Rigorous results on Hill Stability for the classical N-body problem are in general unknown for N ≥ 3, due to the complex interactions that may occur between bodies and the many different outcomes which may occur. However, the addition of finite density for the bodies along with a rigidity assumption on their mass distribution allows for Hill stability to be easily established. In this note we generalize results on Hill stability developed for the Full 3-body problem and show that it can be applied to the Full N-body problem. Further, we find that Hill Stability concepts can be applied to identify types of configurations which can escape and types which cannot as a function of the system energy.

We have combined observations of the Antennae galaxies from the radio interferometer ALMA and from the optical interferometer GHαFaS (Galaxy Hα Fabry-Perot System). The two sets of observations have comparable angular and spectral resolutions, enabling us to identify 142 giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and 303 Hii regions. We have measured, and compared, their basic physical properties (radius, velocity dispersion, luminosity). We study the mass functions of Hii regions and GMCs, where a double population of Hii regions due to a double population of GMCs is found. Using the velocity dispersion measurements, we claim that the difference between the regimes is the nature of the dominant binding force. For the regions in the lower mass range, the dominant force is the external pressure, while in the higher mass range it is the internal gravity of the clouds. We have applied the same method to similar observations (GHαFaS & ALMA) of Arp 236 and NGC 1614 finding similar results.

IAU Commission 5, Documentation and Astronomical Data, continued its mission of promoting and supporting sound practices of data management, data dissemination, and data preservation over the past three years. The Commission also prepared its proposal for continuation, with some changes in emphasis, after the IAU's commission restructuring program. Below we report on the activities of the various Working Groups and the one Task Force in Commission 5.

The progenitors of stripped-envelope supernovae (SNe Ibc) remain to be conclsuively identified, but correlations between SN rates and host-galaxy properties can constrain progenitor models. Here, we present one result from a re-analysis of the rates from the Lick Observatory Supernova Search. Galaxies with stellar masses ≲1010 M⊙ are less efficient at producing SNe Ibc than more massive galaxies. Any progenitor scenario must seek to explain this new observation.

Building models capable of successfully matching the Terrestrial Planet's basic orbital and physical properties has proven difficult. Meanwhile, improved estimates of the nature of water-rich material accreted by the Earth, along with the timing of its delivery, have added even more constraints for models to match. While the outer Asteroid Belt seemingly provides a source for water-rich planetesimals, models that delivered enough of them to the still-forming Terrestrial Planets typically failed on other basic constraints - such as the mass of Mars.

Recent models of Terrestrial Planet Formation have explored how the gas-driven migration of the Giant Planets can solve long-standing issues with the Earth/Mars size ratio. This model is forced to reproduce the orbital and taxonomic distribution of bodies in the Asteroid Belt from a much wider range of semimajor axis than previously considered. In doing so, it also provides a mechanism to feed planetesimals from between and beyond the Giant Planet formation region to the still-forming Terrestrial Planets.

Massive stars in young massive clusters insert tremendous amounts of mass and energy into their surroundings in the form of stellar winds and supernova ejecta. Mutual shock-shock collisions lead to formation of hot gas, filling the volume of the cluster. The pressure of this gas then drives a powerful cluster wind. However, it has been shown that if the cluster is massive and dense enough, it can evolve in the so–called bimodal regime, in which the hot gas inside the cluster becomes thermally unstable and forms dense clumps which are trapped inside the cluster by its gravity. We will review works on the bimodal regime and discuss the implications for the formation of subsequent stellar generations. The mass accumulates inside the cluster and as soon as a high enough column density is reached, the interior of the clumps becomes self-shielded against the ionising radiation of stars and the clumps collapse and form new stars. The second stellar generation will be enriched by products of stellar evolution from the first generation, and will be concentrated near the cluster center.

Resolved stellar spectroscopy can obtain knowledge about chemical enrichment processes back to the earliest times, when the oldest stars were formed. In this contribution I will review the early (chemical) evolution of the Milky Way halo from an observational perspective. In particular, I will discuss our understanding of the origin of the peculiar abundance patterns in various subclasses of extremely metal-poor stars, taking into account new data from our abundance and radial velocity monitoring programs, and their implications for our understanding of the formation and early evolution of both the Milky Way halo and the satellite dwarf galaxies therein. I conclude by presenting the “Pristine” survey, a program on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope to study this intriguing epoch much more efficiently.

Early-type galaxies (ETGs) host a hot ISM produced mainly by stellar winds, and heated by Type Ia supernovae and the thermalization of stellar motions. High resolution 2D hydrodynamical simulations showed that ordered rotation in the stellar component results in the formation of a centrifugally supported cold equatorial disc. In a recent numerical investigation we found that subsequent generations of stars are formed in this cold disc; this process consumes most of the cold gas, leaving at the present epoch cold masses comparable to those observed. Most of the new stellar mass formed a few Gyrs ago, and resides in a disc.

