We show observations obtained with the integral field spectrometer OASIS for the centers of a sample of barred galaxies. The high spatial resolution of the instrument allows to distinguish spatially some structures within these regions as defined by stellar populations of different ages and metallicities. From these data we deduce important clues about the star formation history. But we advise that, in order to obtain adequately the evolutionary sequence, a combination of chemical and synthesis models might be necessary.

The luminosity profile of M 83 bulge can be traced by a de Vaucouleurs' law between ≈ 200 pc and ≈ 800 pc. The inner part can be fitted by a n = −1/2 Sérsic profile. Also the IR (J − K) color shows difference between the periphery and the central part of the bulge, both properties indicating the presence of a pseudobulge. Previous Gemini-S 3-D, Paβ spectroscopy of the central ≈ 5″×13″ revealed spider like diagrams indicating disk like motion around three extended masses identified respectively with the optical nucleus (ON), with the center of the bulge isophotes, similar to the CO kinematical center (KC), and with a condensation hidden at optical wavelengths (HN), coincident with the largest lobe in 10 μm emission, most probably a cannibalized satellite. Numerical simulations show that they suffer strong evaporation and they would merge engulfing also the star forming arc in few hundred Myr, increasing the mass at the kinematical center by a factor o five or more. Upper mass limit of putative Black Holes associated to ON, KC and HN are a few ten thousand to a million solar masses. GMOS+Gemini imaging and spectroscopy of a chain of radio sources has yield no optical high redshift counterparts. This radio sources are aligned with ON, neither associated to SN nor to HII regions and might point to an older similar phenomenon, which left behind a kick-off spur.

We present results on the stellar populations of a sample of 18 late-type spirals, based on data acquired with the integral-field spectrograph SAURON at the WHT. We present the two-dimensional line-strength maps, the central line indices, and estimate the star formation time-scale. In an exponentially declining SFR scenario, we find a trend between the time-scale τ and the central velocity dispersion: more massive galaxies show shorter burst durations. A detailed study on these data is published by Ganda et al. (2007).

We present a study of the internal kinematics and stellar populations of early-type galaxies in the Fornax cluster. 10 galaxies in a luminosity range of −21.8≤MB≤−17.4 were observed with the integral field units (IFU) of Gemini South GMOS and VLT-VIMOS. Velocity maps and age-metallicity diagrams are presented for NGC 1404 and NGC 1419.

We present the results on our investigation of the age structure in early-type galaxies, based on optical/near-infrared photometry. First results have shown that the age structure in early-type galaxies is not as uniform as previously thought. The conclusion can only be that the formation of these galaxies is not exclussively based on a single scenario, e.g. monolithic collapse, or hierarchical merging. In our galaxy survey we compare the age structure of galaxies in different galaxy environment, of different mass and with different integral light properties, using the globular cluster systems as stellar probes. Depending on the size of the globular cluster sample we derive a cumulative age distribution and compare it to simulated systems with a known age structure. This allows us to detect globular cluster sub-populations with an age difference of several Gyr. So far we have found two galaxies, members of small groups of galaxies, which contain a significant population of intermediate age globular clusters in the inner region of the galaxy.

Stellar kinematics show no evidence of hidden mass concentrations at the centre of M83. We show the clearest evidence yet of an age gradient along the starburst arc and interpret the arc to have formed from orbital motion away from a starforming region in the dust lane.

We evaluate the nature of bulges in the Hubble sequence, based on an analysis of 216 disk galaxies of all morphological types (S0-Sd). For this purpose we collect our various analysis made separately for early and late-type galaxies, published in a series of papers. Using the criteria by Kormendy & Kennicutt we find strong evidence of pseudobulges in all Hubble types, including S0s. However, due to the relatively massive bulges in S0-S0/a galaxies it is not probable that the (pseudo)bulges in these galaxies were formed in a similar manner as in spirals. More likely, pseudobulges particularly in strongly barred early-type disk galaxies are suggested to be a combination of star formation and the nearly exponential central components of bars.

We present the 2D kinematics of the nuclear region of the double-nucleated low-luminosity elliptical galaxy IC 225. Observations with the GMOS-N IFU at Gemini Observatory show a large amount of metal-rich gas coincident with the off-center nucleus. However, preliminary kinematics analysis indicates that the velocity of the stars in the off-center nucleus is distinct from that of the gas at the same position. Therefore, this is an intriguing example of how the formation of a nucleus or bulge may be occurring in a low-luminosity elliptical galaxy.

We present extensive photometric and spectroscopic study to give a new insight in the bulge stellar population. Super-solar α/Fe and its constant value along the radial profile, in most of the galaxies, suggest that the star formation in these objects has been fast and occurred at the same time in the whole bulge.

