We study giant radio sources at long wavelengths.

Bright knots along the arms of grand-design spiral galaxies are frequently seen on near-infrared K-band images. To investigate their nature, low resolution K-band spectra of a string of knots in the southern arm of the grand design, spiral galaxy NGC 2997 were obtained with ISAAC/VLT. Most of the knots show strong Brγ emission while some have H2 and HeI emission. A few knots show indications of CO absorption. Their spectra and absolute K magnitudes exceeding -12 mag suggest them to be very compact, young stellar clusters with masses up to 5 × 104 M. The knots' azimuthal distance from the K-band spiral correlates well with their Brγ strength, indicating that they are located inside the co-rotation of the density wave, which triggered them through a large-scale, star-forming front. These relative azimuthal distances suggest an age spread of more than 1.6 Myr, which is incompatible with standard models for an instantaneous star burst. This indicates a more complex star-formation history, such as several bursts or continuous formation.

We report on the discovery of a supermassive binary black-hole (SBBH) system in the radio galaxy 0402+379, with a projected separation between the two black holes of just 7.3 pc. This is the most compact SBBH pair yet imaged by more than two orders of magnitude. These results are based upon multi-frequency imaging using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) which reveal two compact, variable, flat-spectrum, active nuclei within the elliptical host galaxy of 0402+379. Multi-epoch observations from the VLBA also provide constraints on the total mass and dynamics of the system. The two nuclei appear stationary while the jets emanating from the weaker of the two nuclei appear to move out and terminate in bright hot spots. The discovery of this system has implications for the number of compact binary black holes that might be sources of gravitational radiation. The VLBI Imaging and Polarimetry Survey (VIPS) currently underway should discover several more SBBHs.

We present optical R band photometry of nine X-ray selected BL Lac objects: 1ES 0229+200, 1ES 0323+022, 1ES 502+675, 1ES 0647+250, 1ES 0806+524, 1ES0927+500, 1ES 1028+511, 1ES 1959+650, 1ES2344+514.

Variability on long time scales within one magnitude in R band was found for all of the observed objects, except 1ES 0229+200 and 1ES0927+500. Largest variation was detected for 1ES 0502+675 and equals to 1.07 mag. Only few objects show statistically significant variation on intra-day scale.

We performed numerical simulation including UV radiation transfer, and investigated effects of radiation driven implosion on star formation processes. We also observed two bright-rimmed clouds with C12O(J=1-0) and C13O(J=1-0) in order to compare density distributions between numerical results and observational results. Density profiles of bright-rimmed clouds are consistent with those of numerical simulations. These facts insist that star formations in bright-rimmed clouds are triggered by radiation driven implosion.

After a brief description of the ESA Science Programme, the long-term plan for Astrophysics is described, as well as possible strategies for its implementation.

External shock triggering and internal turbulence play major role for the condensation of the ISM and star formation. Some evidences of shock triggering by non-isotropic compression are seen in the cloud morphologies and associated active cluster formation such as the ρ Oph and Cha I clouds. Surveys for C18O dense cores have shown that internal turbulence dominates the core dynamics and regulates star formation activity (Tachihara et al. 2002).

High-resolution adaptive optics observations of the inner 0.5 pc of the Milky Way with multiple intermediate band filters are presented. From the images, stellar number counts and a detailed map of the interstellar extinction were extracted. The extinction map is consistent with a putative southwest-northeast aligned outflow from the central arcseconds.

An azimuthally averaged, crowding and extinction corrected stellar density profile presents clear evidence for the existence of a stellar cusp around Sgr A*. Several density peaks are found in the cluster that may indicate clumping of stars, possibly related to the last epoch of star formation in the Galactic Center. An analysis of stars in the brightness range 14.25 < magK < 15.75 shows possible signs of mass segregation.

We discuss the issue of retrieving diurnal and semi-diurnal signals in Earth rotation from VLBI observations.

We study a possibility of tidal disruptions of stars orbiting a supermassive black hole due to eccentricity oscillations driven by Kozai's mechanism. We apply the model to conditions relevant for the Galactic Centre where we consider two different sources of the perturbation to the central potential, which trigger the resonance mechanism. Firstly, it is a disc of young massive stars orbiting Sgr A* at r ≳ 0.08 pc, and, secondly, a molecular circumnuclear disc. Each of the two possibilities appears to be capable of exciting eccentricities to values sufficient for the tidal disruption of ∼100 stars from the nuclear stellar cluster on a time-scale of 0.1–10 Myrs. Tidally disrupted stars may cause periods of increased accretion activity of Sgr A*.

Astronomers have opportunities at least twice a year to use partial, annular, or total eclipses of the Sun, or planetary transits, to interest the public in astronomy through their observations. It is important to provide accurate information about the pleasures and hazards of looking toward the Sun. The International Astronomical Union helps by providing knowledgeable information from experienced eclipse observers.

We carried out 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations of a subcluster moving in turbulent ICM by including anisotropic heat conduction. Since magnetic fields stretched along the subcluster surface suppress the heat conduction across the front, cold fronts are formed and sustained.

We discuss the results of HI survey of the LMC and a catalog of HI clouds.

Young, massive star clusters (YMCs) are the most notable and significant end products of violent star-forming episodes triggered by galaxy collisions and close encounters. The question remains, however, whether or not at least a fraction of the compact YMCs seen in abundance in extragalactic starbursts, are potentially the progenitors of (≳10 Gyr) old globular cluster (GC)-type objects. If we could settle this issue convincingly, one way or the other, the implications of such a result would have far-reaching implications for a wide range of astrophysical questions, including our understanding of the process of galaxy formation and assembly, and the process and conditions required for star (cluster) formation. Because of the lack of a statistically significant sample of YMCs in the Local Group, however, we need to resort to either statistical arguments or to the painstaking approach of case-by-case studies of individual objects in more distant galaxies.

The idea of starting an astronomical site testing in Antarctica began during a congress organized by French Académie des Sciences, in 1992, and entitled ‘Recherches polaires-Une Stratégie pour l'an 2000’. At this time, one of us (Vernin 1994) gave a proposal for an astronomical site testing in Antarctica. This proposal was rapidly followed by a meeting between Al Harper (from ‘Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica’, Chicago), Peter Gillingham (from the Anglo Australian Observatory, Australia) and Jean Vernin (from Nice University) at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in 1993. It was decided to investigate what was the astronomical quality of South Pole station, each institute bringing its own participation: CARA, the South Pole infrastructure, University of New South Wales, a PhD student and Nice University its expertise and instruments.

We present and discuss recent new results from the Spitzer Space Telescope and their impact on cosmology.

We explore the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect of a sample of 31 clusters in the three-year data of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), and detect strong SZ signal at the ~10 σ level. By comparing the co-added SZ profile of the sample clusters with the prediction based on the X-ray observations of ROSAT and XMM-Newton, we find the SZ profiles are consistent with the isothermal β-model of intracluster medium (ICM), but the central region (<0°.2) may be contaminated by the central radio sources in the clusters. We derive a mean outer radius of the ICM distribution at ~1.2 ± 0.4rvir (68% CL). The existence of the ICM outer edge could be the first evidence of ICM accretion shock, which is important for understanding the formation and evolution of clusters. We also estimate the mean gas mass fraction of the ICM from the overall amplitude of the SZ signals as fgas = 0.10 ± 0.05, which is consistent with the X-ray observation and lower than the cosmic average baryon fraction.

Reversed granulation is predicted by numerical simulations and has been observed in the wings of chromospheric lines. Here we present reversed granulation in high spatial, spectral and temporal resolution, extracted from the photospheric Fe I 7090.4 Å line core intensities, once taking into account the velocity effects. Correlations with the continuum are studied in terms of smoothing, time delay and temporal evolution. The latter appears to be superimposed with an oscillatory signal that suggests the presence of gravity waves in the mid-photosphere.

We consider the multiplicity of stellar systems with (combined) magnitude brighter than 6.00 in Hipparcos magnitudes. We identify 4555 such bright systems, and the frequencies of multiplicities 1, 2, . . , 7 are found to be 2722, 1412, 299, 86, 22, 12 and 2. We also consider the distributions of periods of orbits and sub-orbits. For the even more restricted set of 474 systems with V H ≤ 4.00 the proportions of higher multiples up to sextuple are progressively larger, suggesting incompleteness in even the relatively well-studied larger sample.

We construct a Monte-Carlo algorithm that will generate systems with roughly the observed multiplicities and orbital parameters, taking account of selection effects.

The Carina Nebula possesses the brightest soft diffuse X-ray emission among the Galactic giant HII regions, but the origin has not been known yet. The XIS1 back-illuminated CCD camera onboard the Suzaku X-ray observatory has the best spectral resolution for extended soft sources so far, and is therefore capable of measuring these key emission lines in the soft diffuse plasma. Suzaku observed the Carina nebula on 2005 Aug. 29. The XIS1 spectra of the Carina nebula clearly showed spatial variations in emission line strengths. In the south, the spectrum showed strong L-shell lines of iron ions and K-shell lines of silicon ions, while in the north these lines were much weaker. Fitting the spectra with an absorbed thin-thermal plasma model with kT ~ 0.2, 0.6 keV and NH ~ −2 × 1021 cm−2 showed that the silicon and iron abundance is about 2–3 times higher in the south than in the north. Because of its large size (~40 pc), the diffuse emission in the Carina nebula might have been produced by an old supernova, or a super shell produced by multiple supernovae.