We demonstrate that unresolved X-ray emission from the bulge of M31 is composed of at least three different components: (i) Broad-band emission from a large number of faint sources – mainly accreting white dwarfs and active binaries, associated with the old stellar population, similar to the Galactic Ridge X-ray emission of the Milky Way. (ii) Soft emission from ionized gas with temperature of about ~ 300 eV and mass of ~ 4 × 106 M⊙. The gas distribution is significantly elongated along the minor axis of the galaxy suggesting that it may be outflowing in the direction perpendicular to the galactic disk. The shadows cast on the gas by spiral arms and the 10-kpc star-forming ring confirm large off-plane extent of the gas. (iii) Hard unresolved emission from spiral arms, most likely associated with protostars and young stellar objects located in the star-forming regions.

Until recently, Hα has been seen as the tracer of ionized gas, picking out both star formation and the late stages of stellar evolution. This has been reaffirmed, spectacularly, by the recent WHAM and SHS surveys. But the advent of large-area digital detectors creates a new role for narrowband Hα as a direct, simultaneous, measure of intrinsic stellar colour and reddening when e.g. r'-Hα is combined with a nearby broad band colour e.g. r'- i'. This new capability has been clearly demonstrated by the nearly-complete IPHAS survey.

The Earth rotation rate and consequently universal time (UT1) and length of day (LOD) are periodically affected by solid Earth tides and oceanic tides. Solid Earth tides induce changes with periods from around 5 days to 18.6 years, with the largest amplitudes occurring at fortnightly, monthly, semi-annual and annual periods, and at 18.6 years. The principal variations caused by oceanic tides have diurnal and semi-diurnal periods. For the investigation of the tidal effects with periods of up to 35 days, UT1 series are estimated from VLBI observation data of the time interval 1984–2008. The amplitudes and phases of the terms of interest are calculated and the results for diurnal and sub-diurnal periods are compared and evaluated with tidal variations derived from a GNSS-based LOD time series of 8 months. The observed tidal signals are finally compared to the predicted tidal variations according to recent geophysical models.

We have observed 57 nearby galaxies in the far-infrared with the Far-Infrared Surveyor on AKARI to study the properties of dust in various environments.

Over 10,000 early-type galaxies from the 6dF Galaxy Survey (6dFGS) (Jones, D. H. et al. (2009), Jones et al. (2004)) have been used to determine the Fundamental Plane at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. We find that a maximum likelihood fit to an explicit three-dimensional Gaussian model for the distribution of galaxies in size, surface brightness and velocity dispersion can precisely account for selection effects, censoring and observational errors, leading to precise and unbiased parameters for the Fundamental Plane and its intrinsic scatter.

We present Chandra X-ray observations of 14 quadruply lensed quasars. The X-ray data reveal flux ratio anomalies which are more extreme than those seen at optical wavelengths, confirming the microlensing origin of the anomalies originally seen in the optical data. The reduction of the anomalies in the optical, as compared to X-ray, indicates that the sizes of the optical emitting regions of the quasars must be about 1/3 the size of the projected Einstein radii of the microlensing stars. The X-ray emitting regions are essentially point sources and therefore give a microlensing signal unencumbered by source size considerations. For each lensing galaxy, we determine the most likely ratio of smooth material (dark matter) to clumpy material (stars) to explain the X-ray flux ratios. The ensemble of Chandra-observed quads indicates that the amount of matter projected along the lines of sight to the images (at radial distances of several kpc from the centers of the lensing galaxies) is ~90% smooth dark matter and ~10% stars.

We describe the LWARD program on dM stars and habitability in their environment.

We have obtained a large sample of PN with accurately determined helium abundances, as well as abundances of several heavy elements. The nebulae are located in the solar neighbourhood, in the galactic bulge, disk and anticentre, and in the Magellanic Clouds. The abundances are analyzed both in terms of the nucleosynthesis of intermediate mass stars and the chemical evolution of the host galaxies. In particular, correlations between the He/H ratio and the abundances of N and O are used as constraints of the nucleosynthetic processes occurring in the progenitor stars.

The UKIDSS Galactic Plane Survey (GPS) is surveying the northern and equatorial plane in the J, H and K bands. Here we report initial results from searches for new clusters and star formation regions. 248 clusters have been detected by our Bayesian search, of which 127 are new. A visual inspection of the images is also proving successful. A cross match with Spitzer-GLIMPSE to find clusters of Young Stellar Objects is being attempted. No new globular clusters are detected except for two likely candidates already detected by Mercer et al. in GLIMPSE.

Recent attempts to constrain cosmological variation in the fine structure constant, α, using quasar absorption lines have yielded two statistical samples which initially appear to be inconsistent. One of these samples was subsequently demonstrated to not pass consistency tests; it appears that the optimisation algorithm used to fit the model to the spectra failed. Nevertheless, the results of the other hinge on the robustness of the spectral fitting program VPFIT, which has been tested through simulation but not through direct exploration of the likelihood function. We present the application of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to this problem, and demonstrate that VPFIT produces similar values and uncertainties for Δα/α, the fractional change in the fine structure constant, as our MCMC algorithm, and thus that VPFIT is reliable.