Models of galaxy formation in a hierarchical universe predict substantial scatter in the halo-to-halo stellar properties, owing to stochasticity in galaxies' merger histories. Currently, only few detailed observations of stellar halos are available, mainly for the Milky Way and M31. We present the stellar halo color/metallicity and density profiles of red giant branch stars out to ~60 kpc along the minor axis of six massive nearby Milky Way-like galaxies beyond the Local Group from the Galaxy Halos, Outer disks, Substructure, Thick disks and Star clusters (GHOSTS) HST survey. This enlargement of the sample of galaxies with observations of stellar halo properties is needed to understand the range of possible halo properties, i.e. not only the mean properties but also the halo-to-halo scatter, what a ‘typical’ halo looks like, and how similar the Milky Way halo is to other halos beyond the Local Group.

Rocky planets are built through a series of highly energetic accretionary impacts. The accreting bodies are thought to carry small amounts of water to the growing planet, but it is debated whether the planet can retain this water through the accretionary process, or if water needs to be added largely after the planet is complete and cooled. Most of the relatively few measurements of deuterium to hydrogen in cometary water do not match Earths water, though the single example of 103P/Hartley 2 is a good match (Mumma & Charnley 2011, Hartogh et al. 2011). Alexander et al. (2012) point out, however, that organic materials in comets have far higher D/H than does their water, so in bulk no comet matches Earths D/H ratio, not even comet Hartley. Meteorites provide evidence that the material that built planets had small but sufficient amounts of water, and analysis of its isotopic composition demonstrates that water from rocky material, and not comets, provided water to the Earth (Alexander et al. 2012). This current evidence that Earths water came from rocky asteroidal material does not solve the question of whether this material was the accreting material that built the planet, or if it was added later. Mission data from the Moon and Mercury demonstrates that those bodies are not completely devoid of volatiles (McCubbin et al. 2010, Saal et al. 2008, Peplowski et al. 2011). The Moon, in particularly, has small amounts of internal water that survived its energetic origins (Hauri et al. 2011). Thus, the giant accretionary impacts that build planets do not completely dry them, and the water from their initial building blocks can be retained. If volatiles are delivered and partly retained during accretion, then the initial habitability of a young planet may be set by degassing of a magma ocean. Models predict that cooling can result in liquid water oceans within ten or tens of millions of years (Abe and Matsui 1986, Elkins-Tanton 2011). Thus, rocky planets in solar systems similarly composed to our own have a good chance of forming with water oceans, and of being habitable, at least for some period of time.

Late-type stars with thick convective zones and rapid rotations exhibit magnetic activity phenomena, such as starspots, plages, and flares. However, in many such kinds of eclipsing binaries, the details of the active phenomena are not well understood. In order to improve our understanding of stellar magnetic activities, we are carrying out an extensive study of the magnetic activities of eclipsing binaries by multi-color CCD photometry using several telescopes (SARA 90cm at KPNO, and NAOC 85cm and 60 cm telescopes at Xinglong). In this paper, we will present our preliminary results with revised orbital parameters, starspot parameters, and stellar flare events on DV Psc and BX Tri.

The stellar content of young massive star clusters emit large amounts of Lyman continuum photons and inject momentum into the inter stellar medium (ISM) by the strong stellar winds of the most massive stars in the cluster. When the most massive stars explode as supernovae, large amounts of mechanical energy are injected in the ISM. A detailed study of the ISM around these massive cluster provides insights on the effect of cluster feedback.

We present high quality integral field spectroscopy taken with VLT/MUSE of two starburst galaxies: ESO 338-IG04 and Haro 11. Both galaxies contain a significant number of super star clusters. The MUSE data provide us with an unprecedented view of the state and kinematics of the ionized gas in the galaxy allowing us to study the effect of stellar feedback on small and large spatial scales. We present our recent results on studying the ISM state of these two galaxies. The data of both galaxies show that the mechanical and ionization feedback of the super star clusters in the galaxy modify the state and kinematics of the ISM substancially by creating highly ionized bubbles around the cluster, making the central part of the galaxy highly ionized. This shows that the HII regions around the individual clusters are density bounded, allowing the ionizing photons to escape and ionize the ISM further out.

Most ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) and very massive globular clusters reside in nearby galaxy clusters or around nearby giant galaxies. Due to their distance (> 4 Mpc) and compactness (r eff < 100 pc) they are barely resolved, and thus it is difficult to obtain their internal properties. Here I present our most recent attempts to constrain the mass function, stellar content and dynamical state of UCDs in the Fornax cluster. Thanks to radial velocity membership assignment of ~ 950 globular clusters (GCs) and UCDs in the core of Fornax, the shape of their mass function is well constrained. It is consistent with the ‘standard’ Gaussian mass function of GCs. Our recent simulations on the disruption process of nucleated dwarf galaxies in cluster environments showed that ~ 40% of the most massive UCDs should originate from nuclear star clusters. Some Fornax UCDs actually show evidence for this scenario, as revealed by extended low surface brightness disks around them and onsets of tidal tails. Multi-band UV to optical imaging as well as low to medium resolution spectroscopy revealed that there exist UCDs with youngish ages, (sub-)solar [α/Fe] abundances, and probably He-enriched populations.

