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In this paper, we present data from the Blind Ultra-Deep H i Environmental Survey (BUDHiES), which is a blind 21-cm H i spectral line imaging survey undertaken with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. Two volumes were surveyed, each with a single pointing and covering a redshift range of 0.164 < z < 0.224. Within these two volumes, this survey targeted the clusters Abell 963 and Abell 2192, which are dynamically different and offer unique environments to study the process of galaxy evolution within clusters. With an integration time of 117 × 12 h on Abell 963 and 72 × 12 h on Abell 2192, a total of 166 galaxies were detected and imaged in H i. While the clusters themselves occupy only 4 per cent of the 73 400 Mpc3 surveyed by BUDHiES, most of the volume consists of large-scale structures in which the clusters are embedded, including foreground and background overdensities and voids. We present the data processing and source detection techniques and counterpart identification based on a wide-field optical imaging survey using the Isaac Newton Telescope and deep ultraviolet (UV) Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) imaging. Finally, we present H i and optical catalogues of the detected sources as well as atlases of their global H i properties, which include integrated column density maps, position–velocity diagrams, global H i profiles, and optical and UV images of the H i sources.

When our school implemented AP Physics 1, I wanted to include a project that would extend over time, use more advanced data analysis, and teach students about handling experimental error. Using a donated 5-inch Newtonian telescope and an entry-level digital camera, the students gathered data from digital images of the four Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto (see Fig. 1), to verify Kepler’s third law of planetary motion (T2=Kr3). Simulation software could have been used. Among others, Project CLEA (Contemporary Laboratory Experiences in Astronomy) seems to be a favorite that includes verifying Kepler’s third law using the orbits of the Galilean moons. Galileo measured the moons’ periods with his telescope. My students could do the same with modern equipment. The investigation started with a purely Keplerian analysis of the data, then to a Newtonian analysis leading to accurate orbital properties of the Galilean moons and Jupiter’s mass. Once the images have been obtained, they can be used each year.

We present the first instalment of a deep imaging catalogue containing 58 True, Likely, and Possible extended PNe detected with the Isaac Newton Telescope Photometric H α Survey (IPHAS). The three narrow-band filters in the emission lines of H α, [N ii] λ6584 Å, and [O iii] λ5007 Å used for this purpose allowed us to improve our description of the morphology and dimensions of the nebulae. In some cases even the nature of the source has been reassessed. We were then able to unveil new macro- and micro-structures, which will without a doubt contribute to a more accurate analysis of these PNe. It has been also possible to perform a primary classification of the targets based on their ionization level. A Deep Learning classification tool has also been tested. We expect that all the PNe from the IPHAS catalogue of new extended planetary nebulae will ultimately be part of this deep H α, [N ii], and [O iii] imaging catalogue. © 2021 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society., LS acknowledges support from PAPIIT grant IN-101819 (Mexico). MAG acknowledges support from grant AYA PGC2018-102184-B-I00 co-funded with FEDER funds. GR-L acknowledges support from CONACyT (grant 263373) and PRODEP (Mexico). JAT acknowledges funding by Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Academico of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (DGAPA, UNAM) project IA100720 and the Marcos Moshinsky Fundation (Mexico). AAZ acknowledges funding from STFC under grant number ST/T000414/1 and Newton grant ST/R006768/1, and from a Hung Hing Ying visiting professorship at the University of Hong Kong. DNFAI acknowledges funding under ‘Deep Learning for Classification of Astronomical Archives’ from the Newton-Ungku Omar Fund: F08/STFC/1792/2018., With funding from the Spanish government through the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation SEV-2017-0709.

Full list of authors: Vaduvescu, O.; Gorgan, D.; Copandean, D.; Bacu, V.; Stefanut, T.; Sabou, A.; Nandra, C.; Boldea, C.; Pinter, V.; Popescu, M.; Petrescu, E.; Bertesteanu, D.; Davison, T.; Pérez Toledo, F. M.; Boldea, A.; Predatu, M.; Zegmott, T.; Wilson, T. G.; Hudin, L.; Stanescu, M.; Stanica, A.; Buhulea, A.; Stoica, A.; Timpea, A.; Anghel, S.; Ciobanu, D.; Toma, R.; Casanova, V.; Stecklum, B.; Choque-Challapa, N.; Short, P.; Tudorica, A., In 2015 we started a PhD thesis aiming to write a moving objects processing system (MOPS) aimed to detect near Earth asteroids (NEAs) in astronomical surveys planned within the EURONEAR project. Based on this MOPS experience, in 2017 we proposed the NEARBY project to the Romanian Space Agency, which awarded funding to the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (UTCN) and the University of Craiovafor building a cloud-based online platform to reduce survey images, detect, validate and report in near real time asteroid detections and NEA candidates. The NEARBY platform was built and is available at UTCN since Feb 2018, being tested during 5 pilot surveys observed in 2017-2018 with the Isaac Newton Telescope in La Palma. Two NEAs were discovered in Nov 2018 (2018 VQ1 and 2018 VN3), being recovered and reported to MPC within 2 hours. Other 4 discovered NEAs were found from a few dozen possible NEA candidates promptly being followed, allowing us to discover 22 Hungarias and 7 Mars crossing asteroids using the NEARBY platform. Compared with other few available software, NEARBY could detect more asteroids (by 8-41%), but scores less than human detection (by about 10%). Using resulted data, the astrometric accurancy, photometric limits and an INT NEA survey case study are presented as guidelines for planning future surveys. © 2021., This research has been supported by ROSA (Romanian Space Agency) by the Contract CDI-STAR 192/2017, NEARBY - Visual Analysis of Multidimensional Astrophysics Data for Moving Objects Detection., With funding from the Spanish government through the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation SEV-2017-0709.

Greimel, R., et al., The INT Galactic Plane Survey (IGAPS) is the merger of the optical photometric surveys IPHAS and UVEX based on data from the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) obtained between 2003 and 2018. It captures the entire northern Galactic plane within the Galactic coordinate range |b|< 5° and 30° < ℓ < 215°. From the beginning, the incorporation of narrow-band Hα imaging has been a unique and distinctive feature of this effort. Alongside a focused discussion of the nature and application of the Hα data, we present the IGAPS world-accessible database of images for all five survey filters, i, r, g, URGO, and narrow-band Hα, observed on a pixel scale of 0.33 arcsec and at an effective (median) angular resolution of 1.1-1.3 arcsec. The background, noise, and sensitivity characteristics of the narrow-band Hα filter images are outlined. Typical noise levels in this band correspond to a surface brightness at full ∼1 arcsec resolution of around 2 × 10-16 erg cm-2 s-1 arcsec-2. Illustrative applications of the Hα data to planetary nebulae and Herbig-Haro objects are outlined and, as part of a discussion of the mosaicking technique, we present a very large background-subtracted narrow-band mosaic of the supernova remnant Simeis 147. Finally, we lay out a method that exploits the database via an automated selection of bright ionised diffuse interstellar emission targets for the coming generation of wide-field massive-multiplex spectrographs. Two examples of the diffuse Hα map output from this selection process are presented and compared with previously published data., RG benefitted from support via STFC grant ST/M001334/1 as a visitor to UCL. JED and MM acknowledge the support of research grants funded by the Science, Technology and Facilities Council of the UK (STFC, grants ST/M001008/1 and ST/J001333/1). MM was partially supported by the MINECO (Spanish Ministry of Economy) through grant ESP2016-80079-C2-1-R and RTI2018-095076-B-C21 (MINECO/FEDER, UE), and MDM-2014-0369 of ICCUB (Unidad de Excelencia ‘María de Maeztu’). AM acknowledges support from the State Research Agency (AEI) of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) under grant AYA2017-83383-P. PJG is partially supported by NRF-SARChI grant 111692 and acknowledges support from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), in contributing to the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes and through grant 614.000.601. Aspects of the analysis presented have been carried out via TOPCAT and STILTS (Taylor 2006). This research has made use of both the SIMBAD database and the “Aladin sky atlas”, respectively operated and developed at CDS, Strasbourg, France. This research has also made use of the image manipulation software, MONTAGE. It is funded by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number ACI-1440620, and was previously funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Earth Science Technology Office, Computation Technologies Project, under Cooperative Agreement Number NCC5-626 between NASA and the California Institute of Technology.