Eta Car, with its historical outbursts, visible ejecta and massive, variable winds, continues to challenge both observers and modelers. In just the past five years over 100 papers have been published on this fascinating object. We now know it to be a massive binary system with a 5.54-year period. In January 2009, η Car underwent one of its periodic low-states, associated with periastron passage of the two massive stars. This event was monitored by an intensive multi-wavelength campaign ranging from γ-rays to radio. A large amount of data was collected to test a number of evolving models including 3-D models of the massive interacting winds. August 2009 was an excellent time for observers and theorists to come together and review the accumulated studies, as have occurred in four meetings since 1998 devoted to Eta Car. Indeed, η Car behaved both predictably and unpredictably during this most recent periastron, spurring timely discussions.

We analyze a sample of 21 super-metal-rich (SMR) stars, using high-resolution échelle spectra obtained with the FEROS Spectrograph at the 1.5m ESO telescope. The metallicities are in the range 0.15 < [Fe/H] < 0.5, 3 of them in common with Pompéia et al. (2002). Geneva photometry, astrometric data from Hipparcos, and radial velocities from CORAVEL are available for these stars. The peculiar kinematics suggests the thin disk close to the bulge as the probable birthplace of these stars (Grenon 1999). From Hipparcos data, it appears that the turnoff of this population indicates an age of 10-11 Gyr (Grenon 1999). Detailed analysis of the sample stars is carried out. Lithium abundances of these stars were derived, and their behaviour with effective temperature is shown.

Coordinated multi-wavelength surveys of molecular clouds are providing strong constraints on the physical conditions within low-mass star-forming regions. In this manner, Perseus and Ophiuchus have been exceptional laboratories for testing the earliest phases of star formation. Highlights of these results are: (1) dense cores form only in high column density regions, (2) dense cores contain only a few percent of the cloud mass, (3) the mass distribution of the dense cores is similar to the IMF, (4) the more massive cores are most likely to contain embedded protostars, and (5) the kinematics of the dense cores and the bulk gas show significant coupling.

I argue that the Doppler shift asymmetries observed in some young stellar object (YSO) jets result from the interaction of the jets with the circumstellar gas, rather than from jets' rotation. The jets do rotate, but at a velocity much below claimed values. During the meeting I carefully examined new claims, and found problems with the claimed jets' rotation. I will challenge any future observation that will claim to detect jet rotation in YSOs that requires the jets (and not a wind) to be launched from radii much larger than the accreting stellar radius. I conclude that the most likely jets' launching mechanism involves a very efficient dynamo in the inner part of the accretion disk, with a jets' launching mechanism that is similar to solar flares (coronal mass ejection).

The fast solar wind analysis during the Whole Heliospheric Interval (Carrington Rotation no. 2068: March 20 - April 16, 2008) is herein presented. The analysis is based on the data recorded by space experiments aboard the ACE and SOHO missions. The high-speed streams in the solar wind were determined by their main parameters: duration, maximum velocity, velocity gradient. The fast solar wind was also analyzed during the preceding and following Carrington Rotations, nos. 2067 and 2069, respectively. The main properties of the rapid streams and their solar sources were analysed in terms of the present solar minimum phase. The geospace response to the fast streams was evaluated using the geomagnetic index dynamics. A comparative analysis of the high-speed streams registered during Whole Heliospheric Interval with the ones determined during Whole Sun Month was also made.

A selection of topics was discussed, but given the limits of space, I discuss here only the IMF in any depth, with only a brief supplementary comment on the bulge.

I will give a review of the current constrains on light element abundances from cosmic microwave background experiments, focusing on results from WMAP and discussing prospects from upcoming data from Planck and ground-based experiments. I will describe how the production of light elements affects the CMB anisotropies, and how we use the data to extract cosmological information that includes constraints on the baryon density, and primordial abundances.

A variety of molecular species up to complex polyatomic molecules/radicals have been identified in many extraterrestrial gaseous environments, including interstellar clouds, cometary comae and planetary atmospheres. Amongst the identified molecules/radicals, a large percentage are organic in nature and encompass also prebiotic molecules. Different types of microscopic processes are believed to be involved in their formation, including surface processes, ion- and radical- molecule reactions. A thorough characterization of such a complex chemistry relies on a multi-disciplinary approach, where the observations are complemented by accurate chemical modeling. Unfortunately, a literature survey reveals that only a small percentage of the elementary reactions considered in the available models have been characterized in laboratory experiments. In this contribution, a brief overview will be given of recent experimental techniques that have allowed us to reach a better description of neutral-neutral gas-phase reactions, which might be responsible for the formation of simple prebiotic molecules.

I describe two recent projects to test star formation theory using Zeeman observations. First, using Bayesian analysis, the probability distribution function of the magnitude of the total magnetic field strength Bt and its dependence on volume density n(H) were inferred from Zeeman observations of the line-of-sight strengths Bz. The result was that from one molecular cloud to another Bt ranges uniformly between values close to zero and a maximum B0, and that B0 scales as n2/3. Second, observations of the ratio of the mass/flux (M/Φ) between the core and envelope regions of four dark clouds yielded values < 1. All of these results disagree with predictions of the strong magnetic field, ambipolar diffusion driven theory of star formation.

After their formation, and for almost 0.5 Gyr, Mars and Earth evolved in the same manner. On Earth, life occured very early, around 3.6 Gy ago. Then, the hypothesis that life might have occured also on Mars, and be extinct, is not unrealistic. If this is true, then complex molecules could be present, representing an early state of life-building blocks. Missions to Mars (Viking 1-2, Phoenix) have carried instruments capable to search for molecular indicators, although up to now, no positive detection has been obtained. Future missions to Mars (MSL-NASA, Exomars-ESA) will use enhanced experiments to try to end this quest.