NAHUAL is a high-resolution, near-infrared, echelle spectrograph designed for high-precision radial velocity measurements using the Gran Telescopio Canarias in La Palma. The current status of NAHUAL will be presented, as well as the prospects for the parameter space in exoplanet research that it could cover.

Physics and astronomy are the oldest sciences and the concept of mass is thus a very old concept. We have quite good understanding of the masses of composite elementary particles such as protons using quantum chromodynamics. But we do not understand the nature of the masses of the elementary particles - quarks, leptons, force carrying particles

We present an analysis of the pulsation behavior of the δ Scuti stars 7 Aql (HD 174532) and 8 Aql (HD 174589), a new variable star, observed in the framework of the STEPHI XII campaign during 2003 June and July; 183 hr of high-precision photometry were acquired by using four-channel photometers at three sites on three continents during 21 days. The

Aims:We obtained the first long, homogenous time-series of V2104 Cyg, consisting of 679 datapoints, with the uvbyβ photometers of the Sierra Nevada and San Pedro Mártir Observatories. Our aim was to detect and subsequently interpret the intrinsic frequencies of this previously unstudied variable star, which turned out to be a Be star. We evaluate

We present the first strong-lensing study of the mass distribution in the cluster MS 2053-04 based on HST archive data. This massive, X-ray luminous cluster has a redshift z=0.583 and is composed of two structures that are gravitationally bound to each other. The cluster has one multiply imaged system composed of a double gravitational arc. We have

We present a detailed study on the kinematics of metal-rich stars with and without planets, and their relation with the Hyades, Sirius and Hercules dynamical streams in the solar neighbourhood. We compare the kinematic behaviour of known planet-host stars to the remaining targets belonging to the CORALIE volume-limited sample, in particular to its