We analyse a sample of twelve galaxy clusters, from the Kapteyn IAC WEAVE INT Cluster Survey (KIWICS) looking for dwarf galaxy candidates. By using photometric data in the $r$ and $g$ bands from the Wide Field Camera (WFC) at the 2.5-m Isaac Newton telescope (INT), we select a sample of bright dwarf galaxies (M$_r$ $\leq$ -15.5 mag) in each cluster and analyse their spatial distribution, stellar colour, and as well as their S\'ersic index and effective radius. We quantify the dwarf fraction inside the $R_{200}$ radius of each cluster, which ranges from $\sim$ 0.7 to $\sim$ 0.9. Additionally, when comparing the fraction in the inner region with the outermost region of the clusters, we find that the fraction of dwarfs tends to increase going to the outer regions. We also study the clustercentric distance distribution of dwarf and giant galaxies (M$_r$ $, Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present the first detailed study of the bipolar planetary nebula (PN) IPHASX J191104.8+060845 (PN G 040.6-01.5) discovered as part of the Isaac Newton Telescope Photometric Hα Survey of the Northern Galactic plane (IPHAS). We present Nordic Optical Telescope narrow-band images to unveil its true morphology. This PN consists of a main cavity with two newly uncovered extended low-surface brightness lobes located towards the NW and SE directions. Using near-IR WISE images we unveiled the presence of a barrel-like structure, which surrounds the main cavity, which would explain the dark lane towards the equatorial regions. We also use Gran Telescopio de Canarias spectra to study the physical properties of this PN. We emphasize the potential of old PNe detected in IPHAS to study the final stages of the evolution of the circumstellar medium around solar-like stars. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society, The authors are thankful to the referee for a prompt report that improved the presentation of this paper. JBJ-G and JAT are funded by UNAM DGAPA PAPIIT projects IA100318 and IA100720. JBJ-G and LS are funded by UNAM-PAPIIT grant IN101819. SZ works under the collaboration agreement 'UNAM-TecNM 433103020-30-IX-15'. GR-L acknowledges support from CONACYT grant 263373 and PRODEP (Mexico). MAG acknowledges support from the Spanish Government Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades through grant PGC2018-102184-B-I00. QAP thanks the Hong Kong Research Grants Council for GRF research support under grants 17326116 and 17300417. We thank the daytime and night support staff at the OAN-SPM for facilitating and helping obtain our observations. This paper makes use of data obtained as part of the INT Photometric Ha Survey of the Northern Galactic Plane (IPHAS) carried out at the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT). The INT is operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. All IPHAS data are processed by the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit, at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. Based on observations collected at the Observatorio Astronomico Nacional at San Pedro Martir, B.C., Mexico. Based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope, operated by the Nordic Optical Telescope Scientific Association at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma, Spain, of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. Based on observations made with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), installed at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, in the island of La Palma. The data presented here were obtained in part with ALFOSC, which is provided by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA) under a joint agreement with the University of Copenhagen and NOTSA., With funding from the Spanish government through the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation SEV-2017-0709.

We present a detailed analysis of the new planetary nebula (PN) IPHASX J193718.6+202102 using deep imaging and intermediate- and high-resolution spectroscopy that are interpreted through morpho-kinematic and photoionization modelling. The physical structure of the nebula consists of a fragmented torus and an extremely faint orthogonal bipolar outflow, contrary to the pinched waist PN morphology suggested by its optical image. Our kinematic analysis indicates that the torus is expanding at 25 ± 5 km s-1 and is gradually breaking up. At an estimated distance of 7.1-0.3+0.8 kpc, the corresponding kinematic age of ∼26 000 yr is consistent with a faint and disintegrating PN. The intermediate-resolution spectra reveal an excited PN with chemical abundances typical of Type II PNe. Based on the latter, we also estimate an initial mass for the progenitor in the range 2-3 M⊙ and a central star (CSPN) mass MCSPN ∼0.61 M⊙. The Spitzer MIPS 24 μm emission that closely follows the fragmented torus could be attributed to the emission of [O iv] at 25.9 μm rather than to dust emission. All the results coherently point towards an evolved moderately massive bipolar Type II PN on the brink of dissolving into the interstellar medium. © 2020 The Author(s)., The authors are thankful to the referees for their comments that improved this paper. LS acknowledges support from UNAM DGAPA PAPIIT project IN101819 (Mexico). MAG acknowledges support from grant AYA PGC2018-102184-B-I00 co-funded with FEDER funds. SZ works under the collaboration agreement ‘UNAM-TecNM 43310-3020-30-IX-15’. JAT and MAG are funded by UNAM DGAPA PAPIIT project IA100720. GRL acknowledges support from CONACYT (grant 263373) and PRODEP (Mexico). This work is partially based on observations collected at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional at San Pedro Mártir, B.C., Mexico and we thank the daytime and night support staff at the OAN-SPM for facilitating and helping obtain our observations. Based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope, operated by the Nordic Optical Telescope Scientific Association, and the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), both installed in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in La Palma, Spain. This paper makes use of data obtained as part of the INT Photometric H α Survey of the Northern Galactic Plane (IPHAS, www.iphas.org) carried out at the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT). The INT is operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. All IPHAS data are processed by the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit, at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. The bandmerged DR2 catalogue was assembled at the Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, supported by STFC grant ST/J001333/1. The OSN director is acknowledged for awarding observations through a DDT programme and the telescope operator Alfredo Sota for conducting the observations. This work is based in part on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with NASA. In memoriam of Johannes Andersen, director of the NOT from 2002 to 2013.

We report the stellar atmospheric parameters for 7503 spectra contained in the first release of the MaNGA stellar library (MaStar) in SDSS DR15. The first release of MaStar contains 8646 spectra measured from 3321 unique stars, each covering the wavelength range 3622 \AA\ to 10354 \AA\ with a resolving power of $R \sim$ 1800. In this work, we first determined the basic stellar parameters: effective temperature ($\rm T_{eff}$), surface gravity ($\log g$), and metallicity ($\rm[Fe/H]$), which best fit the data using an empirical interpolator based on the Medium-resolution Isaac Newton Telescope library of empirical spectra (MILES), as implemented by the University of Lyon Spectroscopic analysis Software (Koleva et al. 2008, ULySS) package. While we analyzed all 8646 spectra from the first release of MaStar, since MaStar has a wider parameter-space coverage than MILES, not all of these fits are robust. In addition, not all parameter regions covered by MILES yield robust results, likely due to the non-uniform coverage of the parameter space by MILES. We tested the robustness of the method using the MILES spectra itself and identified a proxy based on the local density of the training set. With this proxy, we identified 7503 MaStar spectra with robust fitting results. They cover the range from 3179K to 20,517K in effective temperature ($\rm T_{eff}$), from 0.40 to 5.0 in surface gravity ($\log g$), and from $-$2.49 to $+$0.73 in metallicity ($\rm[Fe/H]$)., Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures

We have designed, constructed, and utilized a charge-coupled device system, integrated with a small Newtonian telescope, capable of long distance recording of bacterial fluorescence and synchronous spectra for the detection of bacteria, their component molecules, and other species. This newly developed optical system utilizes commercial monochrome cameras that we have used to detect various bacterial strains, such as Escherichia coli, and determine their concentrations. In addition, using this system, we were able to differentiate between live and dead bacteria after treatment with ultraviolet light or antibiotics.

