage. The clusters with ages between 11.5 and 13.5 Gyr show no age-metallicity relation, because they are all old. This is compatible with their formation in situ in the early Galaxy., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A. Galactic coordinates of Minni 22 and Gran 5 were corrected in the new version

With the unprecedented increase of known star clusters, quick and modern tools are needed for their analysis. In this work, we develop an artificial neural network trained on synthetic clusters to estimate the age, metallicity, extinction, and distance of $Gaia$ open clusters. We implement a novel technique to extract features from the colour-magnitude diagram of clusters by means of the QuadTree tool and we adopt a multi-band approach. We obtain reliable parameters for $\sim 5400$ clusters. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our methodology in accurately determining crucial parameters of $Gaia$ open clusters by performing a comprehensive scientific validation. In particular, with our analysis we have been able to reproduce the Galactic metallicity gradient as it is observed by high-resolution spectroscopic surveys. This demonstrates that our method reliably extracts information on metallicity from colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of stellar clusters. For the sample of clusters studied, we find an intriguing systematic older age compared to previous analyses present in the literature. This work introduces a novel approach to feature extraction using a QuadTree algorithm, effectively tracing sequences in CMDs despite photometric errors and outliers. The adoption of ANNs, rather than Convolutional Neural Networks, maintains the full positional information and improves performance, while also demonstrating the potential for deriving clusters' parameters from simultaneous analysis of multiple photometric bands, beneficial for upcoming telescopes like the Vera Rubin Observatory. The implementation of ANN tools with robust isochrone fit techniques could provide further improvements in the quest for open clusters' parameters., Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures, Accepted in The Astronomical Journal. Temporally, data produced in this work are available at https://phisicslollo0.github.io/cavallo23.html

The Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey is an ambitious project designed to obtain astrophysical parameters and elemental abundances for 100,000 stars, including large representative samples of the stellar populations in the Galaxy, and a well-defined sample of 60 (plus 20 archive) open clusters. We provide internally consistent results calibrated on benchmark stars and star clusters, extending across a very wide range of abundances and ages. This provides a legacy data set of intrinsic value, and equally a large wide-ranging dataset that is of value for homogenisation of other and future stellar surveys and Gaia's astrophysical parameters. This article provides an overview of the survey methodology, the scientific aims, and the implementation, including a description of the data processing for the GIRAFFE spectra. A companion paper (arXiv:2206.02901) introduces the survey results. Gaia-ESO aspires to quantify both random and systematic contributions to measurement uncertainties. Thus all available spectroscopic analysis techniques are utilised, each spectrum being analysed by up to several different analysis pipelines, with considerable effort being made to homogenise and calibrate the resulting parameters. We describe here the sequence of activities up to delivery of processed data products to the ESO Science Archive Facility for open use. The Gaia-ESO Survey obtained 202,000 spectra of 115,000 stars using 340 allocated VLT nights between December 2011 and January 2018 from GIRAFFE and UVES. The full consistently reduced final data set of spectra was released through the ESO Science Archive Facility in late 2020, with the full astrophysical parameters sets following in 2022., Comment: 38 pages. A&A in press

In this paper we analyze new observations from ALMA and VLA, at a high angular resolution corresponding to 5 - 8 au, of the protoplanetary disk around HD 163296 to determine the dust spatial distribution and grain properties. We fit the spectral energy distribution as a function of the radius at five wavelengths from 0.9 to 9\,mm, using a simple power law and a physical model based on an analytic description of radiative transfer that includes isothermal scattering. We considered eight dust populations and compared the models' performance using Bayesian evidence. Our analysis shows that the moderately high optical depth ($\tau$>1) at $\lambda \leq$ 1.3 mm in the dust rings artificially lower the millimeter spectral index, which should therefore not be considered as a reliable direct proxy of the dust properties and especially the grain size. We find that the outer disk is composed of small grains on the order of 200 $\mu$m with no significant difference between rings at 66 and 100 au and the adjacent gaps, while in the innermost 30 au, larger grains ($\geq$mm) could be present. We show that the assumptions on the dust composition have a strong impact on the derived surface densities and grain size. In particular, increasing the porosity of the grains to 80\% results in a total dust mass about five times higher with respect to grains with 25\% porosity. Finally, we find that the derived opacities as a function of frequency deviate from a simple power law and that grains with a lower porosity seem to better reproduce the observations of HD163296. While we do not find evidence of differential trapping in the rings of HD163296, our overall results are consistent with the postulated presence of giant planets affecting the dust temperature structure and surface density, and possibly originating a second-generation dust population of small grains., Comment: 27 pages, 28 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (A&A)

A number of studies based on data collected by the $\textit{Hubble Space Telescope}$ ($\textit{HST}$) GO-13297 program "HST Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters: Shedding UV Light on Their Populations and Formation" have investigated the photometric properties of a large sample of Galactic globular clusters and revolutionized our understanding of their stellar populations. In this paper, we expand previous studies by focusing our attention on the stellar clusters' internal kinematics. We computed proper motions for stars in 56 globular and one open clusters by combining the GO-13297 images with archival $\textit{HST}$ data. The astro-photometric catalogs released with this paper represent the most complete and homogeneous collection of proper motions of stars in the cores of stellar clusters to date, and expand the information provided by the current (and future) $\textit{Gaia}$ data releases to much fainter stars and into the crowded central regions. We also census the general kinematic properties of stellar clusters by computing the velocity-dispersion and anisotropy radial profiles of their bright members. We study the dependence on concentration and relaxation time, and derive dynamical distances. Finally, we present an in-depth kinematic analysis of the globular cluster NGC 5904., Comment: 33 pages, 19 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication on ApJ. Astro-photometric catalogs, velocity-dispersion values and profiles are available at https://archive.stsci.edu/hlsp/hacks

In the last 15 years different ground-based spectroscopic surveys have been started (and completed) with the general aim of delivering stellar parameters and elemental abundances for large samples of Galactic stars, complementing Gaia astrometry. Among those surveys, the Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey (GES), the only one performed on a 8m class telescope, was designed to target 100,000 stars using FLAMES on the ESO VLT (both Giraffe and UVES spectrographs), covering all the Milky Way populations, with a special focus on open star clusters. This article provides an overview of the survey implementation (observations, data quality, analysis and its success, data products, and releases), of the open cluster survey, of the science results and potential, and of the survey legacy. A companion article (Gilmore et al.) reviews the overall survey motivation, strategy, Giraffe pipeline data reduction, organisation, and workflow. The GES has determined homogeneous good-quality radial velocities and stellar parameters for a large fraction of its more than 110,000 unique target stars. Elemental abundances were derived for up to 31 elements for targets observed with UVES. Lithium abundances are delivered for about 1/3 of the sample. The analysis and homogenisation strategies have proven to be successful; several science topics have been addressed by the Gaia-ESO consortium and the community, with many highlight results achieved. The final catalogue has been released through the ESO archive at the end of May 2022, including the complete set of advanced data products. In addition to these results, the Gaia-ESO Survey will leave a very important legacy, for several aspects and for many years to come., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 30 pages, 30 figures, 4 tables

