We present the metallicity distribution function (MDF) for 24,270 G and 16,847 K dwarfs at distances from 0.2 to 2.3 kpc from the Galactic plane, based on spectroscopy from the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE) survey. This stellar sample is significantly larger in both number and volume than previous spectroscopic

The 1.5-meter GREGOR solar telescope is a new facility for high-resolution observations of the Sun. The telescope is located at the Spanish Observatorio del Teide on Tenerife. The telescope incorporates advanced designs for a foldable-tent dome, an open steel-truss telescope structure, and active and passive means to minimize telescope and mirror

We report the discovery of WTS-1b, the first extrasolar planet found by the WFCAM Transit Survey, which began observations at the 3.8-m United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) in 2007 August. Light curves comprising almost 1200 epochs with a photometric precision of better than 1 per cent to J ˜ 16 were constructed for ˜60 000 stars and searched

The evolution of small systems such as dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) is likely to have been a balance between external environmental effects and internal processes within their own relatively shallow potential wells. Assessing how strong such environmental interactions may have been is therefore an important element in understanding the

In this presentation I will describe the current status of the European Solar Telescope (EST) project. The EST design has a 4-m aperture to achieve both a large photon collection and very high spatial resolution. It includes a multi-conjugate adaptive system integrated in the light path for diffraction-limited imaging. The optical train is

Aims: The role of galaxy mergers in massive galaxy evolution, and in particular to mass assembly and size growth, remains an open question. In this paper we measure the merger fraction and rate, both minor and major, of massive early-type galaxies (M ⋆ ≥ 1011 M&sun;) in the COSMOS field, and study their role in mass and size evolution. Methods: We