Planets cool and contract as they age, with a cooling rate that depends on the efficiency with which they can transport heat out to space, first through the convective interior and then radiatively out through the atmosphere. The bottleneck for this cooling is the radiative-convective boundary (RCB), where the heat transport is the least efficient. Due to differential heating and atmospheric dynamics, the depth of the RCB can vary with latitude and longitude, meaning that the actual global cooling rate may differ from what would be calculated assuming a spherically symmetric RCB, as in 1D evolutionary models. Here we present models of the deep atmosphere of a generic hot Jupiter, calculate inhomogeneity in the RCB, and determine the resulting effect on the global thermal evolution. Although this issue can apply to any differentially heated gas giant, we focus on the hot Jupiter class of planet because: 1) the thick radiative zones above their deep RCBs can have a stronger influence on deforming the surface of the RCB than would generally be the case for a less-irradiated planet, and 2) an uneven RCB should increase the cooling rate, potentially exacerbating the mismatch between the large radii measured for some hot Jupiters and the smaller radii expected from evolutionary models.

Coronal mass ejections observed in the corona exhibit a three-part structure, with a leading bright front indicating dense plasma, a low density cavity thought to be a signature of the embedded magnetic flux rope, and the high density core likely containing cold, prominence material. When observed in-situ, as Interplanetary CMEs (or ICMEs), the presence of all three of these signatures remains elusive, with the prominence material rarely observed. We report on a comprehensive and long-term search for prominence material inside ICMEs as observed by the Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer on the Advanced Composition Explorer. Using a novel data analysis process, we are able to identify traces of low charge state plasma created during prominence eruptions associated with ICMEs. We find that the likelihood of occurrence of cold material in the heliosphere is vastly lower than that observed in the corona but that conditions during the eruption do allow low charge ions to make it into the solar wind, preserving their expansion history. We discuss the implications of these findings.

In February 2013, the LEECH (LBTI Exozodi Exoplanet Common Hunt) survey began its 100-night campaign from the Large Binocular Telescope atop Mount Graham in Arizona. LEECH neatly complements other high-contrast planet imaging efforts by observing stars in L' band (3.8 microns) as opposed to the shorter wavelength near-infrared bands (1–2.3 microns). This part of the spectrum offers deeper mass sensitivity for intermediate age (several hundred Myr-old) systems, since their Jovian-mass planets radiate predominantly in the mid-infrared. In this proceedings, we present the science goals for LEECH and a preliminary contrast curve from some early data.

The field of exoplanet spectroscopy has grown tremendously in the last decade. With the discovery of gas giant planets at wide separations from their host stars via direct imaging, it is now possible to obtain exoplanet spectra with unprecedented spectral resolution. We present a medium resolution spectrum of the directly imaged exoplanet HR 8799c. This K-band spectrum was obtained using the integral field spectrograph OSIRIS on the Keck II telescope. Our spectrum shows numerous, well-resolved molecular lines from water and carbon monoxide (CO). There is no clear evidence for methane absorption, in spite of a best fit temperature of ~1100 K. We find a best fit surface gravity log(g) ~ 4.0, consistent with the inferred young age for the system (~30 Myr), and a continuum morphology consistent with previously-inferred dust clouds. Using the water and CO lines, we are able to estimate the C/O ratio for this planet. We find a ratio slightly higher than stellar (~0.65), which provides hints about the planet's formation.

We studied three interplanetary coronal mass ejections associated with solar eruptive filaments. Filament plasma remnants embedded in these structures were identified using plasma, magnetic and compositional signatures. These features when impacted the Earth's terrestrial magnetosphere - ionosphere system, resulted in geomagnetic storms. During the main phase of associated storms, along with high density plasma structures, polarity reversals in the Y-component (dawn-to-dusk) of the interplanetary electric field seem to trigger major auroral substorms with concomitant changes in the polar ionospheric electric field. Here, we examine the cases where plasma dynamics and magnetic structuring in the presence of the prompt penetration of the electric field into the equatorial ionosphere affected the space weather while highlighting the complex geomagnetic storm-substorm relationship.

The EVE instrument on SDO is making accurate measurements of the solar spectral irradiance in the EUV between 30 and 1069 Å, with 1 Å spectral resolution and 10 s sampling rate. These data define solar variability in the “Sun-as-a-star” mode and reveal many interesting kinds of variation. Its high sensitivity also makes it suitable for spectroscopic diagnostics of solar features such as flares. Here we present EVE's potential contribution to the diagnostics of large-scale, slowly evolving features such as prominences and active regions, and what we can learn from this.

Building a complete coherent model of planet formation has proven difficult. There are gaps in the observational record, difficult physical processes that we have yet to fully understand, such as planetesimal formation, and an extensive list of observationally determined constraints that the model must fulfil. For example, the diversity of extrasolar planets detected to date is staggering – from single hot-Jupiters to multiple planet systems with several tightly packed super-Earths. In addition, the characteristics of the host stars are broad from single solar-mass stars to tight binaries and low mass, low metalicity stars. Even more surprising, perhaps, is the frequency of detection and thus, the implied efficiency of the planet formation process. Any theoretical model must not just be able to explain how planets form but must also explain the frequency and diversity of planetary systems. So why is planet formation so prolific? What parameters determine the type of planetary system that will result? How important are the initial parameters of the protoplanetary disk, such as composition, versus stochastic effects, such as gravitational scattering events, that occur during the evolution of the planetary system?

Current observations of extrasolar planets provide snapshots in time of the earliest and latest stages of planet formation but do not show the evolution between the two. It is at this point that we must rely on numerical models to evolve proto-planetary disks into planets. But how can we validate the results of our numerical simulations if the middle stages of planet formation are effectively invisible? Collisions are a core component of planet formation. Planetesimals, the building blocks of planets, collide with one another as they grow and evolve into planets or planetary cores and are viscously stirred by larger protoplanets and fully-formed planets. The range of impact parameters encountered during growth from planetesimals to planets span multiple collision outcome regimes: cratering, merging, disruption, and hit-and-run events. Most of these collisions produce significant debris and dust. If we have a good understanding of the production of collisional debris we can use it as an indirect tracer of on-going planetary evolution even if the planets themselves are not directly detectable.

In this paper I will show how numerical simulations of planet formation including realistic collision modelling can be used to predict, and be constrained by, observations.

We present preliminary results of a detailed study of the accretion, stellar, and wind properties of transitional disks (TDs) carried out with the X-Shooter spectrograph. Combining new and archival spectra, we collected a sample of more than 20 TDs from different nearby star-forming regions. Our sample includes objects with both small (<5-15 AU) and large (>20–30 AU) known inner hole size from the literature (either from mm-observations or IR SED fitting). We check their stellar parameters (Teff, L*, AV, M*) and derive their accretion properties (Lacc, Ṁacc) in a self-consistent way, which makes use of the wide wavelength coverage of X-Shooter, and study their wind properties by mean of different forbidden emission lines analysis.

In this conference proceedings we summarize the key observational findings of the Herschel DUNES survey. We found 31 discs in our sample, equating to an increased dust incidence with Herschel of 20.2 ±2.0% compared to previous measurement of ~12.5±5% with Spitzer for the same population of nearby, Sun-like stars. We identify no trend towards fewer discs around later spectral types, as had previously been reported for A-M stars. Around half of the discs exhibit extended emission, representing a vast improvement in the number of spatially resolved debris discs and thereby the quality of modelling that can be applied to those systems. We also identify unusual sub-groups of discs, including ‘steep SED’ sources with dust spectral indexes in the 70–160 μm range, steeper than the Rayleigh-Jeans tail which, whilst not unheard of, are more typically seen at sub-mm wavelengths and candidate ‘cold discs’ which are identified through their lack of significant excess emission at wavelengths shorter than 100 μm.

Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections (ICMEs), and more specifically Magnetic Clouds (MCs), are detected with in situ plasma and magnetic measurements. They are the continuation of the CMEs observed with imagers closer to the Sun. A review of their properties is presented with a focus on their magnetic configuration and its evolution. Many recent observations, both in situ and with imagers, point to a key role of flux ropes, a conclusion which is also supported by present coronal eruptive models. Then, is a flux rope generically present in an ICME? How to quantify its 3D physical properties when it is detected locally as a MC? Is it a simple flux rope? How does it evolve in the solar wind? This paper reviews our present answers and limited understanding to these questions.

To contribute to the understanding of the physical mechanisms at work during the initial phase and early evolution of erupting prominences, we analyze combined observations from ground-based and space-borne instruments. We present two case studies, which occurred at two different phases of the solar cycle, namely on March 2, 2002 and on April 16, 2012. In particular, we show the results of a morphological and kinematical analysis and interpret them in terms of available theoretical models.

In protoplanetary disks, the inner boundary between an MRI active and inactive region has recently been suggested to be a promising site for planet formation. A set of numerical simulations has indeed shown that vortex formation mediated by the Rossby wave instability is a natural consequence of the disk dynamics at that location. However, such models have so far considered only the case of an isothermal equation of state, while the complex thermodynamics is at the heart of how this region works. Using the Godunov code Ramses, we have performed 3D global numerical simulations of protoplanetary disks that relax the isothermal hypothesis. We find that, at the interface, the disk thermodynamics and the turbulent dynamics are intimately entwined, because of the importance of turbulent dissipation and thermal ionisation.

