The Configurable Slit Unit (CSU) is a key module of EMIR (wide field NIR multi-object spectrograph) which will be one of the key next generation instruments of the Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC). The CSU enables a multi-slit configuration, a long slit, or an imaging aperture in the 6’x6’ (340mm x 340mm) field of view. This is realized by 110

Time series of high-resolution white-light images of solar pores are analyzed. Granular motions in the vicinity of pores are driven by mesogranular flows: Motions toward the pore dominate in the 2 arcsec zone around the pore boundary, while at larger distances the granules move away from the pore. Triggered by these motions, small granules and

We describe the Very Small Array (VSA) and review the recent results on the angular power spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) obtained in the Ka-band (ν ≈ 33 GHz) with this instrument. This array has covered an ℓ-range of 150 to 1500 with a relatively high resolution in ℓ compared to previous measurements at ℓ≥ 1000; this is achieved

Spectropolarimetric observations of the quasar 3C 273 over the range 3200-8000 A show wavelength-dependent polarization in the continuum, while the lines had no detectable polarization. The total polarization at the red end spectrum was near 2.5 percent, the highest ever measured for 3C 273. No wavelength dependence of the polarized flux is

We review our current understanding of the internal dynamical properties of the dwarf spheroidal galaxies surrounding the Milky Way. These are the most dark matter dominated galaxies, and as such may be considered ideal laboratories to test the current concordance cosmological model, and in particular provide constraints on the nature of the

Absorption line profile asymmetries in ellipticals with peculiar core kinematics, and their role as diagnostics of mergers, are analyzed using self-consistent numerical merger models. The remnants of mergers involving a denser secondary component show asymmetric line-of-sight velocity distributions at their cores. Skewness is negative where the