Many direct attempts to measure the proper motions of Galactic satellite galaxies are either in progress or have recently been completed. In this review I will summarise and examine the current state of knowledge in this field and will also highlight several indirect methods that can be used as alternative estimators or constraints on the proper motions of satellite galaxies throughout the Local Group. A good example of this latter approach is provided by the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy, where ongoing tidal disruption of the system has left a giant arc of debris tracing out its orbital path.

The present kinematics of an unrelaxed system such as the Local Group can be used to investigate its dynamics on a cosmological time scale. In particular, the classical timing argument of Kahn & Woltjer may be extended to distant satellite galaxies of the Local Group whose distances and velocities are known with some accuracy. Including a correction for the fact that the Local Group was not always dynamically isolated, I derive a mass for the Group of about 1.6 x 1012M⊙ and an age of 1.0 to 1.2 x 1010 years.

The S-tree method is used to reveal the substructures of the Local Group, namely the membership of each individual galaxy in the Milky Way and M31 subgroups; the method is determining the degree of mutual influence of the galaxies. Once the main physical subgroups of the Local Group are defined, we use a general method of reconstruction of their bulk flow using the radial velocity distribution of the member galaxies. The results particularly indicate the essential mutual bulk flow of the Milky Way and M31 subgroups which does not simply coincide with the radial approaching velocity (blueshift) of M31. Finally, having obtained the 3D velocity vectors of both the subgroups, we determine the 3D bulk flow of the Local Group itself, which in the Cosmic Microwave Background rest frame is equal to VLG→CMB = 668 kms−1 towards l = 265 and b = 42.

We use a new fiber spectroscopic survey of 12 nearby, poor groups of galaxies to examine the dynamics and evolution of galaxies in these common, but poorly studied, environments. Some of our conclusions are: (1) The nine groups in our sample with diffuse X-ray emission are in fact bound systems with at least 20-50 group members with absolute magnitudes as faint as MB ~ −14 + 5 log10h. (2) Galaxies in each X-ray-detected group have not all merged together because a significant fraction of the group mass lies outside of the galaxies and in a common halo, thereby reducing the rate of galaxy-galaxy interactions. (3) The similarity of the recent star formation histories and the fraction of early type galaxies in some poor groups to those in rich clusters suggest that cluster-specific environmental effects may not play a dominant role in the recent evolution of cluster galaxies. The evolution of group and cluster members may be driven instead by galaxy-galaxy interactions, which are likely to occur with equal frequency in field groups and in groups that have recently fallen into clusters (i.e., subclusters).

The analysis of 34 galaxies being members of the Local Group shows that their planes are distributed randomly.

Milky Way dwarf companions and satellites of distant spirals seem to show a preference for polar orbits. We suggest that five out of six M31 dwarf spheroidal companions as well as two dwarf irregulars may also be located near a polar plane.

We briefly discuss preliminary results from a statistical approach to study correlations between star formation histories and orbits of Local Group dwarf galaxies, such as a possible correlation between star formation episodes and galaxy separations.

We analyzed 10 dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) in the Local Group, and found two distinct sequences on the Mvir/L - Mvir plane: Mvir/L ∝ Mvir1.6 for Mvir < 108M⊙ whereas Mvir/L ≃ const. for Mvir > 108M⊙ (Mvir and L are the virial mass and the total luminosity of a dSph, respectively). We interpret the discontinuity as the threshold for the gas in dSphs to be blown away by successive supernovae. We succeeded in giving a quantitative explanation of the discontinuity mass of 108M⊙ as the blow-away condition. We further derived the above relation for the low-mass dSphs, assuming that the initial star formation rate of the dSphs is proportional to the inverse of the cooling time. The relation of high-mass dSphs is also explained along with the same consideration, with the condition that the gas cannot be blown away.

This paper is based on photometry from two different observational approaches. Both are of an explorative character and act as feasibility studies. For the future we plan to use these methods to study Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars in nearby galaxies.

First, we present results on broad-band photometry in Bessell V and I, as well as narrow-band measurements in the Wing 778 nm and 812 nm filters of a galactic globular cluster using the new Austrian Oe-FOSC (Oesterreich Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera), a copy of the ESO Instrument EFOSC mounted on our 1.5 m-telescope.

The second part of the contribution deals with the possibilities of using Gunn I, J and KS measurements originating from the DENIS (DEep Near Infrared Survey of the Southern Sky) project on similar objects. A few southern dwarf spheroidals already observed within DENIS (covering now some 40% of the southern hemisphere) are selected.

