In this contribution we evaluate the minimal cluster mass for which the effects of an incomplete sampling of the Initial Mass Function (IMF) cannot be neglected. This minimal cluster mass corresponds to the situation in which the integrated luminosity of the cluster modeled equals the luminosity of the most luminous individual star included in the

ELMER is an instrument for the GTC designed to observe between 365 and 1000 nm. The observing modes for the instrument at Day One shall be: Imaging, Long Slit and Mask-Multi-object Spectroscopy, Slit-less multi-object spectroscopy, Fast Photometry and Fast short-slit spectroscopy, over a FOV of 4.2 arcmin diameter. Spectral resolutions of 250, 1000

EMIR is a multiobject intermediate resolution near infrared (1.0 - 2.5 microns) spectrograph with imaging capabilities, to be mounted on the Gran Telescopio Canarias. After the successful results of the preliminary design review, EMIR optical system is being fixed. Detailed status of the solutions adopted for the optical system as well as the

The determination of chemical abundances from stellar spectra is considered a mature field of astrophysics. Digital spectra of stars are recorded and processed with standard techniques, much like samples in the biological sciences. Nevertheless, uncertainties typically exceed 20% and are dominated by systematic errors. The first part of this paper

We present a homogeneous set of stellar atmospheric parameters (Teff, logg, [Fe/H]) for MILES, a new spectral stellar library covering the range {lambda}{lambda}3525-7500{AA} at 2.3{AA} (FWHM) spectral resolution. The library consists of 985 stars spanning a large range in atmospheric parameters, from super-metal-rich, cool stars to hot, metal-poor

We present resolved-star VI photometry of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy IC 1613 reaching I ~ 23.5, obtained with the wide-field camera at the 2.5 m Isaac Newton Telescope. A fit to the stellar density distribution shows an exponential profile of scale length 2.9' ± 0.1' and gives a central surface brightness μV,0 = 22.7 ± 0.6. The