Context: The very young σ Orionis cluster (~3 Ma) is a cornerstone in understanding the formation of stars and substellar objects down to planetary masses. However, its stellar population is far from being completely known. Aims: This study's purpose is to identify and characterise the most massive stars of σ Orionis to complement current and

We studied the brightness and spectral evolution of the young eruptive star V1647 Ori during its recent outburst in the period 2004 February-2006 September. We performed a photometric follow-up in the bands V, RC, IC, J, H, and Ks, as well as visible and near-IR spectroscopy. The main results derived from combining our data with those published by

Since May 2005 the Tenerife Infrared Polarimeter II (TIP-II) has been operational at the Vacuum Tower Telescope on Tenerife. The core of the polarimeter is a 1024×1020 pixel infrared camera allowing for high precision measurements of the full Stokes vector with a pixel size of 0.18 arcsec, corresponding to the diffraction limit of the telescope at

We request 45 hours of Spitzer IRAC and IRS time for low-impact Target of Opportunity targets. The targets will be very-late T or Y dwarfs found in the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) over the next year. Candidate very cool dwarfs identified in UKIDSS will be confirmed and classified by near-infrared spectroscopy at Gemini Observatory

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In observations close to the edge of the solar disk, the Ca II infrared triplet has a scattering polarization pattern at the level of 10-3 in its two strongest lines and at the 10-4 level in the weakest. This polarimetric sensitivity is now accessible with modern spectropolarimeters and scattering polarization has been observed by several authors