The primary goal of this project is to characterize the surface composition (and other properties such as radius, albedo and thermal inertia) of a sample of low perihelion Near- Earth Asteroids (NEAs), based on their 7 to 14 micron spectrum. NEAs with low perihelion distances represent a unique laboratory in which to study the effects of thermal

Context: High-redshift ultra luminous infrared galaxies contribute the bulk of the cosmic IR background and are the best candidates for very massive galaxies in formation at z>1.5. Aims: It is necessary to identify the energy source for their huge luminosities, starburst or AGN activity, in order to correctly interpret the role of ULIRGs in galaxy

The photospheric Mn I 539.4 nm line in the solar spectrum shows unusual variability with the solar cycle in that its depth decreases with increasing activity. citet{nv-2001A&A...369L..13D} claimed that this phenomenon is due to interlocking between the chromospheric Mg II h & k lines and an overlapping Mn I multiplet. In this contribution we test

We request 13.9 hours of IRS GTO time to observe two recently discovered very low-mass T dwarfs, the early-T HN PegB and the very late-T ULAS J0034. As inferred from models, the two T dwarfs have similar masses of around 20 MJupiter, and similar gravities, but very different effective temperatures of Teff ~1100 K and 650 K for HN PegB and ULAS

Aims:To conduct an intensive study of the rich, X-ray luminous galaxy cluster Abell 773 at z = 0.22 containing a diffuse radio halo to determine its dynamical status. Methods: Our analysis is based on new spectroscopic data obtained at the TNG telescope for 107 galaxies, 37 spectra recovered from the CFHT archive and new photometric data obtained

GREGOR is a new open solar telescope with an aperture of 1.5 m. It replaces the former 45-cm Gregory Coudé telescope on the Canary island Tenerife. The optical concept is that of a double Gregory system. The main and the elliptical mirrors are made from a silicon-carbide material with high thermal conductivity. This is important to keep the mirrors