Wavelet analysis was employed to identify the major frequencies of low-frequency waves present in the Martian magnetosheath. The Morlet wavelet transform was selected and applied to the electron density data, obtained from the Analyzer of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms experiment (ASPERA-3), onboard the Mars Express (MEX) spacecraft. We have selected magnetosheath crossings and analyzed electron density data. From a preliminary study of 502 magnetosheath crossings (observed during the year of 2005), we have found 1409 periods between 0.005 and 0.06Hz. The major frequencies observed were in the range 0.005-0.02 Hz with 58.5% of the 1409 frequencies identified.

We study the effects of mergers on non-parametric morphologies of galaxies. We compute the Gini index, M20, asymmetry and concentration statistics for z = 0 galaxies in the Illustris simulation and compare non-parametric morphologies of major mergers, minor merges, close pairs, distant pairs and unperturbed galaxies. We determine the effectiveness of observational methods based on these statistics to select merging galaxies.

The visible surface of the Sun, or photosphere, is defined as the solar radius in the optical spectrum range located at 696,000 km (Cox et al. (Ed. 2015)). However, as the altitude increases, the dominant electromagnetic radiation is emitted at other frequencies. Our aim is to measure the solar radius at frequencies of 212 GHz and 405 GHz through out a solar cycle and, therefore, the altitude where these emissions are generated and that variation along the years. Also we tried to verify the the radius dependence on the solar activity cycle, which can be a good indicator of the changes that occur in the atmosphere structure. For this, we used data obtained by the Submillimetric Solar Telescope (SST) created from daily scans made by SST from 1990 to 2015. From these scans a 2D map of the solar disk was constructed. The solar radius is then determined by adjusting a circumference to the points where the brightness is half of the quiet Sun level, which is set as the most common temperature value in the solar map, i.e., the mode of the temperature distribution. Thus, we determined the solar radius at 212 and 405 GHz and the altitude of the emissions respectively. For 212 GHz, we obtained a radius of 976.5”±8” (707±4 Mm), whereas for 405 GHz, we obtained 975.0”±8” (707±5 Mm). optical spectrum range

Semi-empirical atmospheric modeling is here used to obtain the chromospheric magnetic field distribution versus height in the K2 primary component of the RS CVn binary system HR 7428. The chromospheric magnetic field estimation versus height comes from considering the possibility of not imposing hydrostatic equilibrium in the atmospheric modeling. The stability of the best Non-hydrostatic equilibrium model, implies the presence of and additive (toward the center of the star) pressure, that decrease in strength from the base of the chromosphere toward the outer layers. Interpreting the additive pressure as magnetic pressure and I derive a magnetic field intensity of about 500 Gauss at the base of the chromosphere.

We are building a catalogue of interactively reprocessed observations of evolved stars observed with Herschel. The catalogue will offer not only the PACS and SPIRE spectroscopic data for each observation, but also complementary information from other infrared space observatories. As a first step, we are concentrating our efforts on two main activities: 1) the interactive data-reduction of more than 500 individual spectra obtained with PACS in the 55-210 μm range, available in the Herschel Science Archive; 2) the creation of a catalogue, accesible via a web-based interface and through the Virtual Observatory. Our ultimate goal is to carry out a comprehensive and systematic study of the far infrared properties of low-and intermediate-mass evolved stars using these data and enable science based on Herschel archival data. The objects cover the whole range of possible evolutionary stages in this short-lived phase of stellar evolution, from the AGB to the PN stage, displaying a wide variety of chemical and physical properties.

Python is considered to be a mature programming language, besides of being widely accepted as an engaging option for scientific analysis in multiple areas, as will be presented in this work for the particular case of solar physics research. SunPy is an open-source library based on Python that has been recently developed to furnish software tools to solar data analysis and visualization. In this work we present a graphical user interface (GUI) based on Python and Qt to effectively compute proper motions for the analysis of time series of solar data. This user-friendly computing interface, that is intended to be incorporated to the Sunpy library, uses a local correlation tracking technique and some extra tools that allows the selection of different parameters to calculate, vizualize and analyze vector velocity fields of solar data, i.e. time series of solar filtergrams and magnetograms.

We present high resolution spectroscopy obtained with MIKE-Magellan and MES OAN-SPM of a number of planetary nebulae (PNe) and H ii regions, distributed along the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 3109 and compare their kinematical behavior with the one of H i data. We aim to determine if there is a kinematical connection among these objects. We also perform a revision of the chemical composition of PNe and H ii regions in this galaxy and discuss it in comparison with stellar evolution models.

We present the results of a long-term search (25 yrs) for radial velocity variability in a sample of seven bright proto-planetary nebulae showing axial symmetry. They all vary in velocity due to periodic pulsations. However, only marginal evidence is found for multi-year variations that might be due to a binary companion.

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are the main source of intense geomagnetic storms when they are earthward directed. Studying their travel time is a key-point to understand when the disturbance will be observed at Earth. In this work, we study the CME that originated the interplanetary disturbance observed on 2013/10/02. According to the observations, the CME that caused the interplanetary disturbance was ejected on 2013/09/29. We obtained the CME speed and estimate of the time of arrival at the Lagrangian Point L1 using the concept of expansion speed. We found that observed and estimated times of arrival of the shock differ between 2 and 23 hours depending on method used to estimate the radial speed.

The VIALACTEA project brings to a common forum the major new-generation surveys of the Milky Way Galactic Plane from 1μm to the radio, both in thermal continuum and in atomic and molecular lines, to attack in a systematic way the characterization of the Milky Way as a star formation engine. Images, catalogues, spectroscopic datacubes and radiative transfer models of the Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) of sites of star formation have been incorporated and indexed in the VIALACTEA Knowledge Base (VLKB). The VLKB consists of a combination of a relational database where the VIALACTEA data and metadata are homogenised and stored, and a filesystem-based stored information. This infrastructure allowed, among others, the generation of extensive catalogue for compact sources and extended structures in the Galactic Plane, the implementation of data-mining algorithms for the band-merging of multiwavelength data and expert systems for the automated analysis of molecular line surveys to extract critical kinematical information and derive distances using Galaxy rotation curves and new 3D extinction maps. A new VIALACTEA 3D Visual Analytics interface has been developed that provides integrated access and analysis of continuum and spectroscopic images together with catalogue data directly interfacing with the VLKB.

Many astronomers working in the field of AstroInformatics write code as part of their work. Although the programming language of choice is Python, a small number (8%) use R. R has its specific strengths in the domain of statistics, and is often viewed as limited in the size of data it can handle. However, Microsoft R Server is a product that removes these limitations by being able to process much larger amounts of data. I present some highlights of R Server, by illustrating how to fit a convolutional neural network using R. The specific task is to classify galaxies, using only images extracted from the Sloan Digital Skyserver.

In this work, we investigate the stellar magnetic activity in the theoretical point of view, through the use of stellar structure and evolution models. We present theoretical values of convective turnover times and Rossby numbers for low-mass stars, calculated with the ATON stellar structure and evolution code. We concentrate our analysis on fully convective and partially convective stars motivated by recent observations of X-ray emission of slowly rotating fully convective stars, which suggest that the presence of a tachocline is not a central key for magnetic fields generation. We investigate the behavior of the convective turnover time evolution, as well as its radial profile inside the star. A discussion about the location where the convective turnover time is calculated in the stellar interior is also addressed. Our theoretical results are compared to observational data from low-mass stars.

We compare recent precise/reliable nebular abundances - as derived from high-quality optical spectra and the most recent ICFs - in a sample of Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) with nucleosynthesis predictions (HeCNOCl) from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) ATON models in the metallicity range Z ⊙/4 < Z < 2Z ⊙. According to the infrared dust features, the sample is divided among carbon-, oxygen-, and double-dust chemistry (CC, OC, and DC, respectively), providing an independent proxy for the nature of the PNe progenitors. Our AGB models, with diffusive overshooting from all the convective borders, nicely reproduce the O overabundances observed in CC PNe, indicating that they evolve from low-Z low-mass (∼1 −3 M⊙) AGB stars. This indicates that O is not always a good indicator of the original ISM metallicity and that the O production by low-mass stars should be considered in galactic-evolution models. The lowest metallicity OC PNe evolve from low-mass (∼1 M⊙) O-rich AGBs, while the higher metallicity ones (all with uncertain dust classifications) display a chemical pattern similar to the DC PNe. In agreement with the recent literature, the DC PNe mostly descend from high-mass (M > 3.5 M⊙) solar/supersolar metallicity AGBs that experience hot bottom burning (HBB), but other formation channels in low-mass AGBs like extra mixing, stellar rotation, binary interaction, or He pre-enrichment cannot be disregarded until more accurate C/O ratios can be obtained. Two DC PNe show the imprint of advanced CNO processing and deep second dredge-up, suggesting progenitors masses close to the limit to evolve as core collapse supernovae (above 6 M⊙). Their actual C/O ratios, if confirmed, indicate contamination from the third dredge-up, rejecting the hypothesis that the chemical composition of such high-metallicity massive AGBs is modified exclusively by HBB.

The origin of magnetic cycles in the Sun and other cool stars is one of the great theoretical challenge in stellar astrophysics that still resists our understanding. Ab-initio numerical simulations are today required to explore the extreme turbulent regime in which stars operate and sustain their large-scale, cyclic magnetic field. We report in this work on recent progresses made with high performance numerical simulations of global turbulent convective envelopes. We rapidly review previous prominent results from numerical simulations, and present for the first time a series of turbulent, global simulations producing regular magnetic cycles whose period varies systematically with the convective envelope parameters (rotation rate, convective luminosity). We find that the fundamentally non-linear character of the dynamo simulated in this work leads the magnetic cycle period to be inversely proportional to the Rossby number. These results promote an original interpretation of stellar magnetic cycles, and could help reconcile the cyclic behaviour of the Sun and other solar-type stars.

We have developed a method for determining elemental Fe-group abundances in planetary nebulae using an infrared emission line of Zn, the least refractory Fe-group species. Many planetary nebulae, particularly those of the Milky Way’s thick disk and bulge, display subsolar [Fe/H] (as inferred from Zn) although their abundances of α elements such as O, S, and Ar are nearly solar. We discuss the implications for determining enhancements of species synthesized by the progenitor star during the AGB (e.g., s-process products), and for galactic chemical evolution in view of the metallicity dependence of AGB nucleosynthetic yields.

Circumstellar envelopes (CEs) around evolved stars are an active site for the production of molecules. After evolving through the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB), proto-planetary nebula (PPN), to planetary nebula (PN) phases, CEs ultimately merge with the interstellar medium (ISM). The study of molecules in PNe, therefore, is essential to understanding the transition from stellar to interstellar materials. So far, over 20 molecular species have been discovered in PNe. The molecular composition of PNe is rather different from those of AGB and PPNe, suggesting that the molecules synthesized in PN progenitors have been heavily processed by strong ultraviolet radiation from the central star. Intriguingly, fullerenes and complex organic compounds having aromatic and aliphatic structures can be rapidly formed and largely survive during the PPN/PN evolution. The similar molecular compositions in PNe and diffuse clouds as well as the detection of C60 + in the ISM reinforce the view that the mass-loss from PNe can significantly enrich the ISM with molecular species, some of which may be responsible for the diffuse interstellar bands. In this contribution, I briefly summarize some recent observations of molecules in PNe, with emphasis on their implications on circumstellar chemistry.

The purpose of this paper is to explore a resolution for the Faint Young Sun Paradox that has been mostly rejected by the community, namely the possibility of a somewhat more massive young Sun with a large mass loss rate sustained for two to three billion years. This would make the young Sun bright enough to keep both the terrestrial and Martian oceans from freezing, and thus resolve the paradox. It is found that a large and sustained mass loss is consistent with the well observed spin-down rate of Sun-like stars, and indeed may be required for it. It is concluded that a more massive young Sun must be considered a plausible hypothesis.

The Hubble Source Catalog (HSC) is designed to enhance the science obtained from the Hubble Space Telescope by combining the tens of thousands of visit-based source lists in the Hubble Legacy Archive (HLA) across filters and detectors into a single master catalog. The catalog contains data from the major Hubble imaging instruments: Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). It is based on cross matching and astrometry algorithms developed by Budavari & Lubow (2012). We recently released Version 2 that is three times the size of Version 1 and includes some new features. The catalog can be accessed through a variety of interfaces (see http://archive.stsci.edu/hst/hsc/). The HSC provides descriptions of astronomical objects involving multiple wavelengths and epochs. High relative positional accuracy of objects is achieved across the Hubble images, often with sub-pixel precision of a few milliarcseconds.

We present the results of our search for low- and intermediate mass evolved stars in the outer Galaxy using AllWISE catalogue photometry. We show that the [3.4]−[12] vs. [4.6]−[22] colour-colour diagram is most suitable for separating C-rich/O-rich AGB and post-AGB star candidates. We are able to select 2,510 AGB and 24,821 post-AGB star candidates. However, the latter are severely mixed with the known young stellar objects in this diagram.

The chromosphere is a complex region that acts as an intermediary between the magnetic flux emergence in the photosphere and the magnetic features seen in the corona. Large eruptions in the chromosphere of flares and filaments are often accompanied by ejections of coronal mass off the sun. Several studies have observed fast-moving progressive trains of compact bright points (called Sequential Chromospheric Brightenings or SCBs) streaming away from chromospheric flares that also produce a coronal mass ejection (CME). In this work, we review studies of SCBs and search for commonalties between them. We place these findings into a larger context with contemporary chromospheric and coronal observations. SCBs are fleeting indicators of the solar atmospheric environment as it existed before their associated eruption. Since they appear at the very outset of a flare eruption, SCBs are good early indication of a CME measured in the chromosphere.