Context. RR Lyrae stars are useful standard candles allowing one to derive accurate distances for old star clusters. Based on the recent catalogues from OGLE-IV and Gaia Early Data Release 3 (EDR3), the distances can be improved for a few bulge globular clusters. Aims. The aim of this work is to derive an accurate distance for the following six moderately metal-poor, relatively high-reddening bulge globular clusters: NGC 6266, NGC 6441, NGC 6626, NGC 6638, NGC 6642, and NGC 6717. Methods. We combined newly available OGLE-IV catalogues of variable stars containing mean I magnitudes, with Clement's previous catalogues containing mean V magnitudes, and with precise proper motions from Gaia EDR3. Astrometric membership probabilities were computed for each RR Lyrae, in order to select those compatible with the cluster proper motions. Applying luminosity-metallicity relations derived from BaSTI $\alpha$-enhanced models (He-enhanced for NGC 6441 and canonical He for the other clusters), we updated the distances with relatively low uncertainties. Results. Distances were derived with the I and V bands, with a $5-8\%$ precision. We obtained 6.6 kpc, 13.1 kpc, 5.6 kpc, 9.6 kpc, 8.2 kpc, and 7.3 kpc for NGC 6266, NGC 6441, NGC 6626, NGC 6638, NGC 6642, and NGC 6717, respectively. The results are in excellent agreement with the literature for all sample clusters, considering the uncertainties. Conclusions. The present method of distance derivation, based on recent data of member RR Lyrae stars, updated BaSTI models, and robust statistical methods, proved to be consistent. A larger sample of clusters will be investigated in a future work., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) is an ESA M-class satellite planned for launch by end 2026 and dedicated to the wide-field search of transiting planets around bright and nearby stars, with a strong focus on discovering habitable rocky planets hosted by solar-like stars. The choice of the fields to be pointed at is a crucial task since it has a direct impact on the scientific return of the mission. In this paper we describe and discuss the formal requirements and the key scientific prioritization criteria that have to be taken into account in the Long-duration Observation Phase (LOP) field selection, and apply a quantitative metric to guide us in this complex optimization process. We identify two provisional LOP fields, one for each hemisphere (LOPS1, LOPN1), and discuss their properties and stellar content. While additional fine-tuning shall be applied to LOP selection before the definitive choice (to be made two years before launch), we expect their position will not move by more than a few degrees with respect to what is proposed in this paper., Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, A&A in press (accepted: October 26, 2021). Some typos corrected. Author list corrected

Context. The ESA PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) mission will search for terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of solar-type stars. Because of telemetry limitations, PLATO targets need to be pre-selected. Aims. In this paper, we present an all sky catalogue that will be fundamental to selecting the best PLATO fields and the most promising target stars, deriving their basic parameters, analysing the instrumental performances, and then planing and optimising follow-up observations. This catalogue also represents a valuable resource for the general definition of stellar samples optimised for the search of transiting planets. Methods. We used Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) astrometry and photometry and 3D maps of the local interstellar medium to isolate FGK (V$\leq$13) and M (V$\leq$16) dwarfs and subgiant stars. Results. We present the first public release of the all-sky PLATO Input Catalogue (asPIC1.1) containing a total of 2 675 539 stars including 2 378 177 FGK dwarfs and subgiants and 297 362 M dwarfs. The median distance in our sample is 428 pc for FGK stars and 146 pc for M dwarfs, respectively. We derived the reddening of our targets and developed an algorithm to estimate stellar fundamental parameters (Teff, radius, mass) from astrometric and photometric measurements. Conclusions. We show that the overall (internal+external) uncertainties on the stellar parameter determined in the present study are $\sim$230 K (4%) for the effective temperatures, $\sim$0.1 R$_{\odot}$ (9%) for the stellar radii, and $\sim$0.1 M$_{\odot}$ (11%) for the stellar mass. We release a special target list containing all known planet hosts cross-matched with our catalogue., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

NGC 6522 is a moderately metal-poor bulge globular cluster ([Fe/H]$\sim$$-$1.0), and it is a well-studied representative among a number of moderately metal-poor blue horizontal branch clusters located in the bulge. The NGC 6522 abundance pattern can give hints on the earliest chemical enrichment in the central Galaxy. The aim of this study is to derive abundances of the light elements C and N; alpha elements O, Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti; odd-Z elements Na and Al; neutron-capture elements Y, Zr, Ba, La, and Nd; and the r-process element Eu. We verify if there are first- and second-generation stars: we find clear evidence of Na-Al, Na-N, and Mg-Al correlations, while we cannot identify the Na-O anti-correlation from our data. High-resolution spectra of six red giants in the bulge globular cluster NGC 6522 were obtained at the 8m VLT UT2-Kueyen telescope in FLAMES+UVES configuration. In light of Gaia data, it turned out that two of them are non-members, but these were also analysed. Spectroscopic parameters were derived through the excitation and ionisation equilibrium of FeI and FeII lines from UVES spectra. The abundances were obtained with spectrum synthesis. The present analysis combined with previous UVES results gives a mean radial velocity of vrhel = -15.62+-7.7 km.s-1 and a metallicity of [Fe/H] = -1.05+-0.20 for NGC 6522. Mean abundances of alpha elements for the present four member stars are enhanced with [O/Fe]=+0.38, [Mg/Fe]=+0.28, [Si/Fe]=+0.19, and [Ca/Fe]=+0.13, together with the iron-peak element [Ti/Fe]=+0.13, and the r-process element [Eu/Fe]=+0.40.The neutron-capture elements Y, Zr, Ba, and La show enhancements in the +0.08 < [Y/Fe] < +0.90, 0.11 < [Zr/Fe] < +0.50, 0.00 < [Ba/Fe] < +0.63, 0.00 < [La/Fe] < +0.45, and -0.10 < [Nd/Fe] < +0.70 ranges. We also discuss the spread in heavy-element abundances., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, 27 pages, 18 figures

The globular cluster AL~3 is old and located in the inner bulge. Three individual stars were observed with the Phoenix spectrograph at the Gemini South telescope. The wavelength region contains prominent lines of CN, OH, and CO, allowing the derivation of C, N, and O abundances of cool stars. We aim to derive C, N, O abundances of three stars in the bulge globular cluster AL3, and additionally in stars of NGC 6558 and HP1. The spectra of AL3 allows us to derive the cluster's radial velocity. For AL3, we applied a new code to analyse its colour-magnitude diagram. Synthetic spectra were computed and compared to observed spectra for the three clusters. We present a detailed identification of lines in the spectral region centred at 15555 A, covering the wavelength range 15525-15590 A. C, N, and O abundances are tentatively derived for the sample stars., Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, accepted for Astronomy & Astrophysics