We report new galaxy clusters previously unknown included in the PSZ1 catalogue. The results here presented have been achieved during the second year of a 2-year observational programme, the ITP13, developed at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma, Spain). We characterise 75 SZ sources with low SZ significance, SZ S/N$, Accepted for publications in A&A. 15 pages including 14 figures and 1 long table

The matching of sources between photometric catalogues can lead to cases where objects of differing brightness are incorrectly assumed to be detections of the same source. The rejection of unphysical matches can be achieved through the inclusion of information about the sources' magnitudes. The method described here uses the additional photometric information from both catalogues in the process of accepting or rejecting counterparts, providing approximately a factor 10 improvement in Bayes' factor with its inclusion. When folding in the photometric information we avoid using prior astrophysical knowledge. Additionally, the method allows for the possibility of no counterparts to sources as well as the possibility that sources overlap multiple potential counterparts. We formally describe the probability of two sources being the same astrometric object, allowing systematic effects of astrometric perturbation (by, e.g., contaminant objects) to be accounted for. We apply the method to two cases. First, we test IPHAS-Gaia matches to compare the resulting matches in two catalogues of similar wavelength coverage but differing dynamical ranges. Second, we apply the method to matches between IPHAS and 2MASS and show that the method holds when considering two catalogues with approximately equal astrometric precision. We discuss the importance of including the magnitude information in each case. Additionally, we discuss extending the method to multiple catalogue matches through an iterative matching process. The method allows for the selection of high-quality matches by providing an overall probability for each pairing, giving the flexibility to choose stars known to be good matches., 19 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables; accepted for publication in MNRAS. Updated equations 26 and 27 to fix minor typographical errors

The INT Galactic Plane Survey (IGAPS) is the merger of the optical photometric surveys, IPHAS and UVEX, based on data from the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) obtained between 2003 and 2018. Here, we present the IGAPS point source catalogue. It contains 295.4 million rows providing photometry in the filters, i, r, narrow-band Hα, g, and URGO. The IGAPS footprint fills the Galactic coordinate range, |b| < 5° and 30°ℓ < < 215°. A uniform calibration, referred to as the Pan-STARRS system, is applied to g, r, and i, while the Hα calibration is linked to r and then is reconciled via field overlaps. The astrometry in all five bands has been recalculated in the reference frame of Gaia Data Release 2. Down to i ∼ 20 mag (Vega system), most stars are also detected in g, r, and Hα. As exposures in the r band were obtained in both the IPHAS and UVEX surveys, typically a few years apart, the catalogue includes two distinct r measures, rI and rU. The r 10σ limiting magnitude is approximately 21, with median seeing of 1.1 arcsec. Between approximately 13th and 19th mag in all bands, the photometry is internally reproducible to within 0.02 mag. Stars brighter than r = 19.5 mag are tested for narrow-band Hα excess signalling line emission, and for variation exceeding |rIℓ-ℓ rU| = 0.2 mag. We find and flag 8292 candidate emission line stars and over 53 000 variables (both at > 5σ confidence)., MM, JED and GB acknowledge the support of research grants funded by the Science, Technology and Facilities Council of the UK (STFC, grants ST/M001008/1 and ST/J001333/1). MM was partially supported by the MINECO (Spanish Ministry of Economy) through grant ESP2016-80079-C2-1-R and RTI2018-095076-B-C21 (MINECO/FEDER, UE), and MDM-2014-0369 of ICCUB (Unidad de Excelencia “María de Maeztu”). RG benefitted from support via STFC grant ST/M001334/1 as a visitor to UCL. PJG acknowledges support from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), in contributing to the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes and through grant 614.000.601. JC acknowldges support by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO) under grant AYA2017-83216-P. DJ and PR-G acknowledge support from the State Research Agency (AEI) of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) under grant AYA2017-83383-P. RR acknowledges funding by the German Science foundation (DFG) through grants HE1356/71-1 and IR190/1-1. We thank Eugene Magnier for providing support on Pan-STARRS data. This research has made use of the University of Hertfordshire high-performance computing facility (https://uhhpc.herts.ac.uk/) located at the University of Hertfordshire (supported by STFC grants including ST/P000096/1). We thank Martin Hardcastle for his support and expertise in connection with our use of the facility. This work has made use of data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC, https://www. cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium). Funding for the DPAC has been provided by national institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia Multilateral Agreement. Much of the analysis presented has been carried out via TopCat and stilts (Taylor et al. 2006). We thank the referee for comments on this paper that have improved its content.

We report on results of the field trial carried out in the dome of the 2.5 m Isaac Newton Telescope on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain). The goal of the trial was to characterize optical hrrbulence in the confined space of the observatory.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate the Transformable Reflective Telescope (TRT) Kit for educational purposes and for performing various optical tests with a single kit. The TRT Kit is a portable optical bench setup suitable for interferometry, spectroscopy, measuring stray light, and developing adaptive optics, among other uses. Supplementary modules may be integrated easily thanks to the modular design of the TRT Kit. The Kit consists of five units; a primary mirror module, a secondary mirror module, a mounting base module, a baffle module, and an alignment module. Precise alignment and focusing are achieved using a precision optical rail on the alignment module. The TRT Kit transforms into three telescope configurations: Newtonian, Cassegrain, and Gregorian. Students change telescope configurations by exchanging the secondary mirror. The portable design and the aluminum primary mirror of the TRT Kit enable students to perform experiments in various environments. The minimized baffle design utilizes commercial telescope tubes, allowing users to look directly into the optical system while suppressing stray light down to $\sim$10$^{-8}$ point source transmittance (PST). The TRT Kit was tested using a point source and field images. Point source measurement of the Newtonian telescope configuration resulted in an 80\% encircled energy diameter (EED) of 23.8 $\mu$m., Comment: 23 pages, 16 figures

The Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics of Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia (FMPI) operates its own 0.7-m Newtonian telescope (AGO70) dedicated to the space surveillance tracking and research, with an emphasis on space debris. The observation planning focuses on objects on geosynchronous (GEO), eccentric (GTO and Molniya) and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) orbits. To verify the system’s capabilities, we conducted an observation campaign in 2017, 2018 and 2019 focused on astrometric and photometric measurements. In last two years we have built up a light curve catalogue of space debris which is now freely available for the scientific community. We report periodic signals extracted from more than 285 light curves of 226 individual objects. We constructed phase diagrams for 153 light curves for which we obtained apparent amplitudes.

Context. Only a few open clusters are as important for the study of stellar and substellar objects, and their formation and evolution, as the young sigma Orionis cluster. However, a complete spectroscopic characterisation of its whole stellar population is still missing. Aims. We filled most of that gap with a large spectroscopic and astrometric survey of targets towards sigma Orionis. Eventually, it will be one of the open clusters with the lowest proportion of interlopers and the largest proportion of confirmed cluster members with known uncontrovertible youth features. Methods. We acquired 317 low-resolution optical spectra with the Intermediate Dispersion Spectrograph (IDS)} at the 2.5 m Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) and the Optical System for Imaging and low Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy (OSIRIS) at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). We measured equivalent widths of Li I, H-alpha, and other key lines from these spectra, and determined spectral types. We complemented this information with Gaia DR2 astrometric data and other features of youth (mid-infrared excess, X-ray emission) compiled with Virtual Observatory tools and from the literature. Results. Of the 168 observed targets, we determined for the first time spectral types of 39 stars and equivalent widths of Li I and H-alpha of 34 and 12 stars, respectively. We identified 11 close (rho, Comment: A&A, forthcoming, full Tables A.1 to A.5 available here and at the CDS

