We present mid-infrared (MIR; 7.5-13.5 μm) imaging and spectroscopy observations obtained with the CanariCam (CC) instrument on the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS for a sample of 20 nearby, MIR bright and X-ray luminous quasi-stellar objects (QSOs). We find that for the majority of QSOs the MIR emission is unresolved at angular scales ∼0.3 arcsec

Despite the emerging morphological evidence that luminous quasar-like active galactic nuclei (AGN) are triggered in galaxy mergers, the natures of the triggering mergers and the order of events in the triggering sequence remain uncertain. In this work, we present a detailed study of the stellar populations of the host galaxies of 21 type II quasars

We have used Spitzer images of a sample of 68 barred spiral galaxies in the local universe to make systematic measurements of bar length and bar strength. We combine these with precise determinations of the corotation radii associated with the bars, taken from our previous study, which used the phase change from radial inflow to radial outflow of

We present the stellar kinematic maps of a large sample of galaxies from the integral-field spectroscopic survey CALIFA. The sample comprises 300 galaxies displaying a wide range of morphologies across the Hubble sequence, from ellipticals to late-type spirals. This dataset allows us to homogeneously extract stellar kinematics up to several

We present high-angular (0.17$-$0.35 arcsec) resolution imaging polarimetric observations of Mrk 231 in the 3.1 $\mu$m filter using MMT-Pol on the 6.5-m MMT, and in the 8.7 $\mu$m, 10.3 $\mu$m, and 11.6 $\mu$m filters using CanariCam on the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS. In combination with already published observations, we compile the 1$-$12 $

We present optical imaging and long slit spectroscopic observations of nine luminous type 2 active galactic nuclei (AGN) within the redshift range 0.3 < z < 0.6 based on Very Large Telescope Focal Reducer and Low Dispersion Spectrograph (VLT FORS2) data. Most objects (6/9) are high luminosity Seyfert 2, and three are type 2 quasars (QSO2), with our

We present an analysis of the nuclear infrared (IR, 1.6-18 μm) emission of the ultraluminous IR galaxy UGC 5101 to derive the properties of its active galactic nucleus (AGN) and its obscuring material. We use new mid-IR high angular resolution (0.3-0.5 arcsec) imaging using the Si-2 filter (λC = 8.7 μm) and 7.5-13 μm spectroscopy taken with

We present new mid-infrared (mid-IR) N-band spectroscopy and Q-band photometry of the local luminous IR galaxy NGC 1614, one of the most extreme nearby starbursts. We analyse the mid-IR properties of the nucleus (central 150 pc) and four regions of the bright circumnuclear (diameter˜600 pc) star-forming (SF) ring of this object. The nucleus differs

We present spatially resolved stellar and/or ionized gas kinematic properties for a sample of 103 interacting galaxies, tracing all merger stages: close companions, pairs with morphological signatures of interaction, and coalesced merger remnants. In order to distinguish kinematic properties caused by a merger event from those driven by internal

We study the physical and kinematic properties of the narrow-line region (NLR) of the nearest obscured quasar MRK 477 (z = 0.037), using optical and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. About 100 emission lines are identified in the optical+NIR spectrum (90 in the optical), including several narrow optical Fe+ lines. To our knowledge, this is the

We present J' and K' imaging linear polarimetric adaptive optics observations of NGC 1068 using MMT-Pol on the 6.5-m MMT. These observations allow us to study the torus from a magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) framework. In a 0.5 arcsec (30 pc) aperture at K', we find that polarization arising from the passage of radiation from the inner edge of the

We use optical integral-field spectroscopic (IFS) data from 103 nearby galaxies at different stages of the merging event, from close pairs to merger remnants provided by the CALIFA survey, to study the impact of the interaction in the specific star formation and oxygen abundance on different galactic scales. To disentangle the effect of the

We have observed 12 interacting galaxy pairs using the Fabry-Perot interferometer GH αFaS (Galaxy H α Fabry-Perot system) on the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma. We present here the Hα surface brightness, velocity and velocity dispersion maps for the 10 systems we have not previously

Context. Most of the optically classified low-ionisation, narrow emission-line regions (LINERs) nuclei host an active galactic nucleus (AGN). However, how they fit into the unified model (UM) of AGN is still an open question. Aims: The aims of this work are to study at mid-infrared (mid-IR) (1) the Compton-thick nature of LINERs (i.e. hydrogen

We analyse the stellar absorption features in high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) near-infrared (NIR) spectra of the nuclear region of 12 nearby galaxies, mostly spirals. The features detected in some or all of the galaxies in this sample are the TiO (0.843 and 0.886 μm), VO (1.048 μm), CN (1.1 and 1.4 μm), H2O (1.4 and 1.9 μm) and CO (1.6 and 2.3 μm)

This paper describes the Second Public Data Release (DR2) of the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey. The data for 200 objects are made public, including the 100 galaxies of the First Public Data Release (DR1). Data were obtained with the integral-field spectrograph PMAS/PPak mounted on the 3.5 m telescope at the Calar Alto

We present results on the spectral decomposition of 118 Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectra from local active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using a large set of Spitzer/IRS spectra as templates. The templates are themselves IRS spectra from extreme cases where a single physical component (stellar, interstellar, or AGN) completely dominates the

We present results from the fitting of infrared (IR) spectral energy distributions of 21 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with clumpy torus models. We compiled high spatial resolution (∼0.3–0.7 arcsec) mid-IR (MIR) N-band spectroscopy, Q-band imaging, and nuclear near- and MIR photometry from the literature. Combining these nuclear near- and MIR

Context. The bar pattern speed (Ωb) is defined as the rotational frequency of the bar, and it determines the bar dynamics. Several methods have been proposed for measuring Ωb. The non-parametric method proposed by Tremaine & Weinberg (1984, ApJ, 282, L5; TW) and based on stellar kinematics is the most accurate. This method has been applied so far

We present spectra of the nuclear regions of 50 nearby (D = 1-92 Mpc, median = 20 Mpc) galaxies of morphological types E to Sm. The spectra, obtained with the Gemini Near-IR Spectrograph on the Gemini North telescope, cover a wavelength range of approximately 0.85-2.5 μm at R ˜ 1300-1800. There is evidence that most of the galaxies host an active