Leading-edge telescopes such as the Atacama Large Millimeter and sub-millimeter Array (ALMA), and near-future ones, are capable of imaging the same sky area at hundreds-to-thousands of frequencies with both high spectral and spatial resolution. This provides unprecedented opportunities for discovery about the spatial, kinematical and compositional structure of sources such as molecular clouds or protoplanetary disks, and more. However, in addition to enormous volume, the data also exhibit unprecedented complexity, mandating new approaches for extracting and summarizing relevant information. Traditional techniques such as examining images at selected frequencies become intractable while tools that integrate data across frequencies or pixels (like moment maps) can no longer fully exploit and visualize the rich information. We present a neural map-based machine learning approach that can handle all spectral channels simultaneously, utilizing the full depth of these data for discovery and visualization of spectrally homogeneous spatial regions (spectral clusters) that characterize distinct kinematic behaviors. We demonstrate the effectiveness on an ALMA image cube of the protoplanetary disk HD142527. The tools we collectively name “NeuroScope” are efficient for “Big Data” due to intelligent data summarization that results in significant sparsity and noise reduction. We also demonstrate a new approach to automate our clustering for fast distillation of large data cubes.

We describe the implementation and performance results of our massively parallel MPI†/OpenMP‡ hybrid TreePM code for large-scale cosmological N-body simulations. For domain decomposition, a recursive multi-section algorithm is used and the size of domains are automatically set so that the total calculation time is the same for all processes. We developed a highly-tuned gravity kernel for short-range forces, and a novel communication algorithm for long-range forces. For two trillion particles benchmark simulation, the average performance on the fullsystem of K computer (82,944 nodes, the total number of core is 663,552) is 5.8 Pflops, which corresponds to 55% of the peak speed.

The Optical Gravitational Experiment (OGLE) was effectively used in discovering binary central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNe). About 50 binary CSPNe have been hitherto identified in the Galaxy, almost half of them were detected in the OGLE database. We used the OGLE data to search for binary CSPNe in the Magellanic Clouds. We also searched for PNe mimics and removed them from the PNe sample. Here, we present results of the photometric analysis for Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and our progress on search of binary central stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). So far, we have discovered one binary central star of the PN beyond the Milky Way, which is located in the Small Magellanic Cloud.

For examining possibilities and challenges in doing science with multi-band and non-simultaneous data from upcoming surveys like LSST, the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) 3π can be used as a pilot survey. This is especially important to explore the possibilities in detection and classification of variable sources within the first years of LSST’s 10-year baseline. We had explored the capabilities of PS1 3π for carrying out time-domain science in a variety of applications. We had used structure function fitting as well as period fitting, to search for and classify high-latitude as well as low-latitude variable sources, in particular RR Lyrae, Cepheids and QSOs.

Recent work (Corradi et al. 2015; Jones et al. 2016) has shown that the phenomenon of extreme abundance discrepancies, where recombination line abundances exceed collisionally excited line abundances by factors of 10 or more, seem to be strongly associated with planetary nebulae with close binary central stars. To further investigate, we have obtained spectra of a sample of nebulae with known close binary central stars, using FORS2 on the VLT, and we have discovered several new extreme abundance discrepancy objects. We did not find any non-extreme discrepancies, suggesting that a very high fraction of nebulae with close binary central stars also have an extreme abundance discrepancy.

Star formation rate (SFR) is one of the most important diagnostics in understanding the evolution of galaxies across cosmic times. In order to explore the possibility of using the optical u-band luminosities to estimate SFRs of galaxies, we show the correlations between u band, Hα and infrared luminosities by combing the data from the South Galactic Cap u band Sky Survey (SCUSS) with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). We derive the u versus Hα relation and the u and 12 μm relations to calibrate the u-band luminosity as an SFR indicator.

Recent observations of solar flares at high-frequencies have provided evidence of a new spectral component with fluxes increasing with frequency in the sub-THz to THz range. This new component occurs simultaneously but is separated from the well-known microwave spectral component that maximizes at frequencies of a few to tens of GHz. The aim of this work is to study in detail a mechanism recently suggested to describe the double-spectrum feature observed in solar flares based on the physical process known as microbunching instability, which occurs with high-energy electron beams in laboratory accelerators.

