Wepresent and evaluate several strategies to search for prompt, low-frequency radio emission associated with gravitational wave transients using the Murchison Widefield Array. As we are able to repoint the Murchison Widefield Array on timescales of tens of seconds, we can search for the dispersed radio signal that has been predicted to originate along with or shortly after a neutron star-neutron star merger. We find that given the large, 600 deg2 instantaneous field of view of the Murchison Widefield Array, we can cover a significant fraction of the predicted gravitational wave error region, although due to the complicated geometry of the latter, we only cover > 50% of the error region for approximately 5% of events, and roughly 15% of events will be located < 10° from the Murchison Widefield Array pointing centre such that they will be covered in the radio images. For optimal conditions, our limiting flux density for a 10-s long transient would be 0.1 Jy, increasing to about 1 Jy for a wider range of events. This corresponds to luminosity limits of 1038−39 erg s−1 based on expectations for the distances of the gravitational wave transients, which should be sufficient to detect or significantly constrain a range of models for prompt emission.

In this work, we present results of long slit spectrophotometric emission line flux observations of selected planetary nebulae (PNe). We have measured absolute fluxes and equivalent widths (EW) of all observable emission lines. In addition to these observations, electron temperatures (Te), densities (Ne), and chemical abundances were also calculated. The main purpose of this work is to fill the gaps in emission line flux standards for the northern hemisphere. It is expected that the measured fluxes would be used as standard data set for further photometric and spectrometric measurements of HII regions, supernova remnants etc.

The evolution of rotational velocity and magnetic activity with age follows approximately a t −1/2 relation, the famous Skumanich law. Using a large sample of about 80 solar twins with precise ages, we show departures from this law. We found a steep drop in rotational velocity and activity in the first 2-3 Gyr and afterwards there seems to be a shallow decrease. Our inferred rotational periods suggest that the Sun will continue to slow down, validating thus the use of gyrochronology beyond solar age. The Sun displays normal rotational velocity and activity when compared to solar twins of solar age. We also show that stars with exceedingly high stellar activity for their age are spectroscopic binaries that also exhibit enhanced rotational velocities and chemical signatures of mass transfer.

While several scenarios have been proposed to explain supra-arcade downflows (SADs) observed descending through turbulent hot regions, none of them have systematically addressed the consideration of thermal conduction. The SADs are known to be voided cavities. Our model assumes that SADs are triggered by bursty localized reconnection events that produce non-linear waves generating the voided cavity. These subdense cavities are sustained in time because they are hotter than their surrounding medium. Due to the low density and large temperature values of the plasma we expect the thermal conduction to be an important process. Our main aim here is to study if it is possible to generate SADs in the framework of our model considering thermal conduction. We carry on 2D MHD simulations including anisotropic thermal conduction, and find that if the magnetic lines envelope the cavities, they can be isolated from the hot environment and be identified as SADs.

The detection of new binary central stars of planetary nebulae is crucial to definitively determine the importance of binary interactions in the nebular morphology. In this context, we are working on a project that aims to increase the low number of binary central stars detected so far. For that, we are first analyzing public archival data in order to discover potential candidates of binary central stars. These candidates will be subsequently followed-up in order to confirm and characterize them. Here we present our ongoing search and some preliminary results.

One in 5 PN are ejected from common envelope binary interactions but Kepler results are already showing this proportion to be larger. Their properties, such as abundances can be starkly different from those of the general population, so they should be considered separately when using PN as chemical or population probes. Unfortunately post-common envelope PN cannot be discerned using only their morphologies, but this will change once we couple our new common envelope simulations with PN formation models.

Evidence of surface magnetism is now observed on an increasing number of cool stars. The detailed manner by which dynamo-generated magnetic fields giving rise to starspots traverse the convection zone still remains unclear. Some insight into this flux emergence mechanism has been gained by assuming bundles of magnetic field can be represented by idealized thin flux tubes (TFTs). Weber & Browning (2016) have recently investigated how individual flux tubes might evolve in a 0.3M⊙ M dwarf by effectively embedding TFTs in time-dependent flows representative of a fully convective star. We expand upon this work by initiating flux tubes at various depths in the upper ~50-75% of the star in order to sample the differing convective flow pattern and differential rotation across this region. Specifically, we comment on the role of differential rotation and time-varying flows in both the suppression and promotion of the magnetic flux emergence process.

Recent observations of solar flares at high frequencies have provided evidence of a new spectral component with flux increasing with frequency in the THz range. Its origin remains unclear. Here, we present preliminary results of simulations of synchrotron emission due to secondary positrons and electrons produced in nuclear reactions during a solar flare. We use the general purpose Monte-Carlo code FLUKA to obtain distributions of secondary particles resulting from accelerated protons interacting in the solar atmosphere. We calculate the synchrotron radiation spectrum and compare our results to observations of the November 4th, 2003 burst event.

The study of the small magnetic structures of the solar photosphere is of great relevance because of their association with concentrations of magnetic field and their possible contribution to the variations of the Total Solar Irradiance. These structures are known to appear close to active regions and ubiquitously in the quiet Sun areas. Numerous studies about their distribution across all over the solar surface have been done with high-resolution instrumentation. However, since the observations have always been carried out from the ecliptic plane, their distribution near the polar regions is not well known. Future missions, like Solar Orbiter, will certainly provide valuable information on these yet unexplored regions. In this work, and in preparation for that moment, we select favorable periods for the observation of the polar regions of the Sun, and study the fraction of covered surface by small magnetic structures and its variation with the solar activity.