We have started a long term project to analyse the role played by bars in bulge formation and the formation and evolution of bars from the point of view of their star formation histories and stellar populations. To this aim, we have obtained high S/N long slit spectra of 22 barred galaxies, ranging in morphological types between S0 to Sb galaxies. We have obtained Lick/IDS indices along the bar for all the sample galaxies. We used Vazdekis et al. (2007) models to derive simple stellar population ages and metallicities. Extreme care has been taken to correct the indices for any nebular contribution. Preliminary results show that the bulges of barred galaxies are similar to those of unbarred galaxies. The metalicity gradients along bars show a dependency with the central stellar velocity dispersion. The galaxies with higher central dispersion appear to have a gradient in both age and metallicity changing radially outward to a younger and more metal rich population. The galaxies with lower central velocity dispersion show a change in age and metallicity with respect to the inner part of the bar with the populations at the end of the bar being younger or same age and more metal poor. There is no correlation between the gradient and the morphological or nuclear type. There is no correlation either with the total K-band luminosity. The fact that we observe galaxies with the outer parts of the bar more metal rich than the inner parts shows that at least some bars are old, since it requires long time for the observed enrichment to take place. The gradients in these bars are opposite to what is generally found in disks. The correlation between the central velocity dispersion and the bar gradient relates both, the dynamical and stellar population aging of the bar.

The Milky Way is the only galaxy for which we can resolve individual stars at all evolutionary phases, from the Galactic center to the outskirt. The last decade, thanks to the advent of near IR detectors and 8 meter class telescopes, has seen a great progress in the understanding of the Milky Way central region: the bulge. Here we review the most recent results regarding the bulge structure, age, kinematics and chemical composition. These results have profound implications for the formation and evolution of the Milky Way and of galaxies in general. This paper provides a summary on our current understanding of the Milky Way bulge, intended mainly for workers on other fields.

We present recent results from a Keck study of the composition of the Galactic bulge, as well as results from the bulge Bulge Radial Velocity Assay (BRAVA). Culminating a 10 year investigation, Fulbright, McWilliam, & Rich (2006, 2007) solved the problem of deriving the iron abundance in the Galactic bulge, and find enhanced alpha element abundances, consistent with the earlier work of McWilliam & Rich (1994). We also report on a radial velocity survey of 2MASS-selected M giant stars in the Galactic bulge, observed with the CTIO 4m Hydra multi-object spectrograph. This program is to test dynamical models of the bulge and to search for and map any dynamically cold substructure in the Galactic bulge. We show initial results on fields at −10° < l < + 10° and b = −4°. We construct a longitude-velocity plot for the bulge stars and the model data, and find that contrary to previous studies, the bulge does not rotate as a solid body; from −5° < l < + 5° the rotation curve has a slope of ≈ 100 km s−1 and flattens considerably at greater l and reaches a maximum rotation of 45 km s−1 (heliocentric) or ~ 70 km s−1 (Galactocentric). This rotation is slower than that predicted by the dynamical model of Zhao (1996).

We discuss oxygen and iron abundance patterns in K and M red-giant members of the Galactic bulge and in the young and massive M-type stars inhabiting the very center of the Milky Way. The abundance results from the different bulge studies in the literature, both in the optical and the infrared, indicate that the [O/Fe]-[Fe/H] relation in the bulge does not follow the disk relation, with [O/Fe] values falling above those of the disk. Based on these elevated values of [O/Fe] extending to large Fe abundances, it is suggested that the bulge underwent a rapid chemical enrichment with perhaps a top-heavy initial mass function. The Galactic Center stars reveal a nearly uniform and slightly elevated (relative to solar) iron abundance for a studied sample which is composed of 10 red giants and supergiants. Perhaps of more significance is the fact that the young Galactic Center M-type stars show abundance patterns that are reminiscent of those observed for the bulge population and contain enhanced abundance ratios of α-elements relative to either the Sun or Milky Way disk at near-solar metallicities.

We describe the boxy bulge, long stellar bar and elliptical ring of the Galaxy. This model has largely evolved from NIR survey work by many teams and differs from other models with a monolithic ellipsoidal bulge. We maintain that the structure of the inner Galaxy can only be properly studied by adequately sampling the entire Galactic plane for |l| < 30°, |b| < 1.5°, and that the bulge is best studied at least 3° from the plane. We briefly report a slight radially outwardly increasing metallicity gradient along the bar and reaffirm de Vaucouleurs & Pence's (1978) suggestion that the Galaxy is probably of morphological type SAB(rs)bc II.

