The Auriga-California Molecular Cloud (AMC) is one of two nearby (within 500 pc) giant molecular clouds, the other being the Orion A Molecular Cloud (OMC). We aim to study the properties of circumstellar disks in the AMC to compare the planet formation potential and processes within the AMC to those for other clouds. A first look with measurements from Spitzer observations suggests that AMC disk properties, such as the distribution of disk luminosities and the evolution of the mid-IR excesses, are not vastly different from those in other regions. Follow-up observations in the submm, mm and cm can be used to measure disk masses and the degree of grain growth from spectral slopes to more completely characterize the disk population.

On 5 January 2005, SoHO/LASCO observed two CMEs associated with eruptive filaments with different initial velocities and acceleration. The second CME accelerates much faster than the previous and the resulting interaction has been revealed in in-situ spacecraft measurements by the presence of magnetic holes at the border of the two distinct magnetic clouds. At their interface region, these magnetic clouds have embedded filament plasma that shows complex magnetic structures with a distinct magnetic flux rope configuration; these have been modeled by the Grad - Shafranov reconstruction technique. The geomagnetic consequences of these structures have been associated with substorms in recovery phase of a storm and detailed analysis is presented in Sharma et al. (2013). In the present paper, we highlight the comparison of shape and extent of two filament plasma remnants in magnetic clouds as revealed by three - dimensional (3D) reconstruction and analysis from the Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) data. The results provide an overview of the two eruptive filaments on 5 January 2005 and their interplanetary propagation.

We investigate the advantages of imaging solar filaments and prominences in Lyman-Alpha, coupled to H-Alpha on ground, to develop more reliable precursors indicators for large flares, several hours before their occurrence.

We have observed a quiescent prominence with the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) (Ca II and Hα lines), Sacramento Peak Dunn Solar Telescope using the Universal Birefringent Filter (DST/UBF, in Hα, Hβ and Sodium-D lines), THEMIS (Télescope Héliographique pour l Etude du Magnétisme et des Instabilités Solaires/MTR (Multi Raies) spectromagnetograph (He D3), and the Solar Dynamics Observatory Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA) in EUV over a 4 hour period on 2012 October 10. The small fields of view of the SOT, DST, and MTR are centered on a large prominence footpoint extending towards the surface. This feature appears in the larger field of view of the AIA/304 Å filtergram as a large, quasi-vertical pillar with loops on each side. The THEMIS/MTR data indicate that the magnetic field in the pillar is essentially horizontal and the observations in the optical domain show a large number of horizontally aligned features in the pillar. The data are consistent with a model of cool prominence plasma trapped in the dips of horizontal field lines. The SOT and DST data show what appear to be moving wave pulses. These pulses, which include a Doppler signature, move vertically, perpendicular to the field direction, along quasi-vertical columns of horizontal threads in the pillar. The pulses have a velocity of propagation of about 10 km/s, a wavelength about 2000 km in the plane of the sky, and a period about 280 sec. We interpret these waves in terms of fast magnetosonic waves.

We perform coagulation & fragmentation simulations to understand grain growth in T Tauri & brown dwarf discs. We present a physically-motivated approach using a probability distribution function for the collision velocities and separating the deterministic & stochastic velocities. We find growth to larger sizes compared to other models. Furthermore, if brown dwarf discs are scaled-down versions of T Tauri discs (in terms of stellar & disc mass, and disc radius), growth at the same location with respect to the outer edge occurs to similar sizes in both discs.

We have developed a suite of forward-modeling IDL codes (FORWARD) to convert analytic models or simulation data cubes into coronal observables, allowing a direct comparison with observations. Observables such as extreme ultraviolet, soft X-ray, white light, and polarization images from the Coronal Multichannel Polarimeter (CoMP) can be reproduced. The observer's viewpoint is also incorporated in the FORWARD analysis and the codes can output the results in a variety of forms in order to easily create movies, Carrington maps, or simply observable information at a particular point in the plane of the sky. We present a newly developed front end to the FORWARD codes which utilizes IDL widgets to facilitate ease of use by the solar physics community. Our ultimate goal is to provide as useful a tool as possible for a broad range of scientific applications.