Planetary nebulae (PNe) are strong H$\alpha$ line-emitters and a lot of new PNe discoveries have been made by the SuperCOSMOS AAO/UKST H$\alpha$ Survey (SHS) and the Isaac Newton Telescope Photometric H$\alpha$ Survey (IPHAS). However, the list of auto-generated H$\alpha$-excess candidates from these surveys as well as any photometric survey, prior to spectroscopic follow-up to confirm their nature, contains all varieties of H$\alpha$-line emitters like young stellar objects (YSOs), H II regions, compact PNe and emission line stars of all kinds. The aim of this work is to find new infrared criteria that can better distinguish compact PNe from their mimics using a machine learning approach and the photometric data from the Two-Micron All-Sky Survey and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. Three classification tree models have been developed with the following colour criteria: W1-W4$\ge$7.87 and J-H$, Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS, comments are welcome

We introduce a solid state high throughput screening (ssHTS) imaging modality that uses a novel Newtonian telescope design to image multiple spatially separated samples without moving parts or robotics. Conventional high-throughput imaging modalities either require movement of the sample to the focal plane of the imaging system1–3 or movement of the imaging system itself4,5, or use a wide-field approach to capture several samples in one frame. Schemes which move the sample or the imaging system can be mechanically complex and are inherently slow, while wide-field imaging systems have poor light collection efficiency and resolution compared to systems that image a single sample at a given time point. Our proposed ssHTS system uses a large parabolic reflector and an imaging lenses positioned at their focal distances above each sample. A fast LED array sequentially illuminate samples to generate images that are captured with a single camera placed at the focal point of the reflector. This optical configuration allows each sample to completely fill a sensors field of view. Since each LED illuminates a single sample and LED switch times are very fast, images from spatially separated samples can be captured at rates limited only by the camera’s frame rate. The system is demonstrated by imaging cardiac monolayer and Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) preparations.

WASP-12b is one of the most well-studied transiting exoplanets, as its highly-inflated radius and its 1.1 day orbit around a G0-type star make it an excellent target for atmospheric categorisation through observation during its secondary eclipse. We present two new secondary eclipse observations of WASP-12b, acquired a year apart with the Wide Field Camera on the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) and the IO:O instrument on the Liverpool Telescope (LT). These observations were conducted in the $i^\prime$-band, a window expected to be dominated by TiO features if present in appreciable quantities in the upper atmosphere. We measured eclipse depths that disagree with each other by $\sim$3$\sigma$ (0.97 $\pm$ 0.14 mmag on the INT and 0.44 $\pm$ 0.21 mmag on the LT), a result that is mirrored in previous $z^\prime$-band secondary eclipse measurements for WASP-12b. We explore explanations for these disagreements, including systematic errors and variable thermal emission in the dayside atmosphere of WASP-12b caused by temperature changes of a few hundred Kelvin: a possibility we cannot rule out from our analysis. Full-phase curves observed with TESS and CHEOPS have the potential to detect similar atmospheric variability for WASP-12b and other optimal targets, and a strategic, multi-telescope approach to future ground-based secondary eclipse observations is required to discriminate between explanations involving storms and systematics., Comment: Accepted to MNRAS. 11 pages (including 2 pages of appendices), 5 figures

The study of minor planets is motivated both by fundamental science of Solar system origins (some of these bodies contain the most pristine materials from the early ages of the planetary nebula) and by practical reasons concerning space exploration and impact frequency with Earth. Among minor bodies, near-Earth asteroids are a particularly important group: these objects are nearby the Earth's orbit and they represent both resources and hazards to humans. This is the case of 2014 JO 25. The encounter of this potentially hazardous asteroid with the Earth at 0.011 75 au on 2017 April 19 was a good opportunity to study its properties through photometric and spectral analyses. The work we present here has been carried out thanks to a worldwide observational campaign that included time-series photometry and spectroscopy in the visible and near-infrared wavelengths. The optical images for photometric analysis were collected at different phase angles using small telescopes (, J. Licandro (JL), M. Serra-Ricart (MSR), O. Vaduvescu (OV), M. Popescu (MP), and J. de Leon (JdL) acknowledge support from the AYA2015-67772-R project (MINECO, Spain). JdL also acknowledges support from from MINECO under the 2015 Severo Ochoa Program SEV-2015-0548. The Isaac Newton Telescope and its service mode are operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. The work of MP was also been supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research - UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4-2199. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under Grant Agreement No. 687378. We thank E. Molinari for allocation of Director's Discretionary Time at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo. The work by P. Pravec was supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, Grant 17-00774S. Observations at CS3 and continued support of the asteroid light-curve data base (LCDB; Warner et al. 2009) are supported by NASA grant 80NSSC18K0851. This paper is partially based on data taken at the 0.77 m La Hita telescope, which is jointly operated by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia-CSIC and Astrohita. Blue Mountains Observatory is supported by the 2015 Shoemaker NEO grant.

The third version of the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS3) instrument is built for a ten-year programme aimed at achieving 10 cm/sec radial velocity precision on nearby stars to search for Earth-like planets. HARPS3 will be commissioned on the to-be-roboticized 2.54-m Isaac Newton Telescope at La Palma in 2021. One of the main changes compared to its predecessors is the novel dual-beam Cassegrain focus, featuring a stabilised beam feed into the HARPS3 spectrograph and an insertable polarimetric sub-unit. This polarimetric sub-unit enables HARPS3 to directly measure stellar activity signatures, which can be useful for correcting activity-induced radial velocity jitter in the search for Earth-like planets. The sub-unit consists of superachromatic polymer quarter- and half-wave retarders for circular and linear polarizations respectively, designed to suppress polarized fringing, and a novel polarimetric beam splitter based on a wire-grid design, separating the two polarimetric beams by 30 mm and feeding two separate science fibers. The dual-beam exchange implementation in combination with the extreme stability of the HARPS3 spectrograph enables a polarimetric sensitivity of 10−5 on bright stars. One of the main challenges of such a system is in the characterization of instrumental polarization effects which limit the polarimetric accuracy of the polarimetric observing mode. By design and characterization of this subsystem and by pre-emptively mitigating possible noise sources, we can minimize the noise characteristics of the polarization sub-unit to allow for precise observations. In this paper we report on the design, realization, assembly, alignment, and testing of the polarimetric unit to be installed in the Cassegrain Adaptor Unit of the HARPS3 spectrograph

We present the design of the HARPS3 software system – a distributed, event-driven control system for robotic operation of the HARPS3 spectrograph at the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT). We also describe our approach to integrating the control software components incrementally at various stages of development, using a simulation framework. HARPS3 will be a high resolution (R = 115, 000) echelle spectrograph operating at wavelengths from 380 nm to 690 nm, with a design based on the successful HARPS and HARPS-N instruments. It is being built as part of the Terra Hunting Experiment (THE) – a planned 10 year radial velocity measurement programme to discover Earth-like exoplanets around Sun-like stars.