We present a model that solves the abundance discrepancy problem for NGC 6210. The model proposes a high abundance of CNONe elements that lowers the temperature of the central parts of the nebula. The colder gas model reproduces the observed intensity of the strong [N ii] and [O iii] emission lines, and increases the predicted weak recombination lines towards their observed values. We examine how the usual nebular diagnostic line ratios depend on model abundances.

The planetary nebulae (PNe) of M 31 are receiving considerable attention as probes of its structure and chemical evolution in a galactic environment that is putatively similar to the Milky Way. We have obtained deep spectra for about 30 luminous PNe in M 31’s inner disk and beyond (Rgal < 105 kpc). The entire ensemble of PNe exhibit O/H ~ 2/3 solar with no discernible radial gradient, in stark contrast to the H ii regions of M 31. This suggests that the outer PNe in M 31 formed from a common O-rich ISM at least 5 GY ago. We infer that the outer PNe and the underlying stellar population have little common history in M 31, and that the formation of the O-rich PNe preceded any putative encounter with M 33 ~2–3 Gy ago.

Despite years of effort, the impact of central star binarity on planetary nebula formation and shaping remains unclear. This is hampered by the fact that detecting central star binarity is inherently difficult, and requires very precise observations. The fraction of planetary nebulae with binary central stars therefore remains elusive. This work presents initial results of central star analysis using data from the VST Hα Survey of the Southern Galactic Plane and Bulge (VPHAS+). The true central star of PN Hf 38 has been revealed, and it exhibits a 0.465±0.334 i band magnitude excess, indicative of a M0V companion.

Nowadays there is no field research which is not flooded with data. Among the sciences, astrophysics has always been driven by the analysis of massive amounts of data. The development of new and more sophisticated observation facilities, both ground-based and spaceborne, has led data more and more complex (Variety), an exponential growth of both data Volume (i.e., in the order of petabytes), and Velocity in terms of production and transmission. Therefore, new and advanced processing solutions will be needed to process this huge amount of data. We investigate some of these solutions, based on machine learning models as well as tools and architectures for Big Data analysis that can be exploited in the astrophysical context.

Synoptic maps of the vector magnetic field have routinely been made available from stellar observations and recently have started to be obtained for the solar photospheric field. Although solar magnetic maps show a multitude of details, stellar maps are limited to imaging large-scale fields only. In spite of their lower resolution, magnetic field imaging of solar-type stars allow us to put the Sun in a much more general context. However, direct comparison between stellar and solar magnetic maps are hampered by their dramatic differences in resolution. Here, I present the results of a method to filter out the small-scale component of vector fields, in such a way that comparison between solar and stellar (large-scale) magnetic field vector maps can be directly made. This approach extends the technique widely used to decompose the radial component of the solar magnetic field to the azimuthal and meridional components as well, and is entirely consistent with the description adopted in several stellar studies. This method can also be used to confront synoptic maps synthesised in numerical simulations of dynamo and magnetic flux transport studies to those derived from stellar observations.

The Calar Alto Secondary Eclipse study was a program dedicated to observe secondary eclipses in the near-IR of two known close-orbiting exoplanets around K-dwarfs: WASP-10b and Qatar-1b. Such observations reveal hints on the orbital configuration of the system and on the thermal emission of the exoplanet, which allows the study of the brightness temperature of its atmosphere. The observations were performed at the Calar Alto Observatory (Spain). We used the OMEGA2000 instrument (Ks band) at the 3.5m telescope. The data was acquired with the telescope strongly defocused. The differential light curve was corrected from systematic effects using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique. The final light curve was fitted using an occultation model to find the eclipse depth and a possible phase shift by performing a MCMC analysis. The observations have revealed a secondary eclipse of WASP-10b with depth of 0.137%, and a depth of 0.196% for Qatar-1b. The observed phase offset from expected mid-eclipse was of −0.0028 for WASP-10b, and of −0.0079 for Qatar-1b. These measured offsets led to a value for |ecosω| of 0.0044 for the WASP-10b system, leading to a derived eccentricity which was too small to be of any significance. For Qatar-1b, we have derived a |ecosω| of 0.0123, however, this last result needs to be confirmed with more data. The estimated Ks-band brightness temperatures are of 1647 K and 1885 K for WASP-10b and Qatar-1b, respectively. We also found an empirical correlation between the (R′HK) activity index of planet hosts and the Ks-band brightness temperature of exoplanets, considering a small number of systems.

The role of tachoclines, the thin shear layers that separate solid body from differential rotation in the interior of late-type stars, in stellar dynamos is still controversial. In this work we discuss their relevance in view of recent results from global dynamo simulations performed with the EULAG-MHD code. The models have solar-like stratification and different rotation rates (i.e., different Rossby number). Three arguments supporting the key role of tachoclines are presented: the solar dynamo cycle period, the origin of torsional oscillations and the scaling law of stellar magnetic fields as function of the Rossby number. This scaling shows a regime where the field strength increases with the rotation and a saturated regime for fast rotating stars. These properties are better reproduced by models that consider the convection zone and a fraction of the radiative core, naturally developing a tachocline, than by those that consider only the convection zone.