The close environment of Herbig stars starts to be revealed step by step and it appears to be quite complex. Many physical phenomena interplay: the dust sublimation causing a puffed-up inner rim, a dusty halo, a dusty wind or an inner gaseous component. To investigate more deeply these regions, getting images at the first Astronomical Unit scale is necessary. This has become possible with near infrared instruments on the VLTI. We have developed a new imaging method adapted to young stellar objects where we process separately the stellar component from the rest of the image to reveal the environment by using the spectral differences between these two components. We present the result of this method on the first imaging survey of Herbig stars carried out by PIONIER on the VLTI.

Past analysis of HD 189733b's atmosphere has been a cause for some debate, with conflicting findings regarding water and sodium abundances and the presence of a high altitude haze. We present our models of HD 189733b's atmospheric composition using VSTAR (Versatile Software for Transfer of Atmospheric Radiation). Since the effective temperature of the planet is expected to be approximately 5000K, newly available high-temperature spectral line lists were used.

The biosignatures of life on Earth are not fixed, but change with time as environmental conditions change and life living within those environments adapts to the new conditions. A latitude-based climate model, incorporating orbital parameter variations, was used to simulate conditions on the far-future Earth as the Sun enters the late main sequence. Over time, conditions increasingly favour a unicellular microbial biosphere, which can persist for a maximum of 2.8 Gyr from present. The biosignature changes associated with the likely biosphere changes are evaluated using a biosphere-atmosphere gas exchange model and their detectability is discussed. As future Earth-like exoplanet discoveries could be habitable planets nearing the end of their habitable lifetimes, this helps inform the search for the signatures of life beyond Earth

We model the magnetized interaction between a star and a close-in planet (SPMIs), using global, magnetohydrodynamic numerical simulations. In this proceedings, we study the effects of the numerical boundary conditions at the stellar surface, where the stellar wind is driven, and in the planetary interior. We show that is it possible to design boundary conditions that are adequate to obtain physically realistic, steady-state solutions for cases with both magnetized and unmagnetized planets. This encourages further development of numerical studies, in order to better constrain and undersand SPMIs, as well as their effects on the star-planet rotational evolution.

There are currently no three dimensional numerical models which describe the magnetic and energetic formation of prominences self-consistently. Consequently, there has not been significant progress made in understanding the connection between the dense prominence plasma and the coronal cavity. We have taken an ad-hoc approach to understanding the energetic implications of the magnetic models of prominence structure. We extract one dimensional magnetic field lines from a 3D MHD model of a flux rope and solve for hydrostatic balance along these field lines incorporating field-aligned thermal conduction, uniform heating, and radiative losses. The 1D hydrostatic solutions for density and temperature are then mapped back into three dimensional space, which allows us to consider the projection of multiple structures. We find that the 3D flux rope is composed of several distinct field line types. A majority of the flux rope interior field lines are twisted but not dipped. These field lines are density-reduced relative to unsheared arcade field lines. We suggest the cavity may form along these short interior field lines which are surrounded by a sheath of dipped field lines. This geometric arrangement would create a cavity on top of a prominence, but the two structures would not share field lines or plasma.

Discs are a key element in star and planet formation; however, magnetic fields can efficiently transport angular momentum away from the central region of the collapsing core during the dense core collapse, preventing disc formation. We perform numerical simulations of magnetically supercritical collapsing cores with a misalignment between the rotation axis and the magnetic field (Joos et al. 2012) and in a turbulent environment (Joos et al. 2013). The early formation of massive discs can take place at moderate magnetic intensities if the rotation axis is tilted or in a turbulent environment, because of misalignment and turbulent diffusion.

Several tools have been developed for the analysis of the results of direct imaging exoplanet surveys, mostly using a combination of Monte-Carlo simulations or a Bayesian approach. Here we present a novel approach to the statistical analysis of Direct Imaging surveys, called Quick-MESS, which allows for a much faster and flexible analysis.