The Milky Way bulge is an important tracer of the early formation and chemical enrichment of the Galaxy. The abundances of different iron-peak elements in field bulge stars can give information on the nucleosynthesis processes that took place in the earliest supernovae. Cobalt (Z=27) and copper (Z=29) are particularly interesting.We aim to identify the nucleosynthesis processes responsible for the formation of the iron-peak elements Co and Cu. Methods. We derived abundances of the iron-peak elements cobalt and copper in 56 bulge giants, 13 of which were red clump stars. High-resolution spectra were obtained using FLAMES-UVES at the ESO Very Large Telescope by our group in 2000-2002, which appears to be the highest quality sample of high-resolution data on bulge red giants obtained in the literature to date. Over the years we have derived the abundances of C, N, O, Na, Al, Mg; the iron-group elements Mn and Zn; and neutron-capture elements. In the present work we derive abundances of the iron-peak elements cobalt and copper. We also compute chemodynamical evolution models to interpret the observed behaviour of these elements as a function of iron. The sample stars show mean values of [Co/Fe]~0.0 at all metallicities, and [Cu/Fe]~0.0 for [Fe/H]>-0.8 and decreasing towards lower metallicities with a behaviour of a secondary element. We conclude that [Co/Fe] varies in lockstep with [Fe/H], which indicates that it should be produced in the alpha-rich freezeout mechanism in massive stars. Instead [Cu/Fe] follows the behaviour of a secondary element towards lower metallicities, indicating its production in the weak s-process nucleosynthesis in He-burning and later stages. The chemodynamical models presented here confirm the behaviour of these two elements (i.e. [Co/Fe] vs. [Fe/H]~constant and [Cu/Fe] decreasing with decreasing metallicities)., Comment: Accepted to Astronomy & Astrophysics

The analysis of the night cloud cover is very important for astronomical observation in real time, considering a typical observation time of about 15 minutes, and to have a statistics of the night cloud cover. In this paper we use the SQM (Sky Quality Meter) for high resolution temporal analysis of the La Silla and Asiago (Ekar observatory) sky: 3 and 5 minutes respectively. We investigate the annual temporal evolution of the natural contributions of the sky in a site not influenced by artificial light at night (ALAN) and one highly influenced respectively. We also make a correlation between GOES and AQUA satellites data and ground-based SQM data to confirm a relationship between the SQM data and cloud cover. We develop an algorithm that allows the use of the SQM for night cloud detection and we reach a correlation of 97.2\% at La Silla and 94.6\% at Asiago with the nighttime cloud cover detected by the GOES and AQUA satellites. Our algorithm also classifies the photometric (PN) and spectroscopic nights (SN). We measure 59.1\% PN and 21.7\% SN for a total percentage of clear nights of 80.8\% at La Silla in 2018. The respective Ekar observatory values are 31.1\% PN, 24.0\% SN and 55.1\% of total clear nights time. Application to the SQM network would involve the development of long-term statistics and big data forecasting models, for site testing and real-time astronomical observation.

In the present work we analyzed seven globular clusters selected from their location in the Galactic bulge and with metallicity values in the range $-1.30\lesssim\rm{[Fe/H]}\lesssim-0.50$. The aim of this work is first to derive cluster ages assuming single stellar populations, and secondly, to identify the stars from first (1G) and second generations (2G) from the main sequence, subgiant and red giant branches, and to derive their age differences. Based on a combination of UV and optical filters used in this project, we apply the Gaussian mixture models to distinguish the multiple stellar populations. Applying statistical isochrone fitting, we derive self-consistent ages, distances, metallicities, and reddening values for the sample clusters. An average of $12.3\pm0.4$ Gyr was obtained both using Dartmouth and BaSTI (accounting atomic diffusion effects) isochrones, without a clear distinction between the moderately metal-poor and the more metal-rich bulge clusters, except for NGC 6717 and the inner halo NGC 6362 with $\sim 13.5$ Gyr. We derived a weighted mean age difference between the multiple populations hosted by each globular cluster of $41\pm170$ Myr adopting canonical He abundances; whereas for higher He in 2G stars, this difference reduces to $17\pm170$ Myr, but with individual uncertainties of $500$ Myr., Comment: 25 pages, 16 figures and 7 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

GravityCam is a new concept of ground-based imaging instrument capable of delivering significantly sharper images from the ground than is normally possible without adaptive optics. Advances in optical and near infrared imaging technologies allow images to be acquired at high speed without significant noise penalty. Aligning these images before they are combined can yield a 3-5 fold improvement in image resolution. By using arrays of such detectors, survey fields may be as wide as the telescope optics allows. We describe the instrument and detail its application to accelerate greatly the rate of detection of Earth size planets by gravitational microlensing. GravityCam will improve substantially the quality of weak shear studies of dark matter distribution in distant clusters of galaxies. An extensive microlensing survey will also provide a vast dataset for asteroseismology studies, and GravityCam promises to generate a unique data set on the population of the Kuiper belt and possibly the Oort cloud., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. Paper presented at the Scientific Detector Workshop, Baltimore, 2017

Context. Moderately metal-poor inner bulge globular clusters are relics of a generation of long-lived stars that formed in the early Galaxy. Terzan 9, projected at 4d 12 from the Galactic center, is among the most central globular clusters in the Milky Way, showing an orbit which remains confined to the inner 1 kpc. Aims. Our aim is the derivation of the cluster's metallicity, together with an accurate measurement of the mean radial velocity. In the literature, metallicities in the range between have been estimated for Terzan 9 based on color-magnitude diagrams and CaII triplet (CaT) lines. Aims. Our aim is the derivation of the cluster's metallicity, together with an accurate measurement of the mean radial velocity. In the literature, metallicities in the range between -2.0 and -1.0 have been estimated for Terzan 9 based on color-magnitude diagrams and CaII triplet (CaT) lines. Methods. Given its compactness, Terzan 9 was observed using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) at the Very Large Telescope. The extraction of spectra from several hundreds of individual stars allowed us to derive their radial velocities, metallicities, and [Mg/Fe]. The spectra obtained with MUSE were analysed through full spectrum fitting using the ETOILE code. Results. We obtained a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] -1.10 0.15, a heliocentric radial velocity of vhr = 58.1 1.1 km/s , and a magnesium-to-iron [Mg/Fe] = 0.27 0.03. The metallicity-derived character of Terzan 9 sets it among the family of the moderately metal-poor Blue Horizontal Branch clusters HP 1, NGC 6558, and NGC 6522.

