We present GTC-10.4 m spectroscopy and multiband photometry of the faint (r ˜ 26) optical counterpart of the anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61. The 5000-9000 Å spectrum - the first obtained for a magnetar - is featureless, allowing us to set an equivalent width upper limit EW 25 Å to the presence of emission lines in the H α region. Multiband

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We present high-speed photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy of the eclipsing post-common-envelope binary QS Virginis (QS Vir). Our Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) spectra span multiple orbits over more than a year and reveal the presence of several large prominences passing in front of both the M star and its white dwarf

Cool and dense ejections, typically Hα surges, often appear alongside EUV or X-ray coronal jets as a result of the emergence of magnetized plasma from the solar interior. Idealized numerical experiments explain those ejections as being indirectly associated with the magnetic reconnection taking place between the emerging and preexisting systems

Time-series photometry of the CoRoT field SRc02 was obtained by the Berlin Exoplanet Search Telescope II (BEST II) in 2009. The main aim was to conduct a ground-based follow-up of the CoRoT field in order to detect variable stars with better spatial resolution than what can be achieved with the CoRoT Space Telescope. A total of 1846 variable stars

The analysis of the early star formation history (SFH) of nearby galaxies, obtained from their resolved stellar populations, is relevant as a test for cosmological models. However, the early time resolution of observationally derived SFHs is limited by several factors. Thus, direct comparison of observationally derived SFHs with those derived from