We report the progress in our measurement of the 3-D kinematics in several low foreground extinction windows of the Galactic Bulge. In order to complete the 3-D kinematics of as many stars as possible, proper motions and radial velocities have been obtained using HST WFPC2-ACS and VLT VIMOS respectively. Our preliminary results for fields close to the galactic minor axis show a significant vertex deviation, which can be directly related to a signature of triaxility. This is one of the strongest proofs to date of the presence of the stellar bar in the galactic bulge.

A proper motion study of a field of 20′ × 20′ inside Plaut's low extinction window (l,b)=(0o, −8o), has been completed. Relative proper motions and photographic BV photometry have been derived for ~ 21,000 stars reaching to V ~ 20.5 mag, based on the astrometric reduction of 43 photographic plates, spanning over 21 years of epoch difference. Proper motion errors are typically 1 mas yr−1. Cross-referencing with the 2MASS catalog yielded a sample of ~ 8700 stars, from which predominantly disk and bulge subsamples were selected photometrically from the JH color-magnitude diagram. The two samples exhibited different proper-motion distributions, with the disk displaying the expected reflex solar motion. Galactic rotation was also detected for stars between ~2 and ~3 kpc from us. The bulge sample, represented by red giants, has an intrinsic proper motion dispersion of (σl, σb) = (3.39, 2.91)±(0.11, 0.09) mas yr−1, which is in good agreement with previous results. A mean distance of kpc has been estimated for the bulge sample, based on the observed K magnitude of the horizontal branch red clump. The metallicity [M/H] distribution was also obtained for a subsample of 60 bulge giants stars, based on calibrated photometric indices. The observed [M/H] shows a peak value at [M/H] ~ −0.1 with an extended metal poor tail and around 30% of the stars with supersolar metallicity. No change in proper motion dispersion was observed as a function of [M/H]. We are currently in the process of obtaining CCD UBV RI photometry for the entire proper-motion sample of ~ 21,000 stars.

We introduce a Japanese space astrometry project which is called JASMINE. JASMINE (Japan Astrometry Satellite Mission for INfrared Exploration) will measure distances and tangential motions of stars in the Galactic bulge with yet unprecedented precision. JASMINE will operate in z-band whose central wavelength is 0.9 micron. It will measure parallaxes, positions with accuracy of about 10 micro-arcsec and proper motions with accuracy of about 10 micro- arcsec/year for the stars brighter than z=14 mag. The number of stars observed by JASMINE with high accuracy of parallaxes in the Galactic bulge is much larger than that observed in other space astrometry projects operating in optical bands. With the completely new “map of the Galactic bulge” including motions of bulge stars, we expect that many new exciting scientific results will be obtained in studies of the Galactic bulge. One of them is the construction of the dynamical structure of the Galactic bulge. Kinematics and distance data given by JASMINE are the closest approach to a view of the exact dynamical structure of the Galactic bulge.

Presently, JASMINE is in a development phase, with a target launch date around 2016. We comment on the outline of JASMINE mission, scientific targets and a preliminary design of JASMINE in this paper.

We intend to map the differential extinction and remove their effects in a sample of clusters in the direction of the inner Galaxy using a new dereddening technique. These observations and their analyses will let us produce high quality color-magnitude diagrams of these poorly studied clusters that will allow us to determine these clusters' relative ages, distances and chemistry and to address important questions about the formation and the evolution of the inner Galaxy.

In 2004 the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS) project undertook a very deep ACS/WFC exposure-set of the Sgr-I low-reddening window in the Galactic Bulge, with repeat observations 2.04 years later. The combination of superb first-epoch sampling, wide field of view and high PSF stability of ACS/WFC on Hubble allows proper motions to be extracted for more than 137,000 objects, over 85,000 to accuracy better than 0.3 mas yr−1. We present these proper motions and outline some of the uses to which they have been put, including the separation of a pure-Bulge sample and the inner Galactic rotation curve.

Using the (J − K, K) color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of 16 metal-poor globular clusters in the Galactic bulge, we investigate the morphological properties of their red-giant branch (RGB), comparing with those of metal-rich clusters in the Galactic bulge and metal-poor clusters in the Galactic halo. The RGB morphological parameters, such as colors at fixed magnitudes, magnitudes at a fixed color, the RGB slope, and a difference of color indices at two fixed magnitudes have been derived from the near-IR CMDs for each cluster. Metal-poor Galactic bulge clusters follow the previous empirical relations between colors at fixed magnitudes and magnitudes at a fixed color of the RGB and the cluster's metallicity. However, the RGB slope and the color difference parameters of some bulge clusters deviate slightly from the previous empirical linear relations for the other globular clusters, implying that the metal-poor bulge clusters may have different formation origin from the other globular clusters in the Galaxy.