The Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectral Observations (ESPRESSO) is an extremely stable high-resolution spectrograph currently under construction, to be placed at Paranal Observatory in the ESO VLT Combined Coudé Laboratory (CCL). With its groundbreaking characteristics (resolution up to ˜200,000; wavelength range from 380

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Aims: We analyze a sample of tens of thousands of spectra of halo turnoff stars, obtained with the optical spectrographs of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), to characterize the stellar halo population "in situ" out to a distance of a few tens of kpc from the Sun. In this paper we describe the derivation of atmospheric parameters. We also derive

We propose to complete our program of optical imaging of a sample of candidate strong-lensing galaxies discovered in the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) that was started in GS-2013B-Q-77 ( 80% complete). All of the targets in this proposal have exquisite, high-S/N and high-spatial resolution sub-mm imaging from ALMA that

Turbulence and magnetic fields are expected to be important for regulating molecular cloud formation and evolution. However, their effects on sub-parsec to 100 parsec scales, leading to the formation of starless cores, are not well understood. We investigate the prestellar core structure morphologies obtained from analysis of the Herschel-SPIRE 350

EMIR is the NIR imager and multiobject spectrograph being built as a common user instrument for the 10-m class GTC. Big cryogenic instruments demand a reliable design and a specific hardware and software to increase its safety and productivity. EMIR vacuum, cooling and heating systems are monitored and partially controlled by a Programmable Logic