NGC 2420 is a ∼2 Gyr old well-populated open cluster that lies about 2 kpc beyond the solar circle, in the general direction of the Galactic anti-center. Most previous abundance studies have found this cluster to be mildly metal-poor, but with a large scatter in the obtained metallicities. Detailed chemical abundance distributions are derived for

This paper describes the third public data release (DR3) of the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey. Science-grade quality data for 667 galaxies are made public, including the 200 galaxies of the second public data release (DR2). Data were obtained with the integral-field spectrograph PMAS/PPak mounted on the 3.5 m telescope at

Using the BaLROG (Bars in Low Redshift Optical Galaxies) sample of 16 morphologically distinct barred spirals, we constrain the influence of bars on nearby galaxies observationally. Our sample appears small compared to ongoing IFU surveys, but offers a tenfold sharper spatial resolution (˜100 pc) as each galaxy is a mosaic of several pointings

This project sought to consider two important aspects of the planetary nebula NGC 3242 using new long-slit HST/STIS spectra. First, we investigated whether this object is chemically homogeneous by spatially dividing the slit into different regions and calculating the abundances of each region. The major result is that the elements of He, C, O, and

La Palma Observatory offers four multi-object spectrographs installed on 4 and 10 m class telescopes. We present an overview of these four instruments. As a scientific case for two of them, we present the optical follow-up of Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) sources undertaken by the Planck collaboration, focused on the detection, redshifts determination and

In the current paradigm of galaxy formation, baryons are embedded in dark matter haloes which grow through merger events across cosmic time. The properties and subsequent evolution of baryons depend on the halo they live in. In particular, clusters of galaxies which lie at the high mass end of the halo mass function, contain both the most massive