We show a selection of high-sensitivity spectropolarimetric observations obtained over the last few years in the Ba II D_2-line with the Zürich Imaging Polarimeter (ZIMPOL) attached to the Gregory Coudé Telescope of IRSOL. The measurements were collected close to the solar limb, in several regions with varying degree of magnetic activity. The

Available from the Minor Planet Center.

We present some results obtained from the synthesis of Stokes profiles in small-scale flux sheets with propagating MHD waves. To that aim, 2D flux sheets showing internal structure have been excited with 5 min period drivers, allowing non-linear waves to propagate inside the magnetic structure. The observational signatures of these waves in Stokes

The spectral energy distributions for pure-hydrogen (DA) hot white dwarfs can be accurately predicted by model atmospheres. This makes it possible to define spectrophotometric calibrators by scaling the theoretical spectral shapes with broad-band photometric observations - a strategy successfully exploited for the spectrographs onboard the Hubble

Aims: A detailed study is presented, including estimates of the impact on elemental abundance analysis, of the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) formation of the high-excitation neutral oxygen 777 nm triplet in model atmospheres representative of stars with spectral types F to K. Methods: We have applied the statistical equilibrium code