This volume documents the contributions presented at the Seventh Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society (Sociedad Espa ola de Astronom SEA). The event bought together 301 participants who presented 161 contributed talks and 120 posters, the greatest numbers up to now. The fact that most exciting items of the current astronomical research were addressed in the meeting proofs the good health of the SEA, a consolidated organization founded fifteen years ago in Barcelona. Two plenary sessions of the meeting were devoted to the approved entrance of Spain as a full member of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and to the imminent first light of the greatest telescope in the world, the GTC (Gran Telescopio de Canarias), milestones that will certainly lead the Spanish Astronomy in the next future. This volume documents the contributions presented at the Seventh Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society (Sociedad Española de Astronomía, SEA). The event bought together 301 participants who presented 161 contributed talks and 120 posters, the greatest number of contributions in the history of the meeting. The fact that most exciting items of the current astronomical research were addressed in the meeting is proof of the good health of the SEA, a consolidated organization founded fifteen years ago in Barcelona. Preface ix Organizing Committees and Sponsors xi List of Participants xiii Session I Spain in ESO Youth, Accretion, and Mass Loss at the End of the Main Sequence F. Comer n 3 The European Extremely Large Telescope P. Dierickx 15 Gamma Ray Bursts: Lighthouses of the Universe J. Gorosabel 29 The VIMOS VLT Deep Survey (VVDS) R. Pell , O. Le F e, C. Adami, M. Arnaboldi, S. Arnouts, S. Bardelli, M. Bolzonella, A. Bongiorno, M. Bondi, D. Bottini, G. Busarello, A. Cappi, S. Charlot, P. Ciliegi, T. Contini, S. Foucaud, P. Franzetti, B. Garilli, Gavignaud, L. Guzzo, O. Ilbert, A. Iovino, F. Lamareille, V. Le Brun, D. Maccagni, B. Marano, C. Marinoni, G. Mathez, A. Mazure, H.J. McCracken, Y. Mellier, B. Meneux, P. Merluzzi, R. Merighi, S. Paltani, J.P. Picat, A. Pollo, L. Pozzetti, M. Radovich, V. Ripepi, D. Rizzo, R. Scaramella, M. Scodeggio, L. Tresse, G. Vettolani, A. Zaniehelli, G. Zamorani, E. Zucca 41 Session II Science with GTC Galaxy Surveys in the Era of Large Ground-Based Observatories R. Guzm /TD> 51 The GTC 10 m Telescope: Getting Ready for First Light J.M. Rodriguez Espinosa, GTC Project 63 OSIRIS: Status and Science J. Cepa, M. Aguiar, E.J. Alfaro, J. Bland-Hawthorn, H.O. Casta eda, F. Cobos, S. Correa, C. Espejo, A. Farah, A.B. Fragoso-L pez, J.V. Gigante, F. Garfias, J.J. Gonz z, V. Gonz z-Escalera, Gonz z-Serrano, B. Hern ez, A. Herrera, C. Militello, L. Peraza, R. P z, J.L. Rasilla, B. S hez, M. S hez-Portal, C. Tejada 71 EMIR, the GTC NIR Multiobject Imager-Spectrograph F. Garz n, D. Abreu, S. Barrera, S. Becerril, L.M. Clair s, J.J. Diaz, A.B. Fragoso-L pez, F. Gago, R. Grange, C. Gonz z, P. L pez, J. Patr n, J. P z, J.L. Rasilla, P. Redondo, R. Restrepo, P. Saavedra, V. S hez, F. Tenegi, M. Vallb TD> 81 CanariCam: Instrument Status and Frontier Science C.M. Telesco 91 Session III S.E.A. prizes Radiative Transfer in Molecular Lines. Astrophysical Applications A. Asensio Ramos 105 The Star Formation History of Early-type Galaxies as a Function of Environment P. S hez-Bl uez 117 Session IV Galaxies and cosmology Galaxy Evolution in Galaxy Clusters: Diffuse Light in the Virgo Cluster J. Alfonso L. Aguerri 131 The Quest for Obscured AGN at Cosmological Distances: Infrared Power-Law Galaxies A. Alonso-Herrero, J.L. Donley, G.H. Rieke J.R. Rigby, P.G. P z-Gonz z 143 AMIGA: A New Model of Galaxy Formation and Evolution A. Manrique on behalf of the AMIGA Collaboration 157 The Innermost Regions of Active Galactic Nuclei From Radio to X-rays E. Ros, M. Kadler, S. Kaufmann, Y.Y. Kovalev, J. Tueller, K.A. Weaver 165 Gaussian Analysis of the CMB with the Smooth Tests of Goodness of Fit R.B. Barreiro, J.A. Rubi o-Martin, E. Martinez-Gonz z 177 Dark Matter in Galaxy Clusters N. Benitez 185 Cosmology with the Largest Scale Structures: Probing Dark Energy F.J. Castander, the Dark Energy Survey Collaboration 193 Observational Cosmology at High Redshift A. Fern ez-Soto 201 An H? Approach to the Evolution of the Galaxy Population of the Universe J. Gallego, V. Villar, S. Pascual, J. Zamorano, K. Noeske, D.C. Koo, P.G. P z-Gonz z, G. Barro 209 Session V The Galaxy and its components Multi-Wavelength Astronomy and the Unidentified ?-ray Sources J. Marti-Ribas 219 The Disc and Plane of the Milky Way in the Near Infrared A. Cabrera-Lavers, M. L pez-Corredoira, F. Garz n, P.L. Harrimersley, C. Gonz z-Fern ez, B. Vicente 231 AGB Stars: Nucleosynthesis and Open Problems I. Dominguez. C. Abia, S. Cristallo, P. de Laverny, O. Straniero 239 Studying Galaxy Formation and Evolution from Local Group Galaxies C. Gallart 247 Gaia: A Major Step in the Knowledge of Our Galaxy J. Torra on behalf of the Gaia Group 255 Cepheus A, a Laboratory for Testing and Opening New Theories on High-mass Star Formation J.M. Torrelles, N.A. Patel, S. Curiel, G. Anglada, J.F. G mez 263 Session VI The Sun and planetary systems A Look into the Guts of Sunspots L.R. Bellot Rubio 271 Earth-like Exoplanets. Darwin: Stellar Targets and Precursor Science C. Eiroa, M. Fridlund, L. Kaltennegger, A. Stankov 279 How the Comet 9P/Tempel 1 has Behaved Before, During, and After the Deep Impact Event L.M. Lara, H. Boehnhardt, P.J. Guti ez 287 Heliospheric Energetic Particle Variability Over the Solar Cycle D. Lario 295 Two Years of Saturn's Exploration by the Cassini Spacecraft: Atmospheric Studies A. S hez-Lavega, Hueso, S. P z-Hoyos 303 A New Way for Exploring Solar and Stellar Magnetic Fields J. Trujillo Bueno 311 Session VII Observatories and instrumentation The MAGIC Telescopes (and Beyond...) M. Martinez for the MAGIC Collaboration 321 Present and Future of Astronomy at the Observatorio del Teide A. Oscoz 331 Prospects for the William Herschel Telescope R. Rutten 339 VO Science. The Spanish Virtual Observatory E. Solano 345 Appendix: Table of Contents of the CD-Rom 353 Index 365