Radio astronomy gave us new methods to study magnetic fields. Synchrotron radiation, the main cause of comic radio waves, is highly linearly polarised with the ‘E’ vector normal to the magnetic field. The Faraday Effect rotates the ‘E’ vector in thermal regions by the magnetic field in the line of sight. Also the radio Zeeman Effect has been observed.

We study relationships between the stellar populations and interstellar medium in massive galaxies using the Galex Arecibo SDSS Survey (GASS). The sample consists of HI-observations (~1000 galaxies) and complementary H2-observations (330 galaxies) and long-slit spectroscopy (230 galaxies). Luminosity-weighted stellar population ages, metallicitites and element abundance ratios, are derived by fitting stellar population models of absorption line indices. We find that the ages correlate more strongly with molecular gas fraction (MH2/M*) than with neutral Hydrogen fraction (MHI/M*). This result strengthens the theory that H2 is a better tracer of star-formation than HI. The sample is dominated by negative metallicity-gradients and flat Mg/Fe-gradients. Galaxies with high MH2/M*-ratios show in general flat or weakly negative age-gradients. For low MH2/M*-ratios the age-gradients are overall negative. These results are in agreement with the inside-out galaxy formation scenario. For galaxies with high r90/r50-ratios, a sub-population show positive age-gradients indicating additional formation channels. Furthermore, for galaxies with high MH2/M*-ratios more massive systems have older stellar populations in their centers, suggesting downsizing within the inside-out formation scenario.

This work analyzed the morphologic properties of magnetic networks during Carrington Rotations (CRs) 1955 to 2091 by applying the watershed algorithm to magnetograms observed by the Michelson Doppler Interferometer on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft. We found that the magnetic networks are of fractal and the average fractal dimension is D f =1.253±0.011. We also find that both the fractal dimension and the size of magnetic networks are anti-correlated with the solar magnetic activity.

We use data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the DEEP2 survey to characterize the distribution of stellar mass and light of galaxies in the low-redshift and z = 1 Universe. We investigate the clustering bias of stellar mass and light by comparing these to projected autocorrelations of dark matter estimated from the Millennium Simulations (MS). All of the autocorrelation and bias functions show systematic trends with spatial scale and waveband, which are impressively similar at the two redshifts. This shows that the well-established environmental dependence of stellar populations in the local Universe is already in place at z = 1. The recent MS-based galaxy formation simulation of Guo et al. (2011) reproduces the scale-dependent clustering of luminosity to an accuracy better than 30% in all bands and at both redshifts, but substantially overpredicts mass autocorrelations at separations below ~ 2 Mpc. Further comparison of the shapes of our stellar mass bias functions with those predicted by the model suggests that both the SDSS and DEEP2 data prefer a fluctuation amplitude of σ8 ~ 0.8 rather than the σ8 = 0.9 assumed by the MS.

The microquasar Cygnus X-3 is known for massive outbursts that emit radiation from radio to γ-rays associated with jet ejection events. Using Principal Component Analysis to probe fast (~1 min) X-ray spectral evolution followed by subsequent spectral fits to the time-averaged spectra (~3 ks), we find that the overall X-ray variability during major outbursts can be attributed to two components. The spectral evolution of these components are best fitted with hybrid Comptonization and thermal bremsstrahlung components. Most of the X-ray variability is attributed to the hybrid Comptonization component. However, the spectral evolution of the thermal component is linked to a change in the X-ray spectral state. Phase-folding the fit results shows that the thermal component is restricted to two orbital phase regions opposite to each other, possibly indicating a flattened stellar wind from the Wolf-Rayet companion.

Anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) are thought to be magnetars which are young isolated neutron stars with extremely strong magnetic fields of >1014 Gauss. Their tremendous magnetic fields inferred from the spin parameters provide a huge energy reservoir to power the observed X-ray emission. High-energy emission above 0.3 MeV has never been detected despite intensive search. Here, we present the possible Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) detection of γ-ray pulsations above 200 MeV from the AXP, 1E 2259+586, which puts the current theoretical models of γ-ray emission mechanisms of magnetars into challenge. We speculate that the high-energy γ-rays originate from the outer magnetosphere of the magnetar.

As we move ever closer to the Square Kilometre Array era, support for real-time, interactive visualisation and analysis of tera-scale (and beyond) data cubes will be crucial for on-going knowledge discovery. However, the data-on-the-desktop approach to analysis and visualisation that most astronomers are comfortable with will no longer be feasible: tera-scale data volumes exceed the memory and processing capabilities of standard desktop computing environments. Instead, there will be an increasing need for astronomers to utilise remote high performance computing (HPC) resources. In recent years, the graphics processing unit (GPU) has emerged as a credible, low cost option for HPC. A growing number of supercomputing centres are now investing heavily in GPU technologies to provide O(100) Teraflop/s processing. I describe how a GPU-powered computing cluster allows us to overcome the analysis and visualisation challenges of tera-scale data. With a GPU-based architecture, we have moved the bottleneck from processing-limited to bandwidth-limited, achieving exceptional real-time performance for common visualisation and data analysis tasks.