The object ESO456-SC38 (Djorgovski 2) is one of the globular clusters that is closest to the Galactic center. It is on the blue horizontal branch and has a moderate metallicity of [Fe/H]~-1.0. It is thus similar to the very old inner bulge globular clusters NGC 6522, NGC 6558, and HP 1, and therefore appears to be part of the primeval formation stages of the Milky Way. The aim of this work is to determine an accurate distance and metallicity for ESO456-SC38, as well as orbital parameters, in order to check similarities with other clusters in the inner bulge that have previously been well studied in terms of spectroscopy and photometry. This is a considerably fainter cluster that is contaminated by a rich stellar field; it is also quite absorbed by the dusty foreground. We analyzed ESO456-SC38 based on Hubble Space Telescope photometry, with the filters F606W from ACS, F110W and F160W from WFC3,and photometry in V and I from FORS2 at the VLT. We combined this with identified stars that are covered by Gaia Data Release 2. The isochrone fitting was carried out with the statistical Markov chain Monte Carlo method. We derive an accurate distance of dSun = 8.75+-0.12 kpc and a reddening of E(B-V)=0.81^+0.02_-0.02. The best-fitting BaSTI isochrones correspond to an age of 12.70^{+0.72}_{-0.69} Gyr and a metallicity of [Fe/H]=-1.11^{+0.03}_{-0.03}. ESO 456-SC38 adds to the list of moderately metal-poor globular clusters located in the inner bulge. It is on the blue horizontal branch and is very old. The cluster is confined to the bulge and bar region, but it does not support the Galactic bar structure. The old stellar population represented by clusters like this has to be taken into account in models of Galactic bulge formation. Studying them also provides indications on the formation times of the globular clusters themselves., Comment: Astronomy & Astrophysics, in press (accepted: 17-06-2019)

In this paper we investigate the correlation between the atmospheric perturbations at Paranal Observatory and the Chilean coast tides, which are mostly modulated by the 14-day syzygy solar-lunar tidal cycle. To this aim, we downloaded 15 years (2003-2017) of cloud coverage data from the AQUA satellite, in a matrix that includes also Armazones, the site of the European Extremely Large Telescope. By applying the Fast Fourier Transform to these data we detected a periodicity peak of about 14 days. We studied the tide cycle at Chanaral De Las Animas, on the ocean coast, for the year 2017, and we correlated it with the atmospheric perturbations at Paranal and the lunar phases. We found a significant correlation (96%) between the phenomena of short duration and intensity (1-3 days) and the tidal cycle at Chanaral. We then show that an atmospheric perturbation occurs at Paranal in concomitance with the low tide, which anticipates the full (or the new) moon by 3-4 days. This result allows to improve current weather forecasting models for astronomical observatories by introducing a lunar variable.

HP$\,$1 is an $\alpha$-enhanced and moderately metal-poor bulge globular cluster with a blue horizontal branch. These combined characteristics make it a probable relic of the early star formation in the innermost Galactic regions. Here we present a detailed analysis of a deep near-infrared (NIR) photometry of HP$\,$1 obtained with the NIR GSAOI+GeMS camera at the Gemini-South telescope. $J$ and $K_{\rm S}$ images were collected with an exquisite spatial resolution (FWHM $\sim 0.1$ arcsec), reaching stars at two magnitudes below the MSTO. We combine our GSAOI data with archival F606W-filter $HST$ ACS/WFC images to compute relative proper motions and select bona fide cluster members. Results from statistical isochrone fits in the NIR and optical-NIR colour-magnitude diagrams indicate an age of $12.8^{+0.9}_{-0.8}$ Gyr, confirming that HP$\,$1 is one of the oldest clusters in the Milky Way. The same fits also provide apparent distance moduli in the $K_{\rm S}$ and $V$ filters in very good agreement with the ones from 11 RR Lyrae stars. By subtracting the extinction in each filter, we recover a heliocentric distance of $6.59^{+0.17}_{-0.15}$ kpc. Furthermore, we refine the orbit of HP$\,$1 using this accurate distance and update and accurate radial velocities (from high resolution spectroscopy) and absolute proper motions (from Gaia DR2), reaching mean perigalactic and apogalactic distances of $\sim$0.12 and $\sim$3 kpc respectively., Comment: 22 pages, 22 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

The low-latitude globular clusters Terzan 10 and Djorgovski 1 are vprojected in the Galactic bulge, in a Galactic region highly affected by extinction. A discrepancy of a factor of ~2 exists in the literature in regards to the distance determination of these clusters. We revisit the colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of these two globular clusters with the purpose of disentangling their distance determination ambiguity and, for the first time, of determining their orbits to identify whether or not they are part of the bulge/bar region. We use Hubble Space Telescope CMDs, with the filters F606W from ACS and F160W from WFC3 for Terzan 10, and F606W and F814W from ACS for Djorgosvski~1, and combine them with the proper motions from Gaia Date Release 2. For the orbit integrations, we employed a steady Galactic model with bar. For the first time the blue horizontal branch of these clusters is clearly resolved. We obtain reliable distances of dSun = 10.3+-1.0 kpc and 9.3+-0.5 kpc for Terzan 10, and Djorgovski 1 respectively, indicating that they are both currently located in the bulge volume. From Gaia DR 2 proper motions, together with our new distance determination and recent literature radial velocities, we are able to show that the two sample clusters have typical halo orbits that are passing by the bulge/bar region, but that they are not part of this component. For the first time, halo intruders are identified in the bulge., Comment: Astronomy & Astrophysics, in press

NGC 6558 is a bulge globular cluster with a blue horizontal branch (BHB), combined with a metallicity of [Fe/H]~-1.0. It is similar to HP 1 and NGC 6522, which could be among the oldest objects in the Galaxy. Element abundances in these clusters could reveal the nature of the first supernovae. We aim to carry out detailed spectroscopic analysis for four red giants of NGC 6558, in order to derive the abundances of the light elements C, N, O, Na, Al, the alpha-elements Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, and the heavy elements Y, Ba, and Eu. High-resolution spectra of four stars with FLAMES-UVES@VLT UT2-Kueyen were analysed. Spectroscopic parameter-derivation was based on excitation and ionization equilibrium of FeI and FeII. This analysis results in a metallicity of [Fe/H] = -1.17+-0.10 for NGC 6558. We find the expected alpha-element enhancements in O and Mg with [O/Fe]=+0.40, [Mg/Fe]=+0.33, and low enhancements in Si and Ca. Ti has a moderate enhancement of [Ti/Fe]=+0.22. The r-element Eu appears very enhanced with a mean value of [Eu/Fe]=+0.63. Ba appears to have a solar abundance ratio relative to Fe. NGC 6558 shows an abundance pattern that could be typical of the oldest inner bulge globular clusters, together with the pattern in the similar clusters NGC 6522 and HP 1. They show low abundances of the odd-Z elements Na and Al, and of the explosive nucleosynthesis alpha-elements Si, Ca, and Ti. The hydrostatic burning alpha-elements O and Mg are normally enhanced as expected in old stars enriched with yields from core-collapse supernovae, and the iron-peak elements Mn, Cu, Zn show low abundances, which is expected for Mn and Cu, but not for Zn. Finally, the cluster trio NGC 6558, NGC 6522, and HP 1 show similar abundance patterns., Comment: Astronomy & Astrophysics, in press, 14 pages, 12 figures

