(Abridged) A variety of formation scenarios was proposed to explain the diversity of properties observed in bulges. Studying their intrinsic shape can help in constraining the dominant mechanism at the epochs of their assembly. The structural parameters of a magnitude-limited sample of 148 unbarred S0--Sb galaxies were derived in order to study the

We present EDiFiSE, a prototype instrument for the observation of high-contrast systems, combining an adaptive optics (AO) system and an equalized integral field unit (EIFU). The design of the AO system takes into account the statistical behaviour of the atmospheric turbulence structure at the Canary Islands (Spain) astronomical observatories

The site selection for the future European Large Telescope (E-ELT) is a key issue within the European proposal funded by the EC, within the "ELT Design Study" proposal. The organization, working scheme and baseline frameworks are reviewed. For the definition of the working package WP12000 "Site Characterization" important use has been done of

Large segmented mirrors require efficient co-phasing techniques in order to avoid the image degradation due to segments misalignment. DIPSI (Diffraction Image Phase Sensing Instrument) is an instrument developed by IAC, GRANTECAN and LAM. This instrument is being integrated in the Active Phasing Experiment (APE), aimed at testing different phasing

The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) is a 42-m class optical telescope with a segmented primary mirror composed of 984 segments which is currently being studied by ESO (European Southern Observatory). The segment support system combines a series of mechanical whiffletrees for the axial support, a central diaphragm for lateral support and

We present in this paper the new cute-SCIDAR instrument, entirely developed by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), delivered recently at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Paranal Observatory (Chile). This instrument, supported by the European Community (Framework Programme 6, Extremely Large Telescope Design Study), carries out