The statistics of vertical structure of the turbulence affect the complexity of the design and implementation of Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) systems. The operation of these systems could be optimized if the stability of the layers were such as to permit to fix the deformable mirrors (DMs) at specific heights. Moreover, it is desirable to

The radial velocity technique is currently used to classify transiting objects. While capable of identifying grazing binary eclipses, this technique cannot reliably identify blends, a chance overlap of a faint background eclipsing binary with an ordinary foreground star. Blends generally have no observable radial velocity shifts, as the foreground

VLT J- to M'-band adaptive optics observations of the Circinus galaxy on parsec scales resolve a central bright Ks-band source with a FWHM size of 1.9+/-0.6 pc. This source is only visible at wavelengths longward of 1.6 μm and coincides in position with the peak of the [Si VII] 2.48 μm coronal line emission. With respect to the peak of the central

We report the detection of a transiting Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a relatively bright (V=11.79) K0 V star. We detected the transit light-curve signature in the course of the TrES multisite transiting planet survey and confirmed the planetary nature of the companion via multicolor photometry and precise radial velocity measurements. We designate

In this paper we present the current status of a XMM-Newton program to observe an optically-defined, complete and unbiased sample of Compton-thick Seyfert 2 galaxies. The main goal of this project is the measurement of the occurrence rate of transition between transmission- (i.e. Compton-thin), and reflection-dominated spectral states. These

This paper presents the analysis of high-resolution Stokes observations of eight different umbral dots in a sunspot. The spectra were recorded with the La Palma Stokes Polarimeter, attached to the Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope. The observed line profiles have been inverted to yield the height stratifications of temperature, magnetic field, and