We present a new deep determination of the spectroscopic LF within the virial radius of the nearby and massive Abell 85 (A85) cluster down to the dwarf regime (M*+6) using VLT/VIMOS spectra for ~2000 galaxies with m r ≤ 21 mag and <μ e,r > ≤ 24 mag arcsec -2. The resulting LF from 438 cluster members is best modeled by a double Schechter function due to the presence of a statistically significant upturn at the faint-end. The amplitude of this upturn (α f = -1.58 +0.19 -0.15), however, is much smaller than that of the SDSS composite photometric cluster LF by Popesso et al. (2006, α f ~-2)

The ultra-deep multiwavelength Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields coverage of the Abell Cluster 2744 is used to derive the stellar population properties of its intracluster light (ICL). The restframe colors of the ICL of this intermediate redshift (z = 0.3064) massive cluster are bluer (g – r = 0.68 ± 0.04; i – J = 0.56 ± 0.01) than those found in the stellar populations of its main galaxy members (g – r = 0.83 ± 0.01; i – J = 0.75 ± 0.01). Based on these colors, we derive the following mean metallicity Z = 0.018 ± 0.007 for the ICL. The ICL age is 6 ± 3 Gyr younger than the average age

Aims. We aim to extend our current observational understanding of the integrated planet Earth spectropolarimetry from the optical to the near-infrared wavelengths. Major biomarkers like O2 and water vapor are strong flux absorbents in the Earth’s atmosphere, and some linear polarization of the reflected stellar light is expected to occur at these wavelengths. Methods. Simultaneous optical (0.4−0.9 μm) and near-infrared (0.9−2.3 μm) linear spectropolarimetric data of the earthshine were acquired by observing the nightside of the waxing Moon. The data have sufficient spectral resolution (2.51

We are undertaking a search for high-redshift low-luminosity Lyman Alpha sources in the SHARDS (Survey for High-z Absorption Red and Dead Sources) survey. Among the pre-selected Lyman Alpha sources two candidates were spotted, located 3.19 arcsec apart, and tentatively at the same redshift. Here, we report on the spectroscopic confirmation with Gran Telescopio Canarias of the Lyman Alpha emission from this pair of galaxies at a confirmed spectroscopic redshifts of z=5.07. Furthermore, one of the sources is interacting/merging with another close companion that looks distorted. Based on the

We are now in an era of large spectroscopic surveys of OB-type stars. Quantitative spectroscopic analysis of these modern datasets is enabling us to review the physical properties of blue massive stars with robust samples, not only revisiting mean properties and general trends, but also incorporating information about the effects of second-order parameters. We investigate the spectral type -- effective temperature (SpT - Teff) calibration for O-type dwarfs, and its claimed dependence on metallicity, using statistically-meaningful samples of stars extracted from the IACOB and VFTS surveys. We

Supermassive black holes with masses of millions to billions of solar masses are commonly found in the centers of galaxies. Astronomers seek to image jet formation using radio interferometry but still suffer from insufficient angular resolution. An alternative method to resolve small structures is to measure the time variability of their emission. Here we report on gamma-ray observations of the radio galaxy IC 310 obtained with the MAGIC telescopes, revealing variability with doubling time scales faster than 4.8 min. Causality constrains the size of the emission region to be smaller than 20%