White dwarfs are natural cosmochronometers, and this allows us to use them to study relevant properties of the Galaxy, such as its age or its star formation rate history. Here we present a population synthesis study of the white dwarf population within 40 pc from the Sun, and compare the results of this study with the properties of the observed sample. We use a state-of-the-art population synthesis code based on Monte Carlo techniques that incorporates the most recent and reliable white dwarf cooling sequences, an accurate description of the Galactic neighborhood, and a realistic treatment of all the known observational biases.

The calibration pipeline of the level zero images obtained from the Magneto-Optical filters at Two Heights (MOTH II) instrument is presented. MOTH II consists of two 20 cm aperture instruments, each using a Magneto-Optical Filter (MOF): one at 5896 Å (Na D2-line), the other one at 7700 Å (K I-line). MOTH II instruments thus provide full disk line-of-sight Doppler velocity and magnetic field measurements at two heights in the solar atmosphere. The developed MOTH II pipeline employs a set of standard calibration corrections, a correction for signal leakage, due to the non-ideal behavior of the polarizers, and the geometrical registration between the eight images acquired by four CMOS cameras, relative to two components of the signal in two circular polarization states, in each of the two channels. MOTH II data are used to investigate atmospheric dynamics (e.g., internal gravity waves and magneto-acoustic portals) and Space Weather phenomena. Particularly, flare forecasting algorithms, based on the detection of magnetic active regions (ARs) and associated flare probability estimation, are currently under development. The possible matching of MOTH II data with SDO/HMI and SDO/AIA images into a flux rope model, developed in collaboration between Harvard-Smithsonian CfA and MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Science, is being tested.

We have measured the IMF of the inner Galaxy using ~3000 OGLE-III microlensing events. Each event’s timescale depends on both the lens mass, and the velocities and distances of the lens and source. New dynamical models were used provide the distribution of distances and velocities, and thereby measure the lens mass distribution. Using a power-law or log-normal parameterisation the resultant IMF is indistinguishable from local measurements by Kroupa or Chabrier respectively. The lenses lie in the inner Galaxy where the stars are mostly ~10 Gyr old and formed on a fast α-element enhanced timescale thereby constraining IMF variability with the properties of the collapsing gas cloud. Furthermore microlensing measures the stellar mass budget, including dark remnants, to low mass. Stars contribute most of the mass in the inner Galaxy with a low fraction remaining for dark matter. Reconciling this with local dark matter estimates requires a core or shallow cusp in its profile.

We present the derived kinematic characteristics of low-α thin-disk and high-α thick-disk stars in the Milky Way, investigated with a sample of about 32,000 G- and K-type dwarfs from the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE). Based on the level of α-element enhancement as a function of [Fe/H], we separate our sample into thin- and thick-disk stars and then derive mean velocities, velocity dispersions, and velocity gradients for the U, V, and W velocity components, respectively, as well as the orbital eccentricity distribution. There are notable gradients in the V velocity over [Fe/H] in both populations: −23 km s−1 dex−1 for the thin disk and +44 km s−1 dex−1 for the thick disk. The velocity dispersion of the thick disk decreases with increasing [Fe/H], while the velocity dispersion gradient over [Fe/H] for the thin disk is almost flat for all velocity components, except for the W velocity dispersion of the metal-poor thin-disk stars. The eccentricity distribution exhibits a peak at a higher value, and is more symmetric as [α/Fe] increases, implying that complex formation mechanisms may be involved. Our results can be used to constrain several proposed disk-formation scenarios of the Milky Way and other large spirals.

Based on high-resolution spectral observations for a sample of very metal-poor stars, we investigate how well stellar chemical abundances can be derived with available theoretical methods and computational tools.

To explore the relation between bar formation and star formation in Milky Way-type galaxies quantitatively, we simulated gas-rich disk isolated galaxies. We find that the action of the stellar bar efficiently quenches star formation, reducing the star-formation rate by a factor of 10 in less than 1 Gyr. Analytical and self-consistent galaxy simulations with bars suggest that the action of the stellar bar increases the gas random motions within the co-rotation radius of the bar. Indeed, we detect an increase in the gas velocity dispersion at the end of the bar formation phase. The star formation efficiency decreases rapidly, and in all of our models, the bar quenches the star formation in the galaxy. The star-formation efficiency is much lower in simulated barred compared to unbarred galaxies and more rapid bar formation implies more rapid quenching.