Recent work, based on data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs), has revealed that all the analyzed clusters host two groups of first- (1G) and second-generation (2G) stars. In most GCs, both 1G and 2G stars host sub-stellar populations with different chemical composition. We compare multi-wavelength HST photometry with synthetic spectra to determine for the first time the average helium difference between the 2G and 1G stars in a large sample of 57 GCs and the maximum helium variation within each of them. We find that in all clusters 2G stars are consistent with being enhanced in helium with respect to 1G. The maximum helium variation ranges from less than 0.01 to more than 0.10 in helium mass fraction and correlates with both the cluster mass and the color extension of the horizontal branch (HB). These findings demonstrate that the internal helium variation is one of the main (second) parameters governing the HB morphology., Comment: 26 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publications in MNRAS

In this paper we present the astro-photometric catalogues of 56 globular clusters and one open cluster. Astrometry and photometry are mainly based on images collected within the "HST Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters: Shedding UV Light on Their Populations and Formation" (GO-13297, PI:~Piotto), and the "ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters" (GO-10775, PI:~Sarajedini). For each source in the catalogues for which we have reliable proper motion we also publish a membership probability for separation of field and cluster stars. These new catalogues, which we make public in Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes, replace previous catalogues by Paper VIII of this series., Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS on September 11, 2018. Astro-photometric catalogues, stacked and RGB images of the clusters are publicly available at MAST as High Level Science Product at https://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/hugs/

Although the globular clusters in the Milky Way have been studied for a long time, a significant fraction of them lack homogeneous metallicity and radial velocity measurements. In an earlier paper we presented the first part of a project to obtain metallicities and radial velocities of Galactic globular clusters from multiobject spectroscopy of their member stars using the ESO Very Large Telescope. In this paper we add metallicities and radial velocities for a new sample of 28 globular clusters, including in particular globular clusters in the MW halo and the Galactic bulge. Together with our previous results, this study brings the number of globular clusters with homogeneous measurements to $\sim 69$ \% of those listed in the W. Harris' catalogue. As in our previous work, we have used the CaII triplet lines to derive metallicities and radial velocities. For most of the clusters in this study, this is the first analysis based on spectroscopy of individual member stars. The metallicities derived from the CaII triplet are then compared to the results of our parallel study based on spectral fitting in the optical region and the implications for different calibrations of the CaII triplet line strengths are discussed. We also comment on some interesting clusters and investigate the presence of an abundance spread in the globular clusters here. A hint of a possible intrinsic spread is found for NGC 6256, which therefore appears to be a good candidate for further study., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

The parameter A+, defined as the area enclosed between the cumulative radial distribution of blue straggler stars (BSSs) and that of a reference population, is a powerful indicator of the level of BSS central segregation. As part of the Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic globular clusters (GCs), here we present the BSS population and the determination of A+ in 27 GCs observed out to about one half-mass radius. In combination with 21 additional clusters discussed in a previous paper this provides us with a global sample of 48 systems (corresponding to \sim 32\% of the Milky Way GC population), for which we find a strong correlation between A+ and the ratio of cluster age to the current central relaxation time. Tight relations have been found also with the core radius and the central luminosity density, which are expected to change with the long-term cluster dynamical evolution. An interesting relation is emerging between A+ and the ratio of the BSS velocity dispersion relative to that of main sequence turn-off stars, which measures the degree of energy equipartition experienced by BSSs in the cluster. These results provide further confirmation that BSSs are invaluable probes of GC internal dynamics and A+ is a powerful dynamical clock., Comment: Accepted for publication in the ApJ

We present orbit analysis for a sample of 8 inner bulge globular clusters, together with one reference halo object. We used proper motion values derived from long time base CCD data. Orbits are integrated in both an axisymmetric model and a model including the Galactic bar potential. The inclusion of the bar proved to be essential for the description of the dynamical behavior of the clusters. We use the Monte Carlo scheme to construct the initial conditions for each cluster, taking into account the uncertainties in the kinematical data and distances. The sample clusters show typically maximum height to the Galactic plane below 1.5 kpc, and develop rather eccentric orbits. Seven of the bulge sample clusters share the orbital properties of the bar/bulge, having perigalactic and apogalatic distances, and maximum vertical excursion from the Galactic plane inside the bar region. NGC 6540 instead shows a completely different orbital behaviour, having a dynamical signature of the thick-disc. Both prograde and prograde-retrograde orbits with respect to the direction of the Galactic rotation were revealed, which might characterize a chaotic behaviour., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in PASA

Oxygen and zinc in the Galactic bulge are key elements for the understanding of the bulge chemical evolution. Oxygen-to-iron abundance ratios provide a most robust indicator of the star formation rate and chemical evolution of the bulge. Zinc is enhanced in metal-poor stars, behaving as an $\alpha$-element, and its production may require nucleosynthesis in hypernovae. Most of the neutral gas at high redshift is in damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs), where Zn is also observed to behave as an alpha-element. The aim of this work is the derivation of the alpha-element oxygen, together with nitrogen, and the iron-peak element zinc abundances in 417 bulge giants, from moderate resolution (R~22,000) FLAMES-GIRAFFE spectra. For stars in common with a set of UVES spectra with higher resolution (R~45,000), the data are intercompared. The results are compared with literature data and chemodynamical models., Comment: accepted on 21/02/2018

As part of the Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters, 110 parallel fields were observed with the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys, in the outskirts of 48 globular clusters, plus the open cluster NGC 6791. Totalling about $0.3$ square degrees of observed sky, this is the largest homogeneous Hubble Space Telescope photometric survey of Galalctic globular clusters outskirts to date. In particular, two distinct pointings have been obtained for each target on average, all centred at about $6.5$ arcmin from the cluster centre, thus covering a mean area of about $23\,{\rm arcmin^{2}}$ for each globular cluster. For each field, at least one exposure in both F475W and F814W filters was collected. In this work, we publicly release the astrometric and photometric catalogues and the astrometrised atlases for each of these fields., Comment: 30 pages, 23 figures. Accepted by MNRAS