The preliminary results of an analysis of the red giant star KIC 5701829 observed for 29 days in short-cadence mode with the Kepler satellite are reported. The oscillation spectrum of this star is characterized by the presence of a well-defined solar-like oscillation pattern due to acoustic modes. The characterization of the power spectrum has been performed following three basics steps commonly used in the analysis of solar-like oscillations: fitting and correcting for the background, estimating the frequency of maximum power (νmax) and the large separation (Δν), and extracting individual frequencies. We have found that the frequency of maximum oscillation power, νmax, and the mean large frequency separation, Δν, are around, 143 and 12 μHz, respectively. The global asteroseismic parameters along with atmospheric parameters from the literature allow us to infer about evolutionary status of the star.

I review theoretical models of star formation and how they apply across the stellar mass spectrum. Several distinct theories are under active study for massive star formation, especially Turbulent Core Accretion, Competitive Accretion and Protostellar Mergers, leading to distinct observational predictions. These include the types of initial conditions, the structure of infall envelopes, disks and outflows, and the relation of massive star formation to star cluster formation. Even for Core Accretion models, there are several major uncertainties related to the timescale of collapse, the relative importance of different processes for preventing fragmentation in massive cores, and the nature of disks and outflows. I end by discussing some recent observational results that are helping to improve our understanding of these processes.

We present a measurement of the spatial clustering of massive compact galaxies at 1 ≤ z ≤ 3 in CANDELS/3D-HST. We obtain the correlation length and characteristic DM halo masses for compact quiescent galaxies (cQGs) at z ~ 1.5 and compact starforming galaxies (cSFGs) at z ~ 2.5. By comparison with extended starforming galaxies (eSFGs), our result indicates that eSFGs are less possible to be the progenitors of cQGs at lower redshift. Our results indicates that cQGs at z ~ 1.5 could be the progenitors of local luminous ETGs and the descendants of cSFGs and SMGs at z > 2.

The strong similarities between the flares observed on the Sun and in low mass stars has raised question regarding dynamo in these stars. Using the Sun as a prototype, one may be able to address this. In this paper, we present an analysis of 30 intense X-ray flares observed from AB Dor. These flares detected in XMM-Newton data show a rapid rise (500-3000 s) and a slow decay (1000-6000 s). Our studies suggest that the scaling law between the flare peak emission measure and the flare peak temperature for all the flares observed on AB Dor is very similar to the relationship followed by solar flares. Furthermore, we obtain the frequency distribution of flare energies which is a crucial diagnostic to calculate the overall energy residing in a flare. Our results of this study indicate that the large flare (1033 ≤ E ≤ 1034 erg) may not contribute to the heating of the corona.

Turbulence in the interstellar medium is ubiquitous. The turbulent energy density in the gas is significant, and comparable to energy densities of magnetic fields and cosmic rays. Studies of the turbulent interstellar gas in the Milky Way have mostly focused on the neutral gas component, since various spectral lines can give velocity information. Probing turbulent properties in the ionized gas, let alone in magnetic fields, is observationally more difficult. A number of observational methods are discussed below which provide estimates of the maximum scale of fluctuations, the Mach number and other turbulence characteristics.

Outer-halo globular clusters show large half-light radii and flat stellar mass functions, depleted in low-mass stars. Using N-body simulations of globular clusters on eccentric orbits within a Milky Way-like potential, we show how a cluster’s half-mass radius and its mass function develop over time. The slope of the central mass function flattens proportionally to the amount of mass a cluster has lost, and the half-mass radius grows to a size proportional to the average strength of the tidal field. The main driver of these processes is mass segregation of dark remnants. We conclude that the extended, depleted clusters observed in the Milky Way must have had small half-mass radii in the past, and that they expanded due to the weak tidal field they spend most of their lifetime in. Moreover, their mass functions must have been steeper in the past but flattened significantly as a cause of mass segregation and tidal mass loss.

The Kepler Mission has discovered thousands of planets with radii <4 R ⊕, paving the way for the first statistical studies of super-Earth dynamics, formation, and evolution. These calculations often require planetary masses, and yet the vast majority of Kepler planet candidates do not have theirs measured. A key concern is therefore how to map the measured radii to mass estimates in a size range that lacks Solar System analogs. While previous works have derived one-to-one relationships between radius and mass, a realistic mass-radius (M-R) relation should account for the range of compositions that we expect within the population. This compositional diversity creates astrophysical scatter in the relation, which we quantify here.