An accurate and traceable photometric calibration is becoming increasingly important for large telescopes if they are to reach their full potential. The scientific community of the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) has recognized this and there are programmes underway to ensure that suitable calibration standards are in place. The aim is to extend the

Low-luminosity AGNs (LLAGNs), which make up the vast majority of the AGN population, may yield important clues into the origin and evolution of nuclear activity, constituting a perfect laboratory to investigate the connection between galaxies in which the central black holes are active and those in which they are quiescent. The precence of a

The AGN magnitude and surface brightness reported in Table 1, columns (2) and (3), were offset by band-dependent constants. The corrected values are given in the new version of Table 1 presented herein. The same photometric offsets were also used in Figure 2, which has incorrect values on the y-axis. The corrected Figure 2 is also shown herein. The

Not Available

The high-velocity black hole in the low mass X-ray binary XTE J1118+480 could be the remnant of an massive star formed in the early stages of the evolution of the Galaxy (Mirabel et al. 2001). Alternatively, it could have been ejected from the Galactic plane as a result of a `kick' received during a supernova explosion (Gualandris et al. 2005). The

Context: With the development of new polarimeters for large telescopes, the spectro-polarimetric study of astrophysical bodies is becoming feasible and, indeed, more frequent. In particular, this is permitting the observational study of stellar magnetic fields. Aims: With the aim to optimize and interpret this kind of observations, we have produced