Metal-poor Cepheids do not appear to have smaller radii or cooler temperatures than more metal-rich Cepheids. A correction to the LMC modulus of 0.4 mag, due to metal-poor Cepheids being fainter for their periods, is inconsistent with the data at the 6σ level or greater.

There are no examples of Blue Compact Dwarf (BCD) galaxies known within the Local Group (LG). Multicolor HST/WFPC2 observations of the nearby BCD VII Zw 403 (= UGC 6456) now resolve single stars with the quality (in terms of limiting magnitude and completeness) previously achieved for LG dwarfs from the ground. We use the MI, V - I color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of several LG dwarfs as templates to assess the stellar content and star-formation history (SFH) of the BCD VII Zw 403. This is the first BCD for which a clear spatial segregation of the resolved stellar content into a “core-halo” structure is detected: active star formation is observed in the central region of VII Zw 403, while in “Baade's red sheet”, this young population is strikingly absent. If BCD halos are home to dominant ancient stellar populations, then the fossil record conflicts with delayed-format ion scenarios for dwarfs. We present a sketch of the SFH in the core and halo of VII Zw 403.

In collaboration with international partners, South Africa plans to construct a 9-m class telescope for optical/infrared astronomy. This Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) will be a southern hemisphere equivalent of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory, Texas. By limiting the scientific mission to primarily spectroscopic survey studies, with some reduced imaging capability, it is possible to construct SALT for about one-fifth of the cost of a general-purpose telescope of similar aperture. The telescope will be operated in queue-scheduled mode which opens up new applications in the time-dependent domain. A description of SALT, its capabilities, and samples of the science programme are presented.

The application of multi-object instruments to nearby galaxies permits the spectroscopy of large samples of faint stars. Such data are needed to determine the kinematics and metallicity distributions of stellar systems, to complement the excellent photometric data now becoming available. Together, these data should reveal the star formation and evolutionary histories of Local Group galaxies. The Two-degree Field (2dF) instrument on the Anglo-Australian Telescope is described and some initial results are presented for a sample of 700 carbon stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The velocity precision is more than adequate for kinematic studies, while the application of Principal Component Analysis techniques promises to yield an objective and quantitative classification scheme for carbon stars. This may lead to a better understanding of the carbon stars themselves, as well as enhancing their use as tracers of the intermediate-age and old stellar populations. Another application of multi-fibre spectroscopy, to a sample of main sequence stars in the globular cluster 47 Tuc, illustrates the possibility of combining the data for many faint stars to yield composite spectra with relatively high signal-to-noise ratio.

The ESO VLT with its suite of infrared instruments (e.g. ISAAC, VISIR) allows for an area-limited deep survey for infrared-bright point sources in nearby local group galaxies. Data in four colours can be collected: 3, 5, 10, and 20μm; the 10/20μm data can be complemented with TIMMI2, a new instrument presently under construction for ESO's 3.6m telescope on La Silla. The scientific result will be a complete catalogue of obscured Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars in the LMC, the SMC and the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy (SDG). Using mostly twilight time, such a survey can be done for an area of ≈ 100 □arcmin per year per galaxy. At 10μm the limiting flux is expected to be 2–3 orders of magnitude fainter than the IRAS point source catalogue. This catalogue would give the first coherent sample of AGB stars with precise distances and consequently absolute bolometric luminosities. It may lead to a substantially better understanding of the mass loss of AGB stars, an important, but as of today largely enigmatic phase of stellar evolution. As a byproduct many more IR-bright objects in the Magellanic Clouds, e.g. dust envelopes around normal stars, luminous blue variable stars (LBV) or compact obscured HII-regions, will be discovered. For the SDG no LBVs or YSOs are expected as it had no star formation for the past 5 Gyr.

X-ray binaries (XBs) dominate the X-ray emission of normal galaxies. The new X-ray satellite XMM will study the XB population of M31 in detail. The resulting M31 sample will significantly advance our understanding of the evolutionary history of XBs, and ultimately allow us to probe the star formation history of stellar populations by X-ray observations.

Subaru Telescope is an 8.3-m diameter optical-infrared new-generation telescope under construction on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The telescope is expected to be operational by early 1999. The current status of its construction and the plans for its instrumentation are presented. The design specifications of the telescope and its seven common user instruments are described, with emphasis on their application to studies of the Local Group.