We present unresolved single stellar population synthesis models in the near-infrared (NIR) range. The extension to the NIR is important for the study of early-type galaxies, since these galaxies are predominantly old and therefore emit most of their light in this wavelength range. The models are based on a library of empirical stellar spectra, the

The site selection for the future European Large Telescope (E-ELT) is a key issue within the European proposal funded by the European Union (EU), 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

The Observatorio Astronómico Nacional at San Pedro Mártir is located at 31°02'40''N and 115°28'00''W on the summit of the Sierra San Pedro Mártir on the Baja California peninsula, Mexico, at 2800 m above sea level. The results of more than three decades of site characterization work are summarized. These cover the following aspects: weather, cloud

We present eight monitoring seasons of the four brightest images of the gravitational lens SDSS J1004+4112 observed between 2003 December and 2010 October. Using measured time delays for the images A, B, and C and the model predicted time delay for image D we have removed the intrinsic quasar variability, finding microlensing events of about 0.5

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We present the discovery of a very faint stellar system, SMASH 1, that is potentially a satellite of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Found within the Survey of the Magellanic Stellar History (SMASH), SMASH 1 is a compact ({r}h={9.1}-3.4+5.9 {pc}) and very low luminosity ({M}V=-1.0+/- 0.9, {L}V={10}2.3+/- 0.4 {L}ȯ ) stellar system that is revealed by