In the past decade, new thermal modelling tools have been offered to system designers. These modelling tools have rarely been used for the cooled instruments in ground-based astronomy. In addition to an overwhelming increase of PC computer capabilities, these tools are now mature enough to drive the design of complex astronomical instruments that

Tables 7, 8 and 9 contain observational and atmospheric parameters, rotational velocities, luminosities and masses of objects in the Galactic clusters NGC 3293, NGC 4755 and NGC 6611 respectively. See Evans et al. (2005, Cat. ) for detail of the observations. (3 data files).

The Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) is one of the three science instruments for ESA's far infrared and submillimeter observatory Herschel. It employs two Ge:Ga photoconductor arrays (stressed and unstressed) with 16 × 25 pixels, each, and two filled silicon bolometer arrays with 16 × 32 and 32 × 64 pixels, respectively, to

The integration of the three main silicon carbide mirrors into the new 1.5 m solar telescope GREGOR at Izana on Tenerife, Spain is planned during 2006. We expect first light at the end of 2006. A progress report about integration of the optics and mechanics and planning of the commissioning phase of the telescope and post focus instruments will be

We report near-infrared spectroscopic data for the Seyfert 2 galaxy Mrk 78, taken with the LIRIS near-infrared camera/spectrometer at the William Herschel Telescope (WHT). The long-slit spectra clearly show extended emission. The resolution and depth of the near-infrared spectra allow the examination of its morphology and ionization regions, and a

An analysis of high-resolution Stokes observations of two light bridges in active region NOAA 8990 is presented. The observations were recorded with the La Palma Stokes Polarimeter attached to the Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope. The stratification over the solar atmosphere of different physical parameters is retrieved from these data using the