Bulge globular clusters (GCs) with metallicities [Fe/H] <~ -1.0 and blue horizontal branches are candidates to harbor the oldest populations in the Galaxy. Based on the analysis of HST proper-motion-cleaned color-magnitude diagrams in filters F435W and F625W, we determine physical parameters for the old bulge globular clusters NGC 6522 and NGC 6626 (M28), both with well-defined blue horizontal branches. We compare these results with similar data for the inner halo cluster NGC 6362. These clusters have similar metallicities (-1.3 <= [Fe/H] <= -1.0) obtained from high resolution spectroscopy. We derive ages, distance moduli, and reddening values by means of statistical comparisons between observed and synthetic fiducial lines employing likelihood statistics and the Markov chain Monte Carlo method. The synthetic fiducial lines were generated using alpha-enhanced BaSTI and Dartmouth stellar evolutionary models, adopting both canonical (Y ~ 0.25) and enhanced (Y~ 0.30-0.33) helium abundances. RR Lyrae stars were employed to determine the HB magnitude level, providing an independent indicator to constrain the apparent distance modulus and the helium enhancement. The shape of the observed fiducial line could be compatible with some helium enhancement for NGC 6522 and NGC 6626, but the average magnitudes of RR Lyrae stars tend to rule out this hypothesis. Assuming canonical helium abundances, BaSTI and Dartmouth models indicate that all three clusters are coeval, with ages between ~ 12.5 and 13.0 Gyr. The present study also reveals that NGC 6522 has at least two stellar populations, since its CMD shows a significantly wide subgiant branch compatible with 14% +/- 2% and 86% +/- 5% for first and second generations, respectively., Comment: 25 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters is providing a major breakthrough in our knowledge of Globular Clusters (GCs) and their stellar populations. Among the main results, we discovered that all the studied GCs host two main discrete groups consisting of first generation (1G) and second generation (2G) stars. We exploit the multiwavelength photometry from this project to investigate, for the first time, the Red Giant Branch Bump (RGBB) of the two generations in a large sample of GCs. We identified, with high statistical significance, the RGBB of 1G and 2G stars in 26 GCs and found that their magnitude separation as a function of the filter wavelength follows comparable trends. The comparison of observations to synthetic spectra reveals that the RGBB luminosity depends on the stellar chemical composition and that the 2G RGBB is consistent with stars enhanced in He and N and depleted in C and O with respect to 1G stars. For metal-poor GCs the 1G and 2G RGBB relative luminosity in optical bands mostly depends on helium content, Y. We used the RGBB observations in F606W and F814W bands to infer the relative helium abundance of 1G and 2G stars in 18 GCs, finding an average helium enhancement $\Delta$Y=0.011$\pm$0.002 of 2G stars with respect to 1G stars. This is the first determination of the average difference in helium abundance of multiple populations in a large number of clusters and provides a lower limit to the maximum internal variation of helium in GCs., Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

GravityCam is a new concept of ground-based imaging instrument capable of delivering significantly sharper images from the ground than is normally possible without adaptive optics. Advances in optical and near infrared imaging technologies allow images to be acquired at high speed without significant noise penalty. Aligning these images before they are combined can yield a 2.5 to 3 fold improvement in image resolution. By using arrays of such detectors, survey fields may be as wide as the telescope optics allows. Consequently, GravityCam enables both wide-field high-resolution imaging and high-speed photometry. We describe the instrument and detail its application to provide demographics of planets and satellites down to Lunar mass (or even below) across the Milky Way. GravityCam is also suited to improve the quality of weak shear studies of dark matter distribution in distant clusters of galaxies and multiwavelength follow-ups of background sources that are strongly lensed by galaxy clusters. The photometric data arising from an extensive microlensing survey will also be useful for asteroseismology studies, while GravityCam can be used to monitor fast multiwavelength flaring in accreting compact objects, and promises to generate a unique data set on the population of the Kuiper belt and possibly the Oort cloud., Comment: 23 pages, 15 figures. Revision submitted to Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 25 September 2018

Deciphering the assembly history of the Milky Way is a formidable task, which becomes possible only if one can produce high-resolution chrono-chemo-kinematical maps of the Galaxy. Data from large-scale astrometric and spectroscopic surveys will soon provide us with a well-defined view of the current chemo-kinematical structure of the Milky Way, but will only enable a blurred view on the temporal sequence that led to the present-day Galaxy. As demonstrated by the (ongoing) exploitation of data from the pioneering photometric missions CoRoT, Kepler, and K2, asteroseismology provides the way forward: solar-like oscillating giants are excellent evolutionary clocks thanks to the availability of seismic constraints on their mass and to the tight age-initial-mass relation they adhere to. In this paper we identify five key outstanding questions relating to the formation and evolution of the Milky Way that will need precise and accurate ages for large samples of stars to be addressed, and we identify the requirements in terms of number of targets and the precision on the stellar properties that are needed to tackle such questions. By quantifying the asteroseismic yields expected from PLATO for red-giant stars, we demonstrate that these requirements are within the capabilities of the current instrument design, provided that observations are sufficiently long to identify the evolutionary state and allow robust and precise determination of acoustic-mode frequencies. This will allow us to harvest data of sufficient quality to reach a 10% precision in age. This is a fundamental pre-requisite to then reach the more ambitious goal of a similar level of accuracy, which will only be possible if we have to hand a careful appraisal of systematic uncertainties on age deriving from our limited understanding of stellar physics, a goal which conveniently falls within the main aims of PLATO's core science., Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomical Notes

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters (GO-13297) has been specifically designed to complement the existing F606W and F814W observations of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) Globular Cluster Survey (GO-10775) by observing the most accessible 47 of the previous survey's 65 clusters in three WFC3/UVIS filters F275W, F336W, and F438W. The new survey also adds super-solar metallicity open cluster NGC 6791 to increase the metallicity diversity. The combined survey provides a homogeneous 5-band data set that can be used to pursue a broad range of scientific investigations. In particular, the chosen UV filters allow the identification of multiple stellar populations by targeting the regions of the spectrum that are sensitive to abundance variations in C, N, and O. In order to provide the community with uniform preliminary catalogs, we have devised an automated procedure that performs high-quality photometry on the new UV observations (along with similar observations of seven other programs in the archive). This procedure finds and measures the potential sources on each individual exposure using library point-spread functions and cross-correlates these observations with the original ACS-Survey catalog. The catalog of 57 clusters we publish here will be useful to identify stars in the different stellar populations, in particular for spectroscopic follow-up. Eventually, we will construct a more sophisticated catalog and artificial-star tests based on an optimal reduction of the UV survey data, but the catalogs presented here give the community the chance to make early use of this HST Treasury survey., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in AJ. The catalogs from this program can be accessed at http://www.astro.uda.cl/public_release/globularclusters41.html and http://groups.dfa.unipd.it/ESPG/treasury.php

