thesis - IRS, The Infrared Spectrograph

AcknowledgementsI could easily write another chapter thanking all the people who have made not only thisthesis possible but also my stay in Groningen such a great experience.First, I would like to thank Xander, Paul and Stuart. It has been a great pleasure to workwith all of you. Xander, I have enjoyed our meetings very much, especially the way youmotivate me to pursue ideas by myself. In the last period of the thesis when I sometimes feltlost you always had a few words (but very valuable) to support and encourage me to continueworking. Paul, above all I appreciate the great care and detail in which you have followedmy thesis. The patience you had in correcting all kind of draft versions I gave you has beenmore than valuable. Stuart, when I came here I was very excited of having the possibility towork with the guru on PNe. It has been a valuable and rewarding experience. Thanks for thekindness with which you always treated me and for being available at anytime to answer thebillions of questions and resolve the doubts I always had.I would like to express my gratitude to Mike Barlow, Rens Waters and Thijs van derHulst, members of my reading committee, whose insightful comments and suggestions haveimproved this thesis.Chapter 5 of this thesis is the result of a collaboration with Paola Marigo. Thanks Paolafor your enthusiasm and hard work on the project, and for teaching me the ins and outs ofnuclear burning. During this collaboration I had the opportunity to visit in three occasionsthe Università di Padova and, of course, taste the nice Italian food. Thanks Paola and Leo foryour hospitality.In the last year of my thesis I had the opportunity to start a collaboration with MarianoMéndez on the study of X-rays in PNe with XMM-Newton. Muchas gracias Mariano por tuentusiasmo y dedicación en el proyecto, y por hacerme sentir bienvenido a Urecht. Me alegramucho saber que podremos trabajar juntos en una PN, y ojala que en el futuro sean más!In the stressful and inhuman last stages of the thesis I received invaluable help from manypeople. This help has come in the form of a an answer to a last minute question, a plot, adiscussion, or support in my lowest hours. I would like to thank especially Marco Spaans,Emilio, Xander, Mirjam, Eline, and Juan Cami, and extend my gratitude to, Sacha Hony,Frank Molster, Leticia, Scott, Henrik and John Lattanzio.This thesis would not have been possible without the help of the SWS team; Russ, Fred,Do and Douwe. I have annoyed them with my questions on data reduction ever since I gothere. Thanks for offering me your help and for taking your time to solve my problems aspromptly as possible. Special thanks for Russ, who I assisted in the Statistical Methodscourse from which I have learned a big deal. Thanks Douwe for introducing me for the fist