We present the first results from our CAlibrating LYMan-$\alpha$ with H$\alpha$ (CALYMHA) pilot survey at the Isaac Newton Telescope. We measure Ly$\alpha$ emission for 488 H$\alpha$ selected galaxies at $z=2.23$ from HiZELS in the COSMOS and UDS fields with a specially designed narrow-band filter ($\lambda_c$ = 3918 {\AA}, $\Delta\lambda$= 52 {\AA}). We find 17 dual H$\alpha$-Ly$\alpha$ emitters ($f_{\rm Ly\alpha} >5\times10^{-17}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$, of which 5 are X-ray AGN). For star-forming galaxies, we find a range of Ly$\alpha$ escape fractions (f$_{\rm esc}$, measured with 3$"$ apertures) from $2$\%$-30$\%. These galaxies have masses from $3\times10^8$ M$_{\odot}$ to 10$^{11}$ M$_{\odot}$ and dust attenuations E$(B-V)=0-0.5$. Using stacking, we measure a median escape fraction of $1.6\pm0.5$\% ($4.0\pm1.0$\% without correcting H$\alpha$ for dust), but show that this depends on galaxy properties. The stacked f$_{\rm esc}$ tends to decrease with increasing SFR and dust attenuation. However, at the highest masses and dust attenuations, we detect individual galaxies with f$_{\rm esc}$ much higher than the typical values from stacking, indicating significant scatter in the values of f$_{\rm esc}$. Relations between f$_{\rm esc}$ and UV slope are bimodal, with high f$_{\rm esc}$ for either the bluest or reddest galaxies. We speculate that this bimodality and large scatter in the values of f$_{\rm esc}$ is due to additional physical mechanisms such as outflows facilitating f$_{\rm esc}$ for dusty/massive systems. Ly$\alpha$ is significantly more extended than H$\alpha$ and the UV. f$_{\rm esc}$ continues to increase up to at least 20 kpc (3$\sigma$, 40 kpc [2$\sigma$]) for typical SFGs and thus the aperture is the most important predictor of f$_{\rm esc}$., Comment: Accepted for publication by MNRAS

We report on I band photometric observations of 21 stars with spectral types between M8 and L4 made using the Isaac Newton Telescope. The total amount of time for observations which had a cadence of, Accepted MNRAS 6 pages

It has been found that solar bursts exhibit one unexpected spectral component with fluxes increasing with frequency in the sub-THz range, which is distinct from the well-known microwave emission that peaks at a few to some tens of GHz. This component has been found to extend into the THz range of frequencies by recent 30 THz solar flare observations of impulsive bursts with flux intensities considerably higher than fluxes at sub-THz and microwaves frequencies. High-cadence solar observations at 30 THz (continuum) are therefore an important tool for the study of active regions and flaring events. We report the recent installation of a new 30 THz solar telescope in Sao Paulo, located at the top of one of the University’s buildings. The instrument uses a Hale-type coelostat with two 20 cm diameter flat mirrors sending light to a 15 cm mirror Newtonian telescope. Radiation is directed to a microbolometer array camera that is kept at room temperature. Observations are usually obtained with $5~\mbox{frames}\,\mbox{s}^{-1}$ cadence. One 60 mm refractor has been added to observe $\mathrm{H}\upalpha$ images simultaneously. We describe our new telescopes and the new observatory examples of the first results obtained.

We present the results of a search for nova shells around 101 cataclysmic variables (CVs), using Halpha images taken with the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope (WHT) and the 2.5-m Isaac Newton Telescope Photometric Halpha Survey of the Northern Galactic Plane (IPHAS). Both telescopes are located on La Palma. We concentrated our WHT search on nova-like variables, whilst our IPHAS search covered all CVs in the IPHAS footprint. We found one shell out of the 24 nova-like variables we examined. The newly discovered shell is around V1315 Aql and has a radius of approx.2.5 arcmin, indicative of a nova eruption approximately 120 years ago. This result is consistent with the idea that the high mass-transfer rate exhibited by nova-like variables is due to enhanced irradiation of the secondary by the hot white dwarf following a recent nova eruption. The implications of our observations for the lifetime of the nova-like variable phase are discussed. We also examined 4 asynchronous polars, but found no new shells around any of them, so we are unable to confirm that a recent nova eruption is the cause of the asynchronicity in the white dwarf spin. We find tentative evidence of a faint shell around the dwarf nova V1363 Cyg. In addition, we find evidence for a light echo around the nova V2275 Cyg, which erupted in 2001, indicative of an earlier nova eruption approx.300 years ago, making V2275 Cyg a possible recurrent nova., 14 pages, 50 figures, 3 Tables

Context. There are more than 3000 known Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe), but only 492 central stars of Galactic planetary nebulae (CSPN) have known spectral types. It is vital to increase this number in order to have reliable statistics, which will lead to an increase of our understanding of these amazing objects. Aims. We aim to contribute to the knowledge of central stars of planetary nebulae and stellar evolution. Methods. This observational study is based on Gemini Multi-Object Spectrographs (GMOS) and with the Intermediate Dispersion Spectrograph (IDS) at the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) spectra of 78 CSPN. The objects were selected because they did not have any previous classification, or the present classification is ambiguous. These new high quality spectra allowed us to identify the key stellar lines for determining spectral classification in the Morgan-Keenan (MK) system. Results. We have acquired optical spectra of a large sample of CSPN. From the observed targets, 50 are classified here for the first time while for 28 the existing classifications have been improved. In seven objects we have identified a P-Cygni profile at the He i lines. Six of these CSPN are late O-type. The vast majority of the stars in the sample exhibit an absorption-type spectrum, and in one case we have found wide emission lines typical of [WR] stars. We give a complementary, and preliminary, classification criterion to obtain the sub-type of the O(H)-type CSPN. Finally, we give a more realistic value of the proportion of CSPN that are rich or poor in hydrogen., Accepted to be published in the A&A

We report on the discovery and analysis of 36 new eclipsing EL CVn-type binaries, consisting of a core helium-composition pre-white dwarf (pre-He-WD) and an early-type main-sequence companion. This more than doubles the known population of these systems. We have used supervised machine learning methods to search 0.8 million light curves from the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF), combined with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) and Two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) colours. The new systems range in orbital periods from 0.46 to 3.8 d and in apparent brightness from ∼14 to 16 mag in the PTF R or g΄ filters. For 12 of the systems, we obtained radial velocity curves with the Intermediate Dispersion Spectrograph at the Isaac Newton Telescope. We modelled the light curves, radial velocity curves and spectral energy distributions to determine the system parameters. The radii (0.3–0.7 R⊙) and effective temperatures (8000–17 000 K) of the pre-He-WDs are consistent with stellar evolution models, but the masses (0.12–0.28 M⊙) show more variance than models have predicted. This study shows that using machine learning techniques on large synoptic survey data is a powerful way to discover substantial samples of binary systems in short-lived evolutionary stages.

We present a photometric study of M13 multiple stellar populations over a wide field of view, covering approximately 6.5 half-light radii, using archival Isaac Newton Telescope observations to build an accurate multi-band Str\"omgren catalogue. The use of the Str\"omgren index $c_{y}$ permits us to separate the multiple populations of M13 on the basis of their position on the red giant branch. The comparison with medium and high resolution spectroscopic analysis confirms the robustness of our selection criterion. To determine the radial distribution of stars in M13, we complemented our dataset with Hubble Space Telescope observations of the cluster core, to compensate for the effect of incompleteness affecting the most crowded regions. From the analysis of the radial distributions we do not find any significant evidence of spatial segregation. Some residuals may be present in the external regions where we observe only a small number of stars. This finding is compatible with the short dynamical timescale of M13 and represents, to date, one of the few examples of fully spatially mixed multiple populations in a massive globular cluster., Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We identify new clusters and characterize previously unknown Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) sources from the first Planck catalogue of SZ sources (PSZ1). The results presented here correspond to an optical follow-up observational programme developed during approximately one year (2014) at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, using the 2.5m Isaac Newton telescope, the 3.5m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo, the 4.2m William Herschel telescope and the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canarias. We characterize 115 new PSZ1 sources using deep optical imaging and spectroscopy. We adopt robust criteria in order to consolidate the SZ counterparts by analysing the optical richness, the 2D galaxy distribution, and velocity dispersions of clusters. Confirmed counterparts are considered to be validated if they are rich structures, well aligned with the Planck PSZ1 coordinate and show relatively high velocity dispersion. Following this classification, we confirm 53 clusters, which means that 46% of this PSZ1 subsample has been validated and characterized with this technique. Sixty-two SZ sources (54% of this PSZ1 subset) remain unconfirmed. In addition, we find that the fraction of unconfirmed clusters close to the galactic plane (at |b|25deg), which indicates contamination produced by radio emission of galactic dust and gas clouds on these SZ detections. In fact, in the majority of the cases, we detect important galactic cirrus in the optical images, mainly in the SZ target located at low galactic latitudes, which supports this hypothesis., To be published in A&A (already revised by the referee). 17 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables

In this paper we approach the astronomy teaching process for the students in computer sciences through the controlled investigation method on real astronomical data, using data reduction and quality control of the astrometry of near-Earth asteroids. The method used the data collected on the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) located at the ORM observatory on the island of La Palma in the Spanish Canary Islands and was successfully tested on a group of students in the second-year of study., Comment: Paper accepted for publication in the European Journal of Physics (2017)

The parallax expansion and kinematics of a nova shell can be used to assess its age and distance, and to investigate the interaction of the ejecta with the circumstellar medium. These are key to understand the expansion and dispersal of the nova ejecta in the Galaxy. Multi-epoch images and high-dispersion spectroscopic observations of the recently discovered classical nova shell IPHASX J210204.7 + 471015 around a nova-like system have been used to derive a present-day expansion rate of 0 ''. 100 yr(-1) and an expansion velocity of 285 km s(-1). These data are combined to obtain a distance of 600 pc to the nova. The secular expansion of the nova shell place the event sometime between 1850 and 1890, yet it seems to have been missed at that time. Despite its young age, 130-170 yr, we found indications that the ejecta has already experienced a noticeable deceleration, indicating the interaction of this young nova shell with the surrounding medium.© 2019 The Author(s).Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society, ES acknowledges support from Universidad de Guadalajara and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT). MAG acknowledges support of the grant AYA2014-57280-P, cofunded with Fondo Europeo para el Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) funds. GR-L acknowledges support from Fundacion Marcos Moshinsky, CONACyT, and Programa para el Desarrollo Profesional Docente (PRODEP) (Mexico). LS acknowledges support from Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigacion e Innovacion Tecnologica (PAPIIT) grant IA-101316 (Mexico). JAT and MAG are funded by Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), Direccion General de Asuntos del Personal Academico (DGAPA) PAPIIT project IA100318. We thank Martin Henze for his advise on historical records of novae and photographic plates. This paper also makes use of data obtained as part of the INT Photometric H alpha Survey of the Northern Galactic Plane (IPHAS: http://www.iphas.org) carried out at the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT). The INT is operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the Spanish Observatorio delRoque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. All IPHAS data are processed by the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. The band-merged DR2 catalogue was assembled at the Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, supported by STFC grant ST/J001333/1. The Digitized Sky Surveys were produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) under US Government grant NAGW-2166. The images of these surveys are based on photographic data obtained using the Oschin Schmidt Telescope on Palomar Mountain and the UK Schmidt Telescope. The plates were processed into the present compressed digital form with the permission of these institutions. The National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Atlas (POSS-I) was made by the California Institute of Technology with grants from the National Geographic Society. The second Palomar Observatory Sky Atlas (POSS-II) was made by the California Institute of Technology with funds from the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the Sloan Foundation, the Samuel Oschin Foundation, and the Eastman Kodak Corporation. The Oschin Schmidt Telescope is operated by the California Institute of Technology and Palomar Observatory. The UK Schmidt Telescope was operated by the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, with funding from the UK Science and Engineering Research Council (later the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council), until 1988 June, and thereafter by the Anglo-Australian Observatory. Supplemental funding for sky-survey work at the STScI is provided by the European Southern Observatory. This work made use of the HDAP which was produced at Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Konigstuhl under grant no. 00.071.2005 of the Klaus-Tschira-Foundation.

The population of nearby dwarf galaxies in the Local Group constitutes a complete galactic environment, perfect suited for studying the connection between stellar populations and galaxy evolution. In this study, we are conducting an optical monitoring survey of the majority of dwarf galaxies in the Local Group, with the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT), to identify long period variable stars (LPVs). These stars are at the end points of their evolution and therefore their luminosity can be directly translated into their birth masses; this enables us to reconstruct the star formation history. By the end of the monitoring survey, we will have performed observations over ten epochs, spaced approximately three months apart, and identified long period, dust-producing AGB stars; five epochs of data have been obtained already. LPVs are also the main source of dust; in combination with Spitzer Space Telescope images at mid-IR wavelengths we will quantify the mass loss, and provide a detailed map of the mass feedback into the interstellar medium. We will also use the amplitudes in different optical passbands to determine the radius variations of the stars, and relate this to their mass loss., 4 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, Frontiers in Theoretical and Applied Physics/UAE 2017 (FTAPS 2017)

We have obtained deep narrowband images in the near-infrared H2 (2.122 microns) emission line for a sample of 15 faint Isaac Newton Telescope Photometric Halpha Survey (IPHAS) bipolar planetary nebulae (PNe) to search for molecular material. H2 emission is found in most of them (14 out of 15), mostly associated with rings at their equatorial regions and with their bipolar lobes. These detections add to the high occurrence of H2 emission among bipolar PNe reported in previous works, resulting from the large reservoir of molecular material in these sources and the suitable excitation conditions for H2 emission. The correlation between detailed bipolar morphology and H2 luminosity is also confirmed: bipolar PNe with broad equatorial rings (R-BPNe) have almost no continuum emission, are H2 brighter and have larger H2/Brgamma line ratio than bipolar PNe with pinched equatorial waists (W-BPNe). The origin of this dichotomy is unclear. The larger size and age of R-BPNe are consistent with shock excitation of H2, whereas ultraviolet pumping is most likely the excitation mechanism in the smaller and younger W-BPNe, which would explain their lower H2 luminosity. Although both types of bipolar PNe seem to proceed from the same progenitor population, this does not imply that R-BPNe descend from W-BPNe. Otherwise, we note that some of the H2-weak bipolar PNe harbor post-common envelope binary systems and symbiotic stars. Finally, we suggest that the long-living H2 emission from R-BPNe arises from a discrete distribution of compact knots embedded within the ionized gas at the equatorial region., 13 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

The population of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) shows a large variety of objects in terms of physical and dynamical properties. They are subject to planetary encounters and to strong solar wind and radiation effects. Their study is also motivated by practical reasons regarding space exploration and long-term probability of impact with the Earth. We aim to spectrally characterize a significant sample of NEAs with sizes in the range of $\sim$0.25 - 5.5 km (categorized as large), and search for connections between their spectral types and the orbital parameters. Optical spectra of NEAs were obtained using the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) equipped with the IDS spectrograph. These observations are analyzed using taxonomic classification and by comparison with laboratory spectra of meteorites. A total number of 76 NEAs were observed. We classified 44 of them as Q/S-complex, 16 as B/C-complex, eight as V-types, and another eight belong to the remaining taxonomic classes. Our sample contains 27 asteroids categorized as potentially hazardous and 31 possible targets for space missions including (459872) 2014 EK24, (436724) 2011 UW158, and (67367) 2000 LY27. The spectral data corresponding to (276049) 2002 CE26 and (385186) 1994 AW1 shows the 0.7 $\mu$m feature which indicates the presence of hydrated minerals on their surface. We report that Q-types have the lowest perihelia (a median value and absolute deviation of $0.797\pm0.244$ AU) and are systematically larger than the S-type asteroids observed in our sample. We explain these observational evidences by thermal fatigue fragmentation as the main process for the rejuvenation of NEA surfaces. In general terms, the taxonomic distribution of our sample is similar to the previous studies and matches the broad groups of the inner main belt asteroids. Nevertheless, we found a wide diversity of spectra compared to the standard taxonomic types., Comment: Accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)