The stellar spheroidal components of the Milky-Way contain the oldest and most metal poor of its stars. Inevitably the processes governing the early stages of Galaxy evolution are imprinted upon them. According to the currently favoured hierarchical bottom-up scenario of galaxy formation, these components, specially the Galactic halo, are the repository of most of the mass built up from accretion events in those early stages. These events are still going on today, as attested by the long stellar streams associated to the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy and several other observed tidal substructure, whose geometry, extent, and kinematics are important constraints to reconstruct the MW gravitational potential and infer its total (visible + dark) mass. In addition, the remaining system of MW satellites is expected to be a fossil record of the much larger population of Galactic building blocks that once existed and got accreted. For all these reasons, it is crucial to unravel as much of this remaining population as possible, as well as the current stellar streams that orbit within the halo. The best bet to achieve this task is to carry out wide, deep, and multi-band photometric surveys that provide homogeneous stellar samples. In this contribution, we summarize the results of several years of work towards detecting and characterizing distant MW stellar systems, star clusters and dwarf spheroidals alike, with an emphasis on the analysis of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We argue that most of the volume in distance, size and luminosity space, both in the Galaxy and in the Clouds, is still unprobed. We then discuss the perspectives of exploring this outer MW volume using the current surveys, as well as other current and future surveys, such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST).

As new work on the proper motions (PMs) of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has come out, our view of the history of the Magellanic Clouds has evolved. We now believe they are on their first infall into the Milky Way (MW), having been tidally bound at the start of infall (though not necessarily now). Combining these observations with initial PMs of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) suggests a new formation mechanism of the Magellanic Stream through the stripping of material from the SMC. However, large uncertainties remain in the exact mass of the LMC. We present a measurement of the systemic proper motions of the SMC from astrometry with the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), covering a ~3 year baseline of 30 fields with background QSOs. We find these motions to be μW = −0.82 ± 0.06 mas/yr and μN = −1.23 ± 0.07 mas/yr. Combining these measurements with previous efforts in studying the Clouds will help constrain their interactions with each other and the MW, including the mass of the LMC and the MW, as well as provide new insight into the internal dynamics of the SMC.

At present two concurrent paradigms of solar energetic particle (SEP) origin exist: acceleration directly in the flare site or by the shock wave of coronal mass ejection (CME). Active discussions on a relative role of flares and coronal mass ejections for SEP acceleration and propagation are continuous until now. In my opinion only future observations of solar high energy γ–emission with better spectral, spatial and temporal resolution may clarify this issue. In my report I discuss possible signatures of the flare and shock acceleration processes. What is a picture provided by the current instruments? What can we expect to observe with a perfect instrument in high energy gamma rays in one or another case on a time scale of impulsive and long decay flare phases?

We present preliminary results from a study exploring the origin of Milky Way substructures, and show initial evidence of a common “kicked-out” formation mechanism for two low-latitude substructures. In this scenario, stars in these substructures formed in the disk and were subsequently “kicked-out” by an external perturbation, such as the merger of an accreted satellite, which created an oscillation in the Galactic disk. To test this origin scenario, we found the fraction of different stellar populations – M giants and RR Lyrae stars – in the Monoceros Ring (also known as GASS) and A13, supplementing a study of stellar populations in the Triangulum-Andromeda cloud. This work provides: (1) the first analysis of the GASS and A13 features based upon their stellar populations; and (2) preliminary evidence of disk stars in the Milky Way that have been relocated to the disk-halo interface due to vertical oscillations of the Milky Way’s disk.

In the last decades, numerous observational and computational studies have shown that the global flare distribution is a power-law with a slope less than 2. In these studies, active regions are treated as statistically indistinguishable. To test this, we identify and separately analyze the flares produced by ten individual active regions (2006-2016). In five regions, we find a single power-law distribution, with a slope of a < 2. In the other five, we find a broken double power-law distribution, with slopes a1 < 2 and a2 > 2.

