Time-series photometry and spectroscopy of transiting exoplanets allow us to study their atmospheres. Unfortunately, the required precision to extract atmospheric information surpasses the design specifications of most general purpose instrumentation. This results in instrumental systematics in the light curves that are typically larger than the target precision. Systematics must therefore be modelled, leaving the inference of light-curve parameters conditioned on the subjective choice of systematics models and model-selection criteria. Here, I briefly review the use of systematics models commonly used for transmission and emission spectroscopy, including model selection, marginalisation over models, and stochastic processes. These form a hierarchy of models with increasing degree of objectivity. I argue that marginalisation over many systematics models is a minimal requirement for robust inference. Stochastic models provide even more flexibