Royal Institute and Observatory of the Spanish Navy

About: Royal Institute and Observatory of the Spanish Navy is a facility organization based out in San Fernando, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Gamma-ray burst & Magnetic anomaly. The organization has 50 authors who have published 106 publications receiving 2565 citations. The organization is also known as: Instituto y Observatorio de Marina de San Fernando.

The blue host galaxy of the red GRB 000418

Abstract: We report on multi-band ( UB VRIZJ sKs) observations of the host galaxy of the April 18, 2000 gamma-ray burst. The Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) is analysed by fitting empirical and synthetic spectral templates. We find that: (i) the best SED fit is obtained with a starburst template, (ii) the photometric redshift is consistent with the spectroscopic redshift, (iii) the colours of the host are inconsistent with an old stellar population, and (iv) the global extinction is constrained to be in the range AV = 0:12-0:61 mag. The derived global extinction agrees with the one reported for the afterglow (AV = 0:4-0:9 mag), suggesting a homogeneous distribution of the interstellar medium (ISM) in the host galaxy. These findings are supplemented by morphological information from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging: the surface brightness profile is smooth, symmetric and compact with no underlying structures (like dust lanes, spiral arms or disks). A natural scenario which accounts of all the above results is a nuclear starburst that harbours a young population of stars from which the GRB originated.

The CMC15, the last issue of the series “Carlsberg Meridian Catalogue, La Palma”

Abstract: CMC15 is the last of the series “Carlsberg Meridian Catalogue, La Palma” and comprises all the observations made between March 1999 and March 2011 with the Carlsberg Automatic Meridian Circle in El Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma (Spain). The catalogues CMC12, CMC13, and CMC14 are superseded by this one. It contains more than 122 million observations of right ascension, declination, and magnitude of stars in the magnitude range of 9m < r′ < 17m and declination range of –40° < δ < +50°. The catalogue internal errors in astrometry are below 30 mas in both coordinates for stars brighter than r′ = 13, reaching 60 mas for r′ = 16. The internal magnitude error is below 0.020 mag for stars brighter than r′ = 13, and about 0.090 mag for r′ = 16. (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Method for determining the optical constants of thin dielectric films with variable thickness using only their shrunk reflection spectra

Abstract: Thickness inhomogeneities in thin films have a large influence on their optical transmission and reflection spectra. If not taken into account, this may lead to rather large calculated values for the absorption coefficient or the erroneous presence of an absorption-band tail, as well as to significant errors in the calculated values of the refractive index and the film thickness. The effect of thickness variation on the optical reflection spectrum of a thin dielectric film covering a thick non-absorbing substrate, is analysed in detail in this paper, and analytical expressions are presented for such a reflection spectrum and its upper and lower envelopes. A method is suggested for determining the refractive index n(λ) and the extinction coefficient k(λ), as well as the average thickness and the thickness variation, of a thin dielectric film with variable thickness, by using only the two envelopes of the corresponding shrunk reflection spectrum. This method is used for the geometrical and optical characterization of thermally-evaporated amorphous chalcogenide films, deposited on glass substrates.

Searching for Repeating Ground Track Orbits: A Systematic Approach

Abstract: For the zonal part of the Earth artificial satellite problem, families of periodic orbits are computed in a synodic reference frame. A systematic procedure for finding periodic orbits at any inclination is described. The solutions found in this way are frozen orbits that repeat their ground track exactly on the surface of the Earth and are a very good start for further refinements including other perturbations. A practical application is provided.