In this paper, we investigate the inhomogeneous spatial distribution of solar faculae. The focus is on the latitudinal and longitudinal distributions of these highly localised features covering ubiquitously the solar surface. The statistical analysis is based on white light observations of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) between 1996 and 2014. We found that the fine structure of the latitudinal distribution of faculae displays a quasi-biennial oscillatory pattern. Furthermore, the longitudinal distribution of photospheric solar faculae does not show homogeneous behaviour either. In particular, the non-axisymmetric behaviour of these events show similar properties as that of the active longitude (AL) found in the distribution of sunspots. Our results, preliminary though, may provide a valuable observational constrain for developing the next-generation solar dynamo model.

Radio observations play a very important role in understanding the structure of the solar atmosphere. In this paper the quiet sun component of the solar radio emission has been investigated using data obtained from the Solar Indices Bulletin, National Geophysical Data Centre. By statistical method, the quiet sun component is estimated for 84 successive basic periods containing three solar rotations each using data obtained at different frequencies. From the quiet sun component we estimate the brightness temperature in each observing frequency.

Ray tracing techniques have been used to investigate numerical effects on the propagation of acoustic waves in a non-hydrostatic dynamical core discretised using an Arakawa C-grid horizontal staggering of variables (Arakawa & Lamb 1977) and a Charney-Phillips vertical staggering of variables (Charney & Phillips 1953) with a semi-implicit timestepping scheme. It is found that the space discretisation places limits on resolvable wavenumbers and redirects the group velocity of waves towards the vertical. Wave amplitudes grow exponentially with height due to the decrease in the background density, which can cause instabilities in whole-atmosphere models. However, the inclusion of molecular viscosity and diffusion acts to damp the exponential growth of waves above about 150 km. This study aims to demonstrate the extent to which numerical wave propagation causes instabilities at high altitudes in atmosphere models, and how processes that damp the waves can improve these model’s stability.

We report the discovery by APOGEE of five mildly metal-poor ([Fe/H] >−1) anomalous giant stars in the halo/disk/bulge Galaxy with abundances of C, N, and Al that are typically found in globular cluster stars (GCs, see e.g. Carretta et al. 2009a; Mészáros et al. 2015; Pancino et al. 2017; Schiavon et al. 2017a; Tang et al. 2017) and in the inner Galaxy (e.g., Schiavon et al. 2017b; Recio-Blanco et al. 2017) simultaneously with atypical abundances of Mg (Mg-poor: [Mg/Fe] < 0) never before seen in Milky Way (MW) GCs, dwarf galaxies (see Hasselquist et al. 2017) neither in MW field stars. Additionally, four new moderately metal-poor ([Fe/H] <−1) anomalous giant stars (i.e., N-rich, Al-rich and C-poor) with trustly GCs second-generation like chemical patterns were identified within the Galactic bulge, halo and disk field.

The Yale–Potsdam Stellar Isochrones (YaPSI) cover the low and intermediate stellar mass regime (0.15 to 5.0 M⊙) for a wide range of solar-scaled chemical compositions (metallicity from −0.5 to +0.3; helium mass fraction from 0.25 to 0.37, assigned independently of each other). The tracks are finely spaced in mass, to allow for accurate interpolation. The models feature state-of-the-art input physics relevant to low-mass stars modeling (surface boundary conditions, equation of state), thus updating the faint end of the Yonsei-Yale (YY) isochrones. Utility codes, such as an isochrone interpolator in age, metallicity and helium content, are also provided. The YaPSI isochrones are in good agreement with the empirical mass–luminosity and mass–radius relations available to date, and provide satisfactory fitting of the color-magnitude diagrams of well-studied open clusters.

The OCCASO survey targets intermediate-age and old OCs visible from the Northern hemisphere. OCCASO provides homogeneous radial velocities, atmospheric parameters, and individual abundances from high-resolution spectroscopy (R>65,000) of Red Clump stars. We present a first insight into the homogeneously analyzed chemical abundances obtained fror 18 Northern OCs from OCCASO data. Our sample includes an interesting inner disk OC, NGC 6705, analyzed in the literature with inconclusive results about its α abundances. From OCCASO data this is an α-enhanced OC from the analysis of Si, Ca, Ti, Mg and O, despite its young age.

We used our detailed analytic local disc model to compare predictions in number counts, colour distribuitons and kinematics with a data set extracted from a combination of TGAS and RAVE catalogues. We find generally a very good agreement with some deviations close to the Galactic plane.