We use high-precision photometry of red-giant-branch (RGB) stars in 57 Galactic globular clusters (GCs), mostly from the `Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV Legacy Survey of Galactic globular clusters', to identify and characterize their multiple stellar populations. For each cluster the pseudo two-color diagram (or `chromosome map') is presented, built with a suitable combination of stellar magnitudes in the F275W, F336W, F438W and F814W filters that maximizes the separation between multiple populations. In the chromosome map of most GCs (Type I clusters), stars separate in two distinct groups that we identify with the first (1G) and the second generation (2G). This identification is further supported by noticing that 1G stars have primordial (oxygen-rich, sodium-poor) chemical composition, whereas 2G stars are enhanced in sodium and depleted in oxygen. This 1G-2G separation is not possible for a few GCs where the two sequences have apparently merged into an extended, continuous sequence. In some GCs (Type II clusters) the 1G and/or the 2G sequences appear to be split, hence displaying more complex chromosome maps. These clusters exhibit multiple SGBs also in purely optical color-magnitude diagrams, with the fainter SGB joining into a red RGB which is populated by stars with enhanced heavy-element abundance. We measure the RGB width by using appropriate colors and pseudo-colors. When the metallicity dependence is removed, the RGB width correlates with the cluster mass. The fraction of 1G stars ranges from ~8% to ~67% and anticorrelates with the cluster mass, indicating that incidence and complexity of the multiple population phenomenon both increase with cluster mass., Comment: 21 pages, 24 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Most future surveys designed to discover transiting exoplanets, including TESS and PLATO, will target bright (V<13) and nearby solar-type stars having a spectral type later than F5. In order to enhance the probability of identifying transits, these surveys must cover a very large area on the sky, because of the intrinsically low areal density of bright targets. Unfortunately, no existing catalog of stellar parameters is both deep and wide enough to provide a homogeneous input list. As the first Gaia data release exploitable for this purpose is expected to be released not earlier than late 2017, we have devised an improved reduced-proper-motion method to discriminate late field dwarfs and giants by combining UCAC4 proper motions with APASS DR6 photometry, and relying on RAVE DR4 as an external calibrator. The output, named UCAC4-RPM, is a publicly-available, complete all-sky catalog of solar-type dwarfs down to V<13.5, plus an extension to logg>3.0 subgiants. The relatively low amount of contamination (defined as the fraction of false positives; <30%) also makes UCAC4-RPM a useful tool for the past and ongoing ground-based transit surveys, which need to discard candidate signals originating from early-type or giant stars. As an application, we show how UCAC4-RPM may support the preparation of the TESS (that will map almost the entire sky) input catalog and the input catalog of PLATO, planned to survey more than half of the whole sky with exquisite photometric precision., Comment: 14 page, 6 figures, 2 tables. Accepted in MNRAS

The globular cluster HP~1 is projected at only 3.33 degrees from the Galactic center. Together with its distance, this makes it one of the most central globular clusters in the Milky Way. It has a blue horizontal branch (BHB) and a metallicity of [Fe/H]~-1.0. This means that it probably is one of the oldest objects in the Galaxy. Abundance ratios can reveal the nucleosynthesis pattern of the first stars as well as the early chemical enrichment and early formation of stellar populations. High-resolution spectra obtained for six stars were analyzed to derive the abundances of the light elements C, N, O, Na, and Al, the alpha-elements Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti, and the heavy elements Sr, Y , Zr, Ba, La, and Eu.} High-resolution spectra of six red giants that are confirmed members of the bulge globular cluster HP~1 were obtained with the 8m VLT UT2-Kueyen telescope with the UVES spectrograph in FLAMES-UVES configuration. The spectroscopic parameter derivation was based on the excitation and ionization equilibrium of FeI and FeII. We confirm a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = -1.06~0.10, by adding the two stars that were previously analyzed in HP~1. The alpha-elements O and Mg are enhanced by about +0.3<[O,Mg/Fe]<+0.5 dex, Si is moderately enhanced with +0.15<[Si/Fe]<+0.35dex, while Ca and Ti show lower values of -0.04<[Ca,Ti/Fe]<+0.28dex. The r-element Eu is also enhanced with [Eu/Fe]~+0.4, which together with O and Mg is indicative of early enrichment by type II supernovae. Na and Al are low, but it is unclear if Na-O are anticorrelated. The heavy elements are moderately enhanced, with -0.20<[La/Fe]<+0.43dex and 0.0<[Ba/Fe]<+0.75~dex, which is compatible with r-process formation. The spread in Y, Zr, Ba, and La abundances, on the other hand, appears to be compatible with the spinstar scenario or other additional mechanisms such as the weak r-process., Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures In press in Astronomy & Astrophysics (2016)

To characterize the mechanisms of planet formation it is crucial to investigate the properties and evolution of protoplanetary disks around young stars, where the initial conditions for the growth of planets are set. Our goal is to study grain growth in the disk of the young, intermediate mass star HD163296 where dust processing has already been observed, and to look for evidence of growth by ice condensation across the CO snowline, already identified in this disk with ALMA. Under the hypothesis of optically thin emission we compare images at different wavelengths from ALMA and VLA to measure the opacity spectral index across the disk and thus the maximum grain size. We also use a Bayesian tool based on a two-layer disk model to fit the observations and constrain the dust surface density. The measurements of the opacity spectral index indicate the presence of large grains and pebbles ($\geq$1 cm) in the inner regions of the disk (inside $\sim$50 AU) and smaller grains, consistent with ISM sizes, in the outer disk (beyond 150 AU). Re-analysing ALMA Band 7 Science Verification data we find (radially) unresolved excess continuum emission centered near the location of the CO snowline at $\sim$90 AU. Our analysis suggests a grain size distribution consistent with an enhanced production of large grains at the CO snowline and consequent transport to the inner regions. Our results combined with the excess in infrared scattered light found by Garufi et al. (2014) suggests the presence of a structure at 90~AU involving the whole vertical extent of the disk. This could be evidence for small scale processing of dust at the CO snowline., Comment: 12 pages, 17 figures. Accepted for publication in A\&A

Aims. The aim of this work is the study of abundances of the heavy elements Ba, La, Ce, Nd, and Eu in 56 bulge giants (red giant branch and red clump) with metallicities ranging from -1.3 dex to 0.5 dex. Methods. We obtained high-resolution spectra of our giant stars using the FLAMES-UVES spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope. We inspected four bulge fields along the minor axis. Results. We measure the chemical evolution of heavy elements, as a function of metallicity, in the Galactic bulge. Conclusions. The [Ba, La, Ce, Nd/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] ratios decrease with increasing metallicity, in which aspect they differ from disc stars. In our metal-poor bulge stars, La and Ba are enhanced relative to their thick disc counterpart, while in our metal-rich bulge stars La and Ba are underabundant relative to their disc counterpart. Therefore, this contrast between bulge and discs trends indicates that bulge and (solar neighbourhood) thick disc stars could behave differently. An increase in [La, Nd/Eu] with increasing metallicity, for metal-rich stars with [Fe/H] > 0 dex, may indicate that the s-process from AGB stars starts to operate at a metallicity around solar. Finally, [Eu/Fe] follows the [{\alpha}/Fe] behaviour, as expected, since these elements are produced by SNe type II., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

A view of the Galactic bulge by means of their globular clusters is necessary for a deep understanding of its formation and evolution. Connections between the globular cluster and field star properties in terms of kinematics, orbits, chemical abundances and ages should shed light on different stellar population components. Based on spatial distribution and metallicity, we define a probable best list of bulge clusters, containing 43 entries. Future work on newly discovered objects, mostly from the VVV survey, is suggested. These candidates might alleviate the issue of missing clusters on the far side of the bulge. We discuss the reddening law affecting the cluster distances towards the center of the Galaxy, and conclude that the most suitable total-to-selective absorption value appears to be R$_{\rm V}$=3.2, in agreement with recent analyses. An update of elemental abundances for bulge clusters is provided., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables, accepted for PASA