We present the CAlibrating LYMan-$\alpha$ with H$\alpha$ (CALYMHA) pilot survey and new results on Lyman-$\alpha$ (Lya) selected galaxies at z~2. We use a custom-built Lya narrow-band filter at the Isaac Newton Telescope, designed to provide a matched volume coverage to the z=2.23 Ha HiZELS survey. Here we present the first results for the COSMOS and UDS fields. Our survey currently reaches a 3$\sigma$ line flux limit of ~4x10$^{-17}$ erg/s/cm$^{2}$, and a Lya luminosity limit of ~10$^{42.3}$ erg/s. We find 188 Lya emitters over 7.3x10$^5$ Mpc$^{3}$, but also find significant numbers of other line emitting sources corresponding to HeII, CIII] and CIV emission lines. These sources are important contaminants, and we carefully remove them, unlike most previous studies. We find that the Lya luminosity function at z=2.23 is very well described by a Schechter function up to L~10$^{43}$ erg/s with L$^*=10^{42.59+-0.05}$ erg/s, $\phi^*=10^{-3.09+-0.08}$ Mpc$^{-3}$ and $\alpha$=-1.75+-0.15. Above L~10$^{43}$ erg/s the Lya luminosity function becomes power-law like, driven by X-ray AGN. We find that Lya-selected emitters have a high escape fraction of 37+-7%, anti-correlated with Lya luminosity and correlated with Lya equivalent width. Lya emitters have ubiquitous large (~40 kpc) Lya haloes, 2x larger than their Ha extents. By directly comparing our Lya and Ha luminosity functions we find that the global/overall escape fraction of Lya photons (within a 13 kpc radius) from the full population of star-forming galaxies is 5.1+-0.2% at the peak of the star formation history. An extra 3.3+-0.3% of Lya photons likely still escape, but at larger radii., Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Catalogue of line emitters available with MNRAS refereed paper

So what is an equatorial drive platform? Some prefer to call it a Poncet drive system, while others just call it an equatorial drive platform for Dobsonian telescopes. We’ll start with the most common name first. The Poncet platform was invented by Adrien Poncet in the 1970s. Poncet’s original platform design was a type of equatorial platform that was simple in design and function that uses a single pivot as one support and inclined along a plane that is aligned with the Earth’s equator along which two other supports slides. It was publicized in the January 1977 issue of Sky & Telescope magazine. The type of equatorial platform that Poncet constructed was made out of simple plywood, with a pivot made from a nail. Poncet also used Formica to cover the top of his incline plane along with the use of plastic 35-mm film canisters as bearing feet for the platform, on top of which he mounted a Newtonian telescope of a 6-in. aperture. Simply built, the Poncet equatorial platform and mount in its basic design and fabrication requires just the use of regular hand tools and common construction materials and hardware to build. The only real accurate and precise setting required is the angle at which the inclined plane of the Poncet platform is set at in order to match the angle of the Celestial equator (e.g., 39°). The Poncet equatorial platform with its simple design has been used to track in the equatorial mode, a multitude of instrumentation, including just about everything from small cameras, optical instruments, telescopes to an entire observatory. Its simple design and low profile has made it a very useful “retrofit” for Altazimuth mounted telescopes, such as the popular Dobsonian telescope. Those who use a Poncet equatorial platform simply place their telescope on top of its mount in a secure fashion to get the added feature of tracking in the direction of right ascension that’s accurate enough for visual observing at higher magnifications or even astro-imaging.

As telescopes become larger, into the era of ~40 m Extremely Large Telescopes, the high- resolution vertical profile of the optical turbulence strength is critical for the validation, optimization and operation of optical systems. The velocity of atmospheric optical turbulence is an important parameter for several applications including astronomical adaptive optics systems. Here, we compare the vertical profile of the velocity of the atmospheric wind above La Palma by means of a comparison of Stereo-SCIntillation Detection And Ranging (Stereo- SCIDAR) with the Global Forecast System models and nearby balloon-borne radiosondes. We use these data to validate the automated optical turbulence velocity identification from the Stereo-SCIDAR instrument mounted on the 2.5 m Isaac Newton Telescope, La Palma. By comparing these data we infer that the turbulence velocity and the wind velocity are consistent and that the automated turbulence velocity identification of the Stereo-SCIDAR is precise. The turbulence velocities can be used to increase the sensitivity of the turbulence strength profiles, as weaker turbulence that may be misinterpreted as noise can be detected with a velocity vector. The turbulence velocities can also be used to increase the altitude resolution of a detected layer, as the altitude of the velocity vectors can be identified to a greater precision than the native resolution of the system. We also show examples of complex velocity structure within a turbulent layer caused by wind shear at the interface of atmospheric zones., Comment: Published in MNRAS, 464, 3998-4007, 2017

We are using a sample of more than 50 standard very late-type stars, taken from Isaac Newton Telescope at R ~ 9000 in the 8100–9100 A range, in order to develop criteria for spectral and luminosity classification of very late-type stars in the Gaia region. In this article, we brief in a few pages the main challenges on this issue, as well as the literature about it, and we present some preliminary results.

The exceptionally intense long GRB 110918A was discovered by several GRB observing missions: INTEGRAL (SPI-ACS), Konus-WIND , Mars Odyssey (HEND), and MESSENGER (GRNS) on September 18, 2011. This GRB was localized by the Interplanetary Network (IPN) and its bright X-ray counterpart was found in close vicinity of the IPN box in the Swift /XRT follow-up observations starting 1.2 days after the trigger. The optical afterglow was discovered by the Isaac Newton Telescope and its spectroscopic redshift z = 0.982 was measured with the GMOS spectrograph mounted on the Gemini-N telescope. GRB 110918A is the brightest burst detected by Konus-WIND for more than 17 years of its continuous observations. The instrument’s light curves in three energy bands covering 22–1450 keV range show an extremely bright, short, hard pulse followed by three weaker, softer, partly overlapping pulses within next 25 seconds. A spectral lag between the light-curves is determined, showing a substantial increase in the course of the burst. The emission is detected up to 12 MeV. Modeling the time-integrated energy spectrum with the Band function yields a moderate value of E peak = 340keV, while the time-resolved spectral analysis reveals strong hardness-intensity correlation and a hard-to-soft evolution of the emission: E peak falls from ~ 4 MeV at the onset of the huge initial pulse to ~50 keV at the final stage of the burst. The total 20 keV–10 MeV energy fluence amounts to S = (7.8 ± 0.4) × 10-4 erg cm-2 and a 64-ms peak flux F max = (9.2 ± 0.4) × 10-4 erg cm-2 s-1 , which corresponds to a huge isotropic-equivalent energy release E iso = (2.1 ± 0.1) × 1054 erg and the record-breaking peak luminosity L iso ;max = (4.7 ± 0.2) × 1054 erg s-1 .

We present a description of a new instrument development, HARPS3, planned to be installed on an upgraded and roboticized Isaac Newton Telescope by end-2018. HARPS3 will be a high resolution (R = 115,000) echelle spectrograph with a wavelength range from 380-690 nm. It is being built as part of the Terra Hunting Experiment - a future 10 year radial velocity measurement programme to discover Earth-like exoplanets. The instrument design is based on the successful HARPS spectrograph on the 3.6m ESO telescope and HARPS-N on the TNG telescope. The main changes to the design in HARPS3 will be: a customised fibre adapter at the Cassegrain focus providing a stabilised beam feed and on-sky fibre diameter ~ 1.4 arcsec, the implementation of a new continuous flow cryostat to keep the CCD temperature very stable, detailed characterisation of the HARPS3 CCD to map the effective pixel positions and thus provide an improved accuracy wavelength solution, an optimised integrated polarimeter and the instrument integrated into a robotic operation. The robotic operation will optimise our programme which requires our target stars to be measured on a nightly basis. We present an overview of the entire project, including a description of our anticipated robotic operation., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, SPIE conference proceedings

Optical turbulence characterisation is crucial to understanding astronomical site and observational limitations. The Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM) is a widely used, low cost and portable instrument for measuring the total integrated seeing. We have designed and tested a variation on the DIMM design that utilises a low order Shack-Hartmann (SH) lenslet array instead of the standard two hole aperture mask. This instrument, which is comprised of readily available components, is known as SHIMM. This alternative design utilises more of the telescope aperture, in comparison to the DIMM, and therefore increases the signal to noise ratio, as well as providing a more accurate method of noise estimation. In future the instrument will be developed to provide estimation of the coherence timescale, limited turbulence altitude information, and to correct for scintillation effects on the seeing measurements. We describe the instrument and present measurements from two identical SHIMM seeing monitors, as well as a comparison with simultaneous optical turbulence profiles recorded with Stereo-SCIDAR on the 2.5m Isaac Newton Telescope, La Palma.

