  The study of neutron stars, or more general compact stars, is a topic of
central interest in nuclear astrophysics. Furthermore, neutron stars serve as
the only physical systems whose properties can be used to infer information on
cold and dense matter at several times nuclear saturation density. Therefore,
neutron star physics is ideally suited to complement the studies of
ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions that sample strongly interacting matter
at high temperature and relatively small net baryon density.
  In general, in order to pin down or at least constrain the properties of
dense matter, accurate measurements of neutron star properties like masses,
radii, rotational frequency, and cooling behavior are needed. Here, in
relatively recent times the reliable mass determination of the pulsar PSR
J1614-2230 of $M = 1.97 \pm 0.04 M_\odot$ has introduced an important benchmark
for modeling stars and strongly interacting matter. It puts constraints on the
structure of compact stars and possible exotic phases in the core of the stars
as will be discussed in this article. In order to investigate this point we
will consider a model for star matter that includes hyperonic and quark degrees
of freedom, and present results for compact star properties in the following.