We build on the evidence provided by our Legacy Survey of Galactic globular clusters (GC) to submit to a crucial test four scenarios currently entertained for the formation of multiple stellar generations in GCs. The observational constraints on multiple generations to be fulfilled are manifold, including GC specificity, ubiquity, variety, predominance, discreteness, supernova avoidance, p-capture processing, helium enrichment and mass budget. We argue that scenarios appealing to supermassive stars, fast rotating massive stars and massive interactive binaries violate in an irreparable fashion two or more among such constraints. Also the scenario appealing to AGB stars as producers of the material for next generation stars encounters severe difficulties, specifically concerning the mass budget problem and the detailed chemical composition of second generation stars. We qualitatively explore ways possibly allowing one to save the AGB scenario, specifically appealing to a possible revision of the cross section of a critical reaction rate destroying sodium, or alternatively by a more extensive exploration of the vast parameter space controlling the evolutionary behavior of AGB stellar models. Still, we cannot ensure success for these efforts and totally new scenarios may have to be invented to understand how GCs formed in the early Universe., Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, to appear on Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Context. In the Milky Way, most globular clusters are highly conspicuous objects that were found centuries ago. However, a few dozen of them are faint, sparsely populated systems that were identified largely during the second half of the past century. One of the faintest is ESO 37-1 (E 3) and as such it remains poorly studied, with no spectroscopic observations published so far, although it was discovered in 1976. Aims. We investigate the globular cluster E 3 in an attempt to better constrain its fundamental parameters. Spectroscopy of stars in the field of E 3 is shown here for the first time. Methods. Deep, precise VI CCD photometry of E 3 down to V=26 mag is presented and analysed. Low-resolution, medium signal-to-noise ratio spectra of nine candidate members are studied to derive radial velocity and metallicity. Proper motions from the UCAC4 catalogue are used to explore the kinematics of the bright members of E 3. Results. Isochrone fitting indicates that E 3 is probably very old, with an age of about 13 Gyr; its distance from the Sun is nearly 10 kpc. It is also somewhat metal rich with [Fe/H]=-0.7. Regarding its kinematics, our tentative estimate for the proper motions is (-7.0+/-0.8, 3.5+/-0.3) mas/yr (or a tangential velocity of 382+/-79 km/s) and for the radial velocity is 45+/-5 km/s, in the solar rest frame. Conclusions. E 3 is one of the most intriguing globular clusters in the Galaxy. Having an old age and being metal rich is clearly a peculiar combination, only seen in a handful of objects like the far more conspicuous NGC 104 (47 Tucanae). In addition, its low luminosity and sparse population make it a unique template for the study of the final evolutionary phases in the life of a star cluster. Unfortunately, E 3 is among the most elusive and challenging known globular clusters because field contamination severely hampers spectroscopic studies., Comment: 7 pages, 6+1 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Minor changes

Zinc in stars is an important reference element because it is a proxy to Fe in studies of damped Lyman-alpha systems, permitting a comparison of chemical evolution histories of bulge stellar populations and DLAs. In terms of nucleosynthesis, it behaves as an alpha element because it is enhanced in metal-poor stars. The aim of this work is to derive the iron-peak element Zn abundances in 56 bulge giants from high resolution spectra. These results are compared with data from other bulge samples, as well as from disk and halo stars, and damped Lyman-alpha systems, in order to better understand the chemical evolution in these environments. High-resolution spectra were obtained using FLAMES+UVES on the Very Large Telescope. We find [Zn/Fe]=+0.24+-0.02 in the range -1.3 < [Fe/H] < -0.5 and [Zn/Fe]=+0.06+-0.02 in the range -0.5 < [Fe/H] < -0.1, whereas for [Fe/H] > -0.1, it shows a spread of -0.60 < [Zn/Fe] < +0.15, with most of these stars having low [Zn/Fe]<0.0. These low zinc abundances at the high metallicity end of the bulge define a decreasing trend in [Zn/Fe] with increasing metallicities. A comparison with Zn abundances in DLA systems is presented, where a dust-depletion correction was applied for both Zn and Fe. Finally, we present a chemical evolution model of Zn enrichment in massive spheroids, representing a typical classical bulge., Comment: Accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysics, in press Date of acceptance: 13/05/2015. 19 pages, 14 Figs in Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2015

In this paper we combine WFC3/UVIS F275W, F336W, and F438W data from the "UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters: Shedding Light on Their Populations and Formation" (GO-13297) HST Treasury program with F606W, F625W, F658N, and F814W ACS archive data for a multi-wavelength study of the globular cluster NGC 6352. In the color-magnitude and two-color diagrams obtained with appropriate combination of the photometry in the different bands we separate two distinct stellar populations and trace them from the main sequence to the subgiant, red giant, horizontal and asymptotic giant branches. We infer that the two populations differ in He by Delta Y=0.029+/-0.006. With a new method, we also estimate the age difference between the two sequences. Assuming no difference in [Fe/H] and [alpha/Fe], and the uncertainties on Delta Y, we found a difference in age between the two populations of 10+/-120 Myr. If we assume [Fe/H] and [alpha/Fe] differences of 0.02 dex (well within the uncertainties of spectroscopic measurements), the total uncertainty in the relative age rises to ~300 Myr., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures (3 at low resolution), 3 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS on April 29, 2015

We computed proper motions of a selected sample of globular clusters projected on the central bulge, employing CCD images gathered along the last 25 years at the ESO-NTT, ESO-Danish and HST telescopes. We presented a method to derive their proper motions, and a set of coordinate transformations to obtain 3D Galactic velocity vectors of the clusters. We analysed 10 globular clusters, namely Terzan 1, Terzan 2, Terzan 4, Terzan 9, NGC 6522, NGC 6558, NGC 6540, AL~3,ESO456--SC38 and Palomar 6. For comparison purposes we also studied the outer bulge cluster NGC 6652. We discuss the general properties of the proper-motion-cleaned Colour-Magnitude Diagrams, derived for the first time for most of them. A general conclusion is that the inner bulge globular clusters have clearly lower transverse motions (and spatial velocities) than halo clusters, and appear to be trapped in the bulge bar., Comment: 22 pages, 26 figures accepted on 2 April 2015. in MNRAS 2015

We present a multi-year survey aimed at collecting (1) high-precision (~5 milli-mag), (2) fast-cadence (~3 min), and (3) relatively long duration (~10 days) multi-band photometric series. The goal of the survey is to discover and characterize efficiently variable objects and exoplanetary transits in four fields containing five nearby open clusters spanning a broad range of ages. More in detail, our project will (1) constitute a preparatory survey for HARPS-N@TNG, which will be used for spectroscopic follow-up of any target of interest that this survey discovers or characterizes, (2) measure rotational periods and estimate the activity level of targets we are already monitoring with HARPS and HARPS-N for exoplanet transit search, and (3) long term characterization of selected targets of interest in open clusters within the planned K2 fields. In this first paper we give an overview of the project, and report on the variability of objects within the first of our selected fields, which contains two open clusters: M 35 and NGC 2158. We detect 519 variable objects, 273 of which are new discoveries, while the periods of most of the previously known variables are considerably improved., Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures (4 at low resolution), 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS on December 17, 2014. Electronic materials available at the url http://groups.dfa.unipd.it/ESPG/aphn.html , and later on the Journal and at the CDS