We present new (UBVRI) multicolor linear polarimetric data for 22 of the brightest stars in the area of the open clusters Hogg 22 and NGC 6204 with the aim of studying the properties of the ISM (interstellar medium) toward these clusters and between them. The new data were incorporated to our data set of previously taken observations (Waldhausen et

We outline two complementary applications of the tunable filter system in OSIRIS for research on external galaxies: diagnostics of the diffuse ionized gas in face-on and in edge-on objects, giving illustrations for nearby galaxies, and discussing projected observations at intermediate and high redshift.

In this contribution, we review the overall features of EMIR, the NIR multiobject spectrograph of the GTC. EMIR is at present in the middle of its PD phase and will be one of the first common user instruments for the GTC, the 10 meter telescope under construction by GRANTECAN at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Canary Islands, Spain). EMIR

I present an overview of the types of science programs that may be feasible with EMIR. This is biased toward high-z studies and is not exhaustive. I then describe the science preparation activities of the EMIR science team.

We present the concept and current status of the Data Reduction Pipeline (DRP) for EMIR (Espectrógrafo Multi-Objeto Infrarrojo) which is a state-of-the-art near-infrared (NIR) wide field camera and multiobject spectrograph proposed for the 10-m GTC on La Palma (Spain). EDRP will process data acquired with EMIR and will deliver reduced images by

Dust is present everywhere in the Universe. Dust absorbs and scatters light dimming the astrophysical sources. Precise measurements of the attenuation dependence with wavelength (extinction curve) have been based in the comparison of spectra from pairs of identical stars suffering different amount of extinction. The study of dust extinction is