We present a study of high-velocity gas in the direction of 13 halo sub-dwarfs located at absolute value of z approximately equals 0.5-2 kpc and of 8 early-type stars in the Galactic disk at d approximately equals 1-4 kpc. For each line of sight of our sample we collected Ca II and Na I absorption spectra with the 2.5-m Isaac Newton Telescope at La

We present high-resolution spectral observations, covering the entire optical region (3800-9000 Å), of a solar flare observed during a multi-wavelength campaign. The flare, recorded on 2002 January 11, was a medium solar flare event (GOES class C7.5). The spectral observations were carried out using the Hamilton echelle spectrograph on the coudé

Based on optical and near-infrared ground-based spectroscopy and optical and near-infrared Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images, we confirm the classification of Hen 401 as a bipolar proto-planetary nebula. HST images reveal a highly elongated morphology, consisting of two main bipolar lobes of unequal surface brightness separated by a dark lane of

We present an RI photometric survey covering an area of 430 arcmin2 around the multiple star sigma Orionis. The observations were conducted with the 0.8 m IAC-80 Telescope at the Teide Observatory. The survey limiting R and I magnitudes are 22.5 and 21, and completeness magnitudes 21 and 20, respectively. We have selected 53 candidates from the I

A sample of 47 faint Gigahertz Peaked Spectrum (GPS) radio sources selected from the Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (WENSS) has been imaged in the optical and near-infrared, resulting in an identification fraction of 87 per cent. The R-IR-K colours of the faint optical counterparts are as expected for passively evolving elliptical galaxies

Aims. Recent studies have detected linear polarization in L dwarfs in the optical I band. Theoretical models have been developed to explain this polarization. These models predict higher polarization at shorter wavelengths. We discuss the polarization in the R and I band of 4 ultra cool dwarfs. Methods: We report linear polarization measurements of