A new mid-infrared array camera has been recently put in operation with the 2.1 m telescope of the OAN at San Pedro Martir, Mexico. Calibrated 8.7, 9.8 and 12.5 micron images of a number of ultracompact HII regions and other less massive young stellar objects were obtained during the first two scientific runs with this instrument. Photometry and

We present high signal-to-noise ratio integrated spectra of 24 star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), obtained using the FLAIR spectrograph at the UK Schmidt telescope. The spectra have been placed on to the Lick/IDS system in order to test the calibration of Simple Stellar Population (SSP) models. We have compared the SSP-predicted

Aims: The nearby, bright, almost completely unreddened Type Ia supernova 2011fe in M101 provides a unique opportunity to test both the precision and the accuracy of the extragalactic distances derived from SNe Ia light curve fitters. Methods: We applied the current, public versions of the independent light curve fitting codes MLCS2k2 and SALT2 to

We present high-precision, model-independent, mass and radius measurements for 16 white dwarfs in detached eclipsing binaries and combine these with previously published data to test the theoretical white dwarf mass-radius relationship. We reach a mean precision of 2.4 per cent in mass and 2.7 per cent in radius, with our best measurements reaching

A method that is widely used to analyse stellar populations in galaxies is to apply the theoretically derived responses of stellar spectra and line indices to element abundance variations, which are hereafter referred to as response functions. These are applied in a differential way, to base models, in order to generate spectra or indices with

TeV gamma-ray signals from the Crab Nebula and Mkn 501 were detected with the HEGRA CT1 imaging Cerenkov telescope during periods when the moon was shining and during twilight. This was accomplished by lowering the high voltage supply of the photomultipliers in fixed steps up to 13%. No other adjustments were made and no filters were used. Laser