We present first imaging results from the PALM-3000 adaptive optics system and PHARO camera on the Hale 5 m telescope. Observations using a vector vortex coronagraph have given us direct detections of the two-ring dusty debris system around the star HD 141569. Our observations reveal the inner clearing in the disk to unprecedentedly small angular separations, and are the most sensitive yet at the H and K bands. We are for the first time able to measure and compare the colors of the scattered light in the inner and outer dust rings, and find that the outer ring is significantly bluer than the inner ring.

We present the results of a study to optimize the principal component analysis (PCA) algorithm for planet detection, a new algorithm complementing ADI and LOCI for increasing the contrast achievable next to a bright star. We apply PCA to our Fomalhaut VLT NACO Apodizing Phase Plate NB4.05 data.

Large-amplitude longitudinal (LAL) prominence oscillations consist of periodic mass motions along a filament axis. The oscillations appear to be triggered by an energetic event, such as a microflare, subflare, or small C-class flare, close to one end of the filament. Observations reveal speeds of several tens to 100 km/s, periods of order 1 hr, damping times of a few periods, and displacements equal to a significant fraction of the prominence length. We have developed a theoretical model to explain the restoring force and the damping mechanism. Our model demonstrates that the main restoring force is the projected gravity in the flux tube dips where the threads oscillate. Although the period is independent of the tube length and the constantly growing mass, the motions are strongly damped by the steady accretion of mass onto the threads. We conclude that the LAL movements represent a collective oscillation of a large number of cool, dense threads moving along dipped flux tubes, triggered by a nearby energetic event. Our model yields a powerful seismological method for constraining the coronal magnetic field strength and radius of curvature at the thread locations.

Based on a self-consistent coupling between protoplanetary disk thermodynamics, photosphere geometry and dynamics we designed a 1D-hydrodynamical numerical model for the spreading of the disks as a function of the star characteristics. We found that the evolution timescale increases for more massive or for a steeper surface density disk, and decreases for bigger stars or less turbulent disks. We found a strong dependency of the mass accretion rate versus the disk mass and a weaker dependency versus the star mass. Coupled with observed similar conclusions, we derived that the disk mass is scaling as M*1.6.

We observed with HARPS, the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for 40 of the 75 transiting hot Jupiters discovered in the Southern Hemisphere by WASP. Our observations reveal a wide distribution in orbital inclinations indicative of past dynamical interactions. Our data also demonstrate the important effect produced by tidal interactions in shaping the spin–orbit (β) angle distribution. We briefly present and interpret the data we collected in a series of graphs.

The young (12+8−4 Myr) and nearby (19.44±0.05 pc) star β Pictoris is considered one of the best laboratories for the study of early phases of planetary systems formation since the identification of an extended debris disk surrounding the star in 1984. In 2009, we imaged at 3.8 μm with NaCo at VLT a gas giant planet around β Pictoris, roughly along the disk mid-plane, with a semi-major axis between 8 and 14 AU. We present here the first images of the planet in the J (1.265 μm), H (1.66 μm), and M' (4.78 μm) bands obtained between 2011 and 2012. We used these data to build the 1-5 μm spectral energy distribution (SED) of the companion, and to consolidate previous semi-major axis (8-10 AU) estimates. We compared the SED to seven atmospheric models to derive Teff = 1700 ± 100 K. We used the temperature and the luminosity of β Pictoris b to estimate new masses for the companion. We compared these masses to independent constraints set by the orbital parameters and the radial velocities and use them to discuss the formation history of the object.

On 20 August 2010 an energetic disturbance triggered damped large-amplitude longitudinal (LAL) oscillations in almost an entire filament. In the present work we analyze this periodic motion in the filament to characterize the damping and restoring mechanism of the oscillation. Our method involves placing slits along the axis of the filament at different angles with respect to the spine of the filament, finding the angle at which the oscillation is clearest, and fitting the resulting oscillation pattern to decaying sinusoidal and Bessel functions. These functions represent the equations of motion of a pendulum damped by mass accretion. With this method we determine the period and the decaying time of the oscillation. Our preliminary results support the theory presented by Luna and Karpen (2012) that the restoring force of LAL oscillations is solar gravity in the tubes where the threads oscillate, and the damping mechanism is the ongoing accumulation of mass onto the oscillating threads. Following an earlier paper, we have determined the magnitude and radius of curvature of the dipped magnetic flux tubes hosting a thread along the filament, as well as the mass accretion rate of the filament threads, via the fitted parameters.

Prominence eruptions are one of the most spectacular manifestations of our Sun's activity. Yet there is still some mystery surrounding their relevant physical conditions. What are their plasma parameters? How different are they from those of quiescent prominences? How do they relate to those within coronal mass ejections? We briefly review some recent results in non-LTE radiative transfer modelling which contribute to our knowledge of the plasma properties in eruptive prominences. We discuss in particular how these results, combined with observational data analysis, can help us in determining the plasma parameters in eruptive prominences.