This article presents an overview of the published results for planetary nebulae based on images and spectroscopy from the PACS, SPIRE, and HIFI instruments on board the Herschel satellite.

As we enter the era of gravitational wave astronomy, we are beginning to collect observations which will enable us to explore aspects of astrophysics of massive stellar binaries which were previously beyond reach. In this paper we describe COMPAS (Compact Object Mergers: Population Astrophysics and Statistics), a new platform to allow us to deepen our understanding of isolated binary evolution and the formation of gravitational-wave sources. We describe the computational challenges associated with their exploration, and present preliminary results on overcoming them using Gaussian process regression as a simulation emulation technique.

Magnetic fields are likely to be an efficient mechanism which can affect evolved intermediate mass stars (i.e. post-AGB stars and planetary nebulae) in different ways such as via the shaping of their envelope. However, observational probes for the presence of those fields are still scarce. I will present a summary of the works, including those from our group, on the detection and measurement of magnetic fields in various evolved objects.

Each CCD of LAMOST accommodates 250 spectra, while about 40 are used to observe sky background during real observations. How to estimate the unknown sky background information hidden in the observed 210 celestial spectra by using the known 40 sky spectra is the problem we solve. In order to model the sky background, usually a pre-observation is performed with all fibers observing sky background. We use the observed 250 skylight spectra as training data, where those observed by the 40 fibers are considered as a base vector set. The Locality-constrained Linear Coding (LLC) technique is utilized to represent the skylight spectra observed by the 210 fibers with the base vector set. We also segment each spectrum into small parts, and establish the local sky background model for each part. Experimental results validate the proposed method, and show the local model is better than the global model.

CARMENES is a pair of high-resolution (R ≳ 80, 000) spectrographs covering the wavelength range from 0.52 to 1.71 μm with only small gaps. The instrument has been optimized for precise radial velocity measurements. It was installed and commissioned at the 3.5 m telescope of the Calar Alto observatory in Southern Spain in 2015. The first large science program of CARMENES is a survey of ~300 M dwarfs, which started on Jan 1, 2016. We present an overview of the instrument, and provide a few examples of early science results.

Low mass, main sequence stars like our Sun exhibit a wide variety of rotational and magnetic states. Observational and theoretical advances have led to a renewed emphasis on understanding the rotational and magnetic evolution of sun-like stars has become a pressing problem in stellar physics. We use global 3D convection and convective dynamo simulations in rotating spherical shells and with realistic stellar stratification to explore the behavior of “middle-aged” stars. We show that for stars with slightly less rotational influence than our Sun a transition occurs from solar-like (fast equator, slow poles) to anti-solar (slow equator, fast poles) differential rotation. We investigate this transition using two different treatments for the upper boundary of our simulations and we hypothesize that this transition from solar-like to anti-solar differential rotation may be responsible for observations of anomalously rapid rotation for stars older than our Sun.

There are specific problems of databases in meteor science such as making meteor databases into the modern research tools. Special institutes and virtual observatories exist for the meteor data storage where the data is online and in open access. However, there are also numerous databases without the open access, such as for example, three radar databases: Kharkiv database with 250,000 meteor orbits in Ukraine, New Zealand database with 500,000 meteor orbits, and Canadian database with more than 3 million meteor orbits. One of the reasons the open access is absent for these databases could be the complexity in the copyright compliance. In the framework of the creation of the modern effective research tool in the meteor science, we discuss here the case of the Kharkiv meteor database.

The development of an absolute radiometer instrument is currently a effort at INPE for TSI measurements. In this work, we describe the development of black Ni-P coatings for TSI radiometers absorptive cavities. We present a study of the surface blackening process and the relationships between morphological structure, chemical composition and coating absorption. Ni-P deposits with different phosphorous content were obtained by electroless techniques on aluminum substrates with a thin zincate layer. Appropriate phosphorus composition and etching parameters process produce low reflectance black coatings.