There is a strong need to model the temporal fluctuations in turbulence parameters, for instance for scheduling, simulation and prediction purposes. This paper aims at modelling the dynamic behaviour of the turbulence coherence length r0, utilising measurement data from the Stereo-SCIDAR instrument installed at the Isaac Newton Telescope at La Palma. Based on an estimate of the power spectral density function, a low order stochastic model to capture the temporal variability of r0 is proposed. The impact of this type of stochastic model on the prediction of the coherence length behaviour is shown.

The W50/SS433 system is an unusual Galactic outflow-driven object of debatable origin. We have used the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) to observe a new 198 pointing mosaic, covering $3^\circ \times 2^\circ$, and present the highest-sensitivity full-Stokes data of W50 to date using wide-field, wide-band imaging over a 2 GHz bandwidth centred at 2.1 GHz. We also present a complementary H$\alpha$ mosaic created using the Isaac Newton Telescope Photometric H$\alpha$ Survey of the Northern Galactic Plane (IPHAS). The magnetic structure of W50 is found to be consistent with the prevailing hypothesis that the nebula is a reanimated shell-like supernova remnant (SNR), that has been re-energised by the jets from SS433. We observe strong depolarization effects that correlate with diffuse H$\alpha$ emission, likely due to spatially-varying Faraday rotation measure (RM) fluctuations of $\ge48$ to 61 rad m$^{-2}$ on scales $\le4.5$ to 6 pc. We also report the discovery of numerous, faint, H$\alpha$ filaments that are unambiguously associated with the central region of W50. These thin filaments are suggestive of a SNR's shock emission, and almost all have a radio counterpart. Furthermore, an RM-gradient is detected across the central region of W50, which we interpret as a loop magnetic field with a symmetry axis offset by $\approx90^{\circ}$ to the east-west jet-alignment axis, and implying that the evolutionary processes of both the jets and the SNR must be coupled. A separate RM-gradient is associated with the termination shock in the Eastern ear, which we interpret as a ring-like field located where the shock of the jet interacts with the circumstellar medium. Future optical observations will be able to use the new H$\alpha$ filaments to probe the kinematics of the shell of W50, potentially allowing for a definitive experiment on W50's formation history., Comment: Submitted to MNRAS

We present a critical assessment of commonly used pre-main-sequence isochrones by comparing their predictions to a set of well-calibrated colour-magnitude diagrams of the Pleiades in the wavelength range 0.4 to 2.5 microns. Our analysis shows that for temperatures less than 4000 K the models systematically overestimate the flux by a factor two at 0.5 microns, though this decreases with wavelength, becoming negligible at 2.2 microns. In optical colours this will result in the ages for stars younger than 10 Myr being underestimated by factors between two and three. We show that using observations of standard stars to transform the data into a standard system can introduce significant errors in the positioning of pre-main-sequences in colour-magnitude diagrams. Therefore we have compared the models to the data in the natural photometric system in which the observations were taken. Thus we have constructed and tested a model of the system responses for the Wide-Field Camera on the Isaac Newton Telescope. As a benchmark test for the development of pre-main-sequence models we provide both our system responses and the Pleiades sequence.

We present u-, g-, r-, i- and z-band optical images and associated catalogues taken primarily with the Isaac Newton Telescope Wide Field Camera on the European Large Area ISO Survey (ELAIS) N1 and N2, First Look Survey and Lockman Hole fields comprising a total of 1000 h of integration time over 80 deg^2 and approximately 4.3 million objects. In this paper we outline the observations and data processing and characterize the completeness, reliability, photometric and astrometric accuracy of this data set. All images have been photometrically calibrated using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and a uniform and homogeneous data set is composed over all the observed fields. Magnitude limits are u, g, r, i, z of 23.9, 24.5, 24.0, 23.3, 22.0 (AB, 5σ). These data have been used for optical identification of past and ongoing projects including the surveys ELAIS, Spitzer Wide-Area Infrared Extragalactic Survey, Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey and Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey.

"It would not have been pardonable to neglect such an advantage, when there was a particular object in view; and I wondered why it had no struck me sooner."1The astronomer William Herschel (1738-1822) was not only a great observer and theoretician, but also the undisputed master-craftsman in the construction of great reflectors, both for his own use and for sale. For the largest instruments he devised an unorthodox configuration of mirror and eyepiece, known to us as TIerschelian' . What led him to devise this arrangement, and did it serve its purpose?As seventeenth-century astronomers discovered, the image created in a simple refracting telescope suffers from 'chromatic aberration', a blurring of the colours. Newton showed that this was because the different colours, as they passed through the objective lens at the upper end of the tube, were bent ('refracted') by slightly different amounts and so came to a focus at slightly different distances from the objective. His solution was to replace the lens by a mirror of parabolic or nearparabolic shape positioned at the bottom of the tube of the telescope; the different colours were all reflected equally off the mirror, and so came to a single, consistent focus higher up the tube.Eventually it was realized that there were then alternative ways of arranging for the image thus formed to be examined in the eyepiece. In 'Gregorian' or 'Cassegrain' reflectors a second and much smaller mirror located further up the tube reflects the image back down the tube and through a hole in the primary mirror to where the eyepiece is located. But in 'Newtonian' reflectors a simple flat mirror is positioned near the top of the tube, set at an angle of 45 degrees, and this reflects the image sideways through a hole in the tube to where the eyepiece is located. In a Newtonian reflector, therefore, the observer is - somewhat surprisingly - positioned near the top of the tube and looking sideways to the direction of the heavenly body.A defect of all these configurations is that much of the light is lost in the reflection off the secondary mirror, and in 1728 the Paris instrument-maker Jacques Lemaire proposed instead that the secondary mirror be dispensed with entirely, and that the observer with his eyepiece should peer directly down the mouth of the tube.2 The disadvantage of this arrangement is that the observer's own head will obstruct some of the incoming light, and so dispensing with the secondary mirror may do more harm than good.Unless, that is, the tube and mirror are so large in diameter that the loss of light caused by the observer's head is limited and so a price worth paying for dispensing with the second reflection. Large reflectors are needed when the objects under investigation are faint; and the first observer to set his heart on investigating the distant and therefore faint nebulae and star clusters was William Herschel.3 As a musician and amateur astronomer in the English spa resort of Bath in the later 1770s, Herschel made himself Newtonian reflectors of 7-ft, 10-ft and 20-ft focal length, with mirrors of some 6, 8 and 12 inches respectively. The 20-ft was crudely slung from a pole and the observer was perched precariously on a ladder of similar length, and so it was of limited use. But the 10-ft had a stable wooden mounting, and on 28 May 1776 Herschel records that "I tried a 10 feet mirror without the small one, looking in at the front of the tube and holding the eye glass in my hand. I liked the method very well".4 But Herschel's head was a major obstruction for a mirror only 8 inches diameter, and there the matter rested.In September 1783, Herschel, now astronomer to King George III and resident near Windsor Castle, completed another 20-ft reflector, but this time the tube was 18 inches in diameter and mounted within a safe and stable ladder-type framework. Herschel's intention was systematically to 'sweep' the sky in the search for nebulae and star clusters, and at first he did this by standing on a nine-feet- wide observing gallery (which could be raised or lowered by ropes), and dragging the tube first to one side and then to the other, by as much as fifteen degrees in each direction. …