A new model of the pulsar force-free magnetosphere is suggested, which includes the presence of the polar, outer and slot gaps. It is based on a new exact solution of the pulsar equation in the form of an offset monopole and the resultant split-offset monopole scheme.

We present and discuss carbon-rich compounds of astrochemical interest such as polyynes, acetylenic carbon chains and the related derivative known as monocyanopolyynes and dicyanopolyynes. Fullerenes are now known to be abundant in space, while fulleranes - the hydrogenated fullerenes - and other carbon-rich compounds such as very large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy petroleum fractions are suspected to be present in space. We review the synthesis, the infrared spectra as well as the electronic absorption spectra of these four classes of carbon-rich molecules. The existence or possible existence in space of the latter molecules is reported and discussed.

The Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) project is an ongoing 3D spectroscopic survey of 600 nearby galaxies of all kinds. This pioneer survey is providing valuable clues on how galaxies form and evolve. Processed through spectral synthesis techniques, CALIFA datacubes allow us to, for the first time, spatially resolve the star formation history of galaxies spread across the color-magnitude diagram. The richness of this approach is already evident from the results obtained for the first ~ 1/6 of the sample. Here we show how the different galactic spatial sub-components (“bulge” and “disk”) grow their stellar mass over time. We explore the results stacking galaxies in mass bins, finding that, except at the lowest masses, galaxies grow inside-out, and that the growth rate depends on a galaxy's mass. The growth rate of inner and outer regions differ maximally at intermediate masses. We also find a good correlation between the age radial gradient and the stellar mass density, suggesting that the local density is a main driver of galaxy evolution.

According to the theoretical study, a deformation object (e.g., a spinning non-axisymmetric pulsar star) will radiate a gravitational wave (GW) signal during an accelaration motion process by LIGO science project. These types of disturbance sources with a large bump or dimple on the equator would survive and be identifiable as GW sources. In this work, we aim to provide a method for exploring GW radiation from isolated neutron stars (NSs) with deformation state using some observational results, which can be confirmed by the next LIGO project. Combination with the properties in observation results (e.g., PSR J1748-2446, PSR 1828-11 and Cygnus X-1), based on a binary population synthesis (BPS) approach we give a numerical GW radiation under the assumption that NS should have non-axisymmetric and give the results of energy spectrum. We find that the GW luminosity of LGW can be changed from about 1040 erg/s – 1055 erg/s.

The absolute visual and infrared magnitudes of moderately evolved OB-type stars are directly calibrated as a function of Stroemgren four-color and Hβ photometric indices using the trigonometric parallaxes from the new reduction of Hipparcos data. The resulting calibrations have an average accuracy of ~ 0.4 mag and, when applied to members of young open clusters, yield distances that are fairly consistent with those determined using the MV–(B − V) zero-age main-sequence fitting procedure.

In the last years a series of blind and/or targeted pulsar searches led to almost triple the number of known binary pulsars in the galactic field with respect to a decade ago. The focus will be on few outliers, which are emerging from the average properties of the enlarged binary pulsar population. Some of them may represent the long sought missing links between two kinds of neutron star binaries, while others could represent the stereotype of new groups of binaries, resulting from an evolutionary path which is more exotic than those considered until recently. In particular, a new class of binaries, which can be dubbed Ultra Low Mass Binary Pulsars (ULMBPs), is emerging from recent data.

With the advent of precision cosmology, where distances out to redshifts z < 0.6 can be measured to 2% precision on the basis of baryon acoustic oscillations, it appears essential to establish an accurate calibration of the primary and secondary indicators of the cosmological distance ladder. Here we review recent attempts at anchoring M31 very accurately using three independent methods, and discuss in detail the systematics that affect each. Two double-lined eclipsing binaries yield a distance to M31 which is precise to 4%. New Bayesian methods have been applied to determine the tip of the red-giant branch, even in sparsely populated colour–magnitude diagrams, and provide unique insights in the context of a precise three-dimensional distribution of the satellites in the M31 system. Over 2500 Cepheids have been identified in large-scale multi-colour surveys of M31, the largest homogeneous data set thus far obtained for any galaxy. A subset of 68 with periods longer than 10 days have been observed with the Wide-Field Camera 3 on board the Hubble Space Telescope, yielding the tightest-ever near-infrared period–luminosity relation, with a mean distance error of 1%. Combined with other measurements, the distance to M31 is now measured with a precision of 3%. Forthcoming improvements, and their implications, are also discussed.

We present a new model for the formation of dense clumps and pillars around HII regions based on shocks curvature at the interface between a HII region and a molecular cloud. UV radiation leads to the formation of an ionization front and of a shock ahead. The gas is compressed between them forming a dense shell at the interface. This shell may be curved due to initial interface or density modulation caused by the turbulence of the molecular cloud. Low curvature leads to instabilities in the shell that form dense clumps while sufficiently curved shells collapse on itself to form pillars. When turbulence is high compared to the ionized-gas pressure, bubbles of cold gas have sufficient kinetic energy to penetrate into the HII region and detach themselves from the parent cloud, forming cometary globules.