The behavior of Active Regions (ARs) is directly related to the occurrence of some remarkable phenomena in the Sun such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections (CME). In this sense, changes in the magnetic field of the region can be used to uncover other relevant features like the evolution of the ARs magnetic structure and the plasma flow related to it. In this work we describe the evolution of the magnetic structure of the active region AR NOAA12443 observed from 2015/10/30 to 2015/11/10, which may be associated with several X-ray flares of classes C and M. The analysis is based on observations of the solar surface and atmosphere provided by HMI and AIA instruments on board of the SDO spacecraft. In order to investigate the magnetic energy buildup and release of the ARs, we shall employ potential and linear force free extrapolations based on the solar surface magnetic field distribution and the photospheric velocity fields.

We explored the photoionisation effects on both the proper motion and emission of planetary nebulae NGC 6302, by means of hydrodynamical simulations. We used the GUACHO code, which includes the photoionisation due to central source (Esquivel et al. 2009, Esquivel & Raga 2013). We model these PNe considering an interacting stellar fast wind with and ejected toroidally shaped slow wind (Uscanga et al. 2014). Synthetic Hα emission maps were obtained from our numerical results in order to do a comparison between the cases with and without photoionisation. Using a wavelets fittering method on our results for the ionisation case, we do not find an increase in the proper motion velocities, however we can see an accelerated expansion in both cases. For the ionisation case the Hα emission presents an increase.

We developed a model for wind-blown bubbles with temperature and density profiles based on self-similar solutions including thermal conduction. We constructed also heat-conduction bubbles with chemical discontinuities. The X-ray emission is computed using the well-documented CHIANTI code (v6.0.1). These bubble models are used to (re)analyse the high-resolution X-ray spectrum of the hot bubble of BD+30°3639, and they appeared to be much superior to constant temperature approaches.

We found for the X-ray emission of BD+30°3639 that temperature-sensitive and abundance-sensitive line ratios computed on the basis of heat-conducting wind-blown bubbles and with abundances as found in the stellar photosphere/wind can only be reconciled with the observations if the hot bubble of BD+30°3639 is chemically stratified, i.e. if it contains also a small mass fraction (≃ 3 %) of hydrogen-rich matter immediately behind the conduction front. Neon appears to be strongly enriched, with a mass fraction of at least about 0.06.

Our Sun, a magnetically mild star, exhibits space weather in the form of magnetically driven solar explosive events (SEE) including solar flares, coronal mass ejections and energetic particle events. We use Kepler data and reconstruction of X-ray and UV emission from young solar-like stars to recover the frequency and energy fluxes from extreme events from active stars including the young Sun. Extreme SEEs from a magnetically active young Sun could significantly perturb the young Earth's magnetosphere, cause strong geomagnetic storms, initiate escape and introduce chemical changes in its lower atmosphere. I present our recent simulations results based on multi-dimensional multi-fluid hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic models of interactions of extreme CME and SEP events with magnetospheres and lower atmospheres of early Earth and exoplanets around active stars. We also discuss the implications of the impact of these effects on evolving habitability conditions of the early Earth and prebiotic chemistry introduced by space weather events at the early phase of evolution of our Sun.

Statistical studies of active galaxies (both AGN and Starburst) using large multi-wavelength data are presented, including new studies of Markarian galaxies, large sample of IR galaxies, variable radio sources, and large homogeneous sample of X-ray selected AGN. Markarian survey (the First Byurakan Survey) was digitized and the DFBS database was created, as the biggest spectroscopic database by the number of objects involved ( ~ 20 million). This database provides both 2D images and 1D spectra. We have carried out a number of projects aimed at revealing and multi-wavelength studies of active galaxies among optical, X-ray, IR and radio sources. Thousands of X-ray sources were identified from ROSAT, including many AGN (52% among all identified sources). IRAS PSC/FSC sources were studied having accurate positions from WISE and a large extragalactic sample was created for further search for AGNs. The fraction of active galaxies among IR-selected galaxies was estimated as 24%. Variable radio sources at 1.4 GHz were revealed by cross-correlation of NVSS and FIRST catalogues using the method introduced by us for optical variability. Radio-X-ray sources were revealed from NVSS and ROSAT for detection of new active galaxies. Big Data in astronomy is described that provide new possibilities for statistical research of active galaxies and other objects.