We present SDO/AIA observations of a potentially novel type of prominence, called “funnel prominence”, that forms out of coronal condensation at magnetic dips.

They can drain a large amount of mass (up to ~1015 g day−1) and may play an important role as return flows of the chromosphere-corona mass cycle.

The Homogeneous Study of Transiting Systems (HoSTS) will derive a consistent and homogeneous set of both the stellar and planetary physical properties for a large sample of bright transiting planetary systems with confirmed planetary masses and measured radii. Our resulting catalogs of the fundamental properties of these bright planets and their host stars will enable us to explore empirical correlations that will lead to a better understanding of planetary formation and evolution. We present our pilot study of the planet-hosting star WASP-13, and the framework of our project which will allow for the identification of true relationships among the physical properties of the systems from any systematics.

The behavior of filaments and prominences during the Solar Cycle is a signature of Sun's activity. It is therefore important to follow their evolution during the cycle, in order to be able to associate it with the various phases of the Solar Cycle as well as with other Solar features or events. The virtual observatory HELIO provides information that can be used for such studies, especially its Heliophysics Feature Catalogue gives a unique access to the description of various features during around one cycle. Features available are: filaments, prominences, photospheric and coronal active regions, coronal radio emission, type III radio bursts, coronal holes and sunspots. Web interfaces allow the user to query data for these features. Useful information can also be shared with other HELIO services, such as Heliophysics Event Catalogue, which provides access to dozens of tables of events such as flares, CMEs, . . .

Particles in protoplanetary discs grow rapidly to millimetre-sizes via coagulation, but further growth to centimetre-sized pebbles is not yet completely understood. We investigate particle growth by ice condensation in a model where we take the dynamical behaviour of vapour and ice particles into account, as well as the size evolution due to condensation and sublimation. Our results show that efficient growth from dust to pebbles is possible close to the water ice line at ~3 AU, with particles growing from millimetres to decimetres on a time scale of 10000 yr.

We examine the evolution of the snow line in a protoplanetary disc. If the magneto-rotational instability (MRI) drives turbulence throughout the disc, there is a unique snow line outside of which the disc is icy. The snow line moves closer to the star as the infall accretion rate drops. Because the snow line moves inside the radius of the Earth's orbit, the formation of our water-devoid planet is difficult with this model. However, protoplanetary discs are not likely to be sufficiently ionised to be fully turbulent. A dead zone at the mid-plane slows the flow of material through the disc and a global steady state cannot be achieved. We model the evolution of the snow line also in a disc with a dead zone. As the mass is accumulating, the outer parts of the dead zone become self gravitating, heat the massive disc and thus the outer snow line does not come inside the radius of the Earth's orbit. With this model there is sufficient time and mass in the disc for the Earth to form from water-devoid planetesimals at a radius of 1AU. Furthermore, the additional inner icy region within the dead zone predicted by this model may allow for the formation of giant planets close to their host star without the need for much migration.

We are investigating if the orbital geometry of exoplanets affects the activity of their host star by studying a sample of planetary systems known to contain massive planets on short period, highly elliptical orbits. While recent studies in the optical, UV, and X-Ray have shown enhanced chromospheric activity for stars hosting exoplanets with orbital semi-major axes less than 0.1 AU (Krejcova 2012, Shkolnik 2013, Kashyap 2008, Poppenhaeger 2010), it is not yet clear whether this activity is driven by magnetic or tidal interactions. We are probing the dependence of star-planet interactions (SPI) on the orbital geometry of the planetary systems by analyzing chromospheric lines (such as Ca II H & K) for variability phased with the exoplanet's orbit. We have obtained high resolution spectra of several systems with the McDonald 2.1-m Sandiford echelle spectrograph, ARCES on the APO 3.5-m, and for HIRES on Keck I from the Keck Observatory Archive. We describe our methodology and review how our results will use orbital geometry to deduce how planets may affect the activity of their host stars.