Using computational simulations, we show that these new models are extremely efficient to form dense clumps and stable and growing elongated structures, pillars, in which star formation might occur (see Tremblin et al.2012a). The inclusion of turbulence in the model shows its importance in the formation of cometary globules (see Tremblin et al.2012b). Globally, the density enhancement in the simulations is of one or two orders of magnitude higher than the density enhancement of the classical “collect and collapse“ scenario. The code used for the simulation is the HERACLES code, that comprises hydrodynamics with various equation of state, radiative transfer, gravity, cooling and heating.

Our recent observations with Herschel (see Schneider et al.2012a) and SOFIA (see Schneider et al.2012b) and additional Spitzer data archives revealed many more of these structures in regions where OB stars have already formed such as the Rosette Nebula, Cygnus X, M16 and Vela, suggesting that the UV radiation from massive stars plays an important role in their formation. We present a first comparison between the simulations described above and recent observations of these regions.

Merging, resulting from galaxy interaction and collision, is one essential scenario to interpret the distinct evolutionary stages of galaxy formation. However AGNs are believed to play an essential role towards the final stages of this scenario, in particular to clear the galaxy from a large excess of dust. Selecting galaxies with both 70μm and X-ray detection will help to understand the relation between star formation and AGN. We are taking advantage of the extensive multi-wavelength coverage of the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field to dissect the AGN influence on infrared luminous objects. We demonstrate that enhanced star formation is more probably responsible for additional obscuration of the central AGN than the dust torus, in agreement with current galaxy formation theory. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the presence of an AGN does not increase the galaxy dust temperature significantly.

We alert the community to a paradigm method to calibrate a range of standard candles by means of well-calibrated photometry of eclipsing binaries in star clusters. In particular, we re-examine systems studied as part of our Binaries-in-Clusters program, and previously analyzed with earlier versions of the Wilson–Devinney light-curve modeling program. We make use of the 2010 version of this program, which incorporates a procedure to estimate the distance to an eclipsing system directly, as a system parameter, and is thus dependent on the data and analysis model alone. As such, the derived distance is accorded a standard error, independent of any additional assumptions or approximations that such analyses conventionally require.

The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model for young pulsar wind nebulae (PWN) has been successful in reproducing many features of the nebulae. The model is characterized by a termination shock (TS) between the PWN and unshocked pulsar wind. Relativistic particles are injected at the TS and follow an advective flow to the outer boundary. However, toroidal structure of well studied young PWN like the Crab Nebula, 3C 58 and G21.5-0.9 is only present in the region close to the TS. In the outer parts of the nebulae, filamentary and loop-like structure is observed. Also, the radial variation of spectral index due to synchrotron losses is smoother than expected in the MHD flow model. We find that a pure diffusion model with energy independent diffusion and a transmitting boundary can reproduce the basic data on nebular size and spectral index variation for the Crab, 3C 58, and G21.5-0.9. Energy dependent diffusion is also discussed. Power law variations of the coefficient with energy are degenerate with variation in the input particle energy distribution index in the steady state case. Monte Carlo simulations of particle transport with both diffusion and advection for the Crab nebula and 3C 58 suggest a picture in which advection dominates the inner part of the PWN where toroidal structure is clearly present. Diffusion dominates the outer part of the PWN where filamentary and loop-like structure is observed. The source of the chaotic field is uncertain, but may be related to Rayleigh-Taylor instability at the outer boundary of young nebulae and/or the kink instability of the toroidal magnetic field.

The NASA/DLR Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a 2.5-meter infrared telescope on board a Boeing 747-SP, will conduct 0.3 - 1,600 μm photometric, spectroscopic, and imaging observations from altitudes as high as 45,000 ft., where the average atmospheric transmission is greater than 80 percent. SOFIA's first light cameras and spectrometers, as well as future generations of instruments, will make important contributions to the characterization of the physical properties of exoplanets. Our analysis shows that optical and near-infrared photometric and spectrophotometric follow-up observations during planetary transits and eclipses will be feasible with SOFIA's instrumentation, in particular the HIPO-FLITECAM optical/NIR instruments. The airborne-based platform has unique advantages in comparison to ground- and space-based observatories in this field of research which we will outline here. Furthermore we will present two exemplary science cases, that will be conducted in SOFIA's cycle 1.

We analyze coronagraph observations of a polar jet eruption observed by SECCHI/STEREO. The brightness distribution of the jet in white-light coronagraph images is compared with a kinetic particle model. In this first application, we consider only gravity as the dominant force on the jet particles along the magnetic field. The kinetic model explains well the observed brightness evolution. The initial particle velocity distribution is fitted by Maxwellian distributions and we find deviations of the high energy tail from the Maxwellian distributions. The jets total mass is between 3.2×1014 and 1.8×1015 g. The total kinetic energy of all the particles in the jet source region amounts from 2.1×1028 to 2.4×1029 ergs.