We present a study of selected potential γ Doradus stars observed in the Geneva photometric system. Eleven stars were monitored at least during the last year of functioning of the 70 cm Swiss telescope at La Silla, leading to about one thousand photometric measurements and permitting a detailed analysis of these stars. After the analysis, five stars are thought to be constant stars. We report t...

We derive the bulk viscous damping timescale of hybrid stars, neutron stars with quark matter core. The r-mode instability windows of the stars show that the theoretical results are consistent with the rapid rotation pulsar data, which may give an indication for the existence of quark matter in the interior of neutron stars. Hybrid stars instead of neutron or strange stars may lead to submillis...

We show the possible existence of compact stars having a surface composed of a mixed phase of quarks and hadrons. This scenario can be realized both for self-bound stars, satisfying the so-called Witten-Bodmer hypothesis, and for gravitationally bound stars. This class of solutions of the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation can be obtained in all the models we discuss, within a physically accep...

Observations to date cannot distinguish neutron stars from self-bound bare quark stars on the basis of their gross physical properties such as their masses and radii alone. However, their surface luminosity and spectral characteristics can be significantly different. Unlike a normal neutron star, a bare quark star can emit photons from its surface at super-Eddington luminosities for an extended...

The luminosities, effective temperatures and metallicities that are derived empirically by Kovács and Jurcsik from the light curves of a large number of globular cluster and field RRab and RRc stars are compared to theoretical RR Lyrae models. The strong luminosity dependence of the empirical blue and red edges (LogL vs. LogTeff diagram) is in disagreement with that of both radiative and convec...

Some results are given from the comparison with observations of a large number of hydrodynamic pulsation models: (1) Linear pulsation calculations are adequate for the determination of the masses of RRd stars; (2) the Fourier phase parameter 4>31 measures the luminosity-to-mass ratio L/M1.81 for RRc stars; (3) most of the w Cen RRc stars seem to be evolved, as has previously been suggested; (4)...

We review the observed properties of extremely hot hydrogen-deficient post-AGB stars of spectral type [WC] and PG1159. Their H-deficiency is probably caused by a (very) late heliumshell flash or a AGB final thermal pulse, laying bare interior stellar regions which are usually kept hidden below the hydrogen envelope. Thus, the photospheric element abundances of these stars allow to draw conclusi...

Members of the family of pulsar-like stars are distinguished by their different manifestations observed, i.e., radio pulsars, accretion-driven X-ray pulsars, X-ray bursts, anomalous X-ray pulsars/soft gamma-ray repeaters, compact center objects, and dim thermal neutron stars. Though one may conventionally think that these stars are normal neutron stars, it is still an open issue whether they ar...

We describe the results of a search for early-type stars associated with the Taurus-Auriga molecular cloud complex, a diffuse nearby star-forming region noted as lacking young stars of intermediate and high mass. We investigate several sets of possible O, B and early A spectral class members. The first is a group of stars for which mid-infrared images show bright nebulae, all of which can be as...

We show here that the absorptive Hα polarized line profile previously seen in many Herbig Ae/Be (HAeBe) stars is a nearly ubiquitous feature of other types of embedded or obscured stars. This characteristic 1% linear polarization variation across the absorptive part of the Hα line is seen in Post-AGB stars as well as RV-Tau, δ-Scuti, and other types. Each of these stars shows evidence of obscur...