VLT and NTT spectra are used to examine the nuclear and extended coronal line emission in a sample of well-known Seyfert 1 and 2 galaxies. The excellent spatial resolution obtained with VLT allowed us to map [Si VI] 1.963μm and [Si VII] 2.48μm on scales of up to 20 pc. Coronal line emission, extended to distances of ˜102 pc, is detected in some of

The regions of high excitation gas detected around various Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are examined. The radiation emitted by the nucleus may be responsible for the high ionization of the line emitting gas. Evidence that the radiation field is anisotropic and collimated in a direction close to the cone axis is found. The possibility that a

Regions of high excitation gas were detected around various active galactic nuclei. Their shape resembles a cone whose axis is oriented close to the radio axis. The radiation emitted by the nucleus may be responsible for the high ionization of the line emitting gas. Moreover there is evidence that the radiation field should be anisotropic and

We present new HST/ACS medium- and narrow-band images and optical Isaac Newton Telescope long-slit spectra of the merging system Mrk273. The HST observations sample the [OIII]λλ4959,5007 emission from the galaxy and the nearby continuum. These data were taken as a part of a larger study of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) with the aim of

We present a study of the atmospheric extinction over the observatories of the Canary Islands, based mainly on photometric measurements of the V-band extinction coefficient obtained during /2850 nights at the Carlsberg Automatic Meridian Circle at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma), and complemented with visible and infrared data

Extrasolar planetas (exoplanets), or planets orbiting stars other than our own Sun, are a relatively new field of the astronomical and planetary sciences. After the discovery of Pluto in 1930, planet-finding activities appeared to have reached an end for the foreseeable future. Several brown dwarfs have been discovered between 1930 and 1993