The stellar metallicity distribution of stars can be a very useful tool
to constrain the chemical evolution models reproducing different
formation scenarios for the Galactic bulge. However, classical
spectroscopy of individual stars is observationally expensive, and the
surveys done so far have been unsuccessful due to the low number
statistics. Recently, the advent of tunable filter tomography has opened
a new way to obtain low-resolution spectroscopy of large samples of
stars. We present preliminary results on an on-going study to measure
the stellar metallicity at two different locations…
T Pyxidis is a recurrent nova which underwent explosions at semi-regular
intervals of about 22 years between 1890 and 1966. On the 14th Apr 2011,
it started its sixth (long overdue) known outburst. In this talk, I
present a multi-site campaign aimed at the follow-up of this object in
the optical regime with intermediate resolution spectroscopy and I
summarize some of our findings which challenge some of the common
understandings of novae. Our observations may actually imply that the
two populations of novae (Fe II and He/N) suggested by te{wms92} are,
in fact, a byproduct of the speed…
Quasars belong to the most energetic phenomena in the universe. Physical
processes at the origin of them can be explained in the framework of the AGN unified scenario. The unified scenario predicts two classes of
quasars, obscured and unobscured ones, depending on the orientation of
the dusty torus which surrounds the central supermassive black hole.
Variability is ubiquitous in AGN, and may be generated by several
phenomena that would produce different footprints. Determining the
nature and origin of the variability is a key subject to understand the
differences between the different types of AGNs.
The OTELO project is the extragalactic survey currently under way using
the tunable filters of the OSIRIS instrument at the GTC. OTELO is
already providing the deepest emission line object survey of the
universe up to a redshift 7. In this contribution, the status of the
survey and the first results obtained will be presented.
The Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre (OAJ), is a new
astronomical facility located in the Sierra de Javalambre
(Teruel,Spain). The observatory will host two telescopes, an 83cm
telescope with one 9.2k x 9.2k CCD and a 2.55 telescope with 14 CCDs
10.5K x 10.5K The OAJ control system has been designed from a global
point of view including astronomical subsystems as well as
infrastructures and other facilities. We strongly believe that the best
approach for a success design of a new observatory is to consider it as
whole and to focus on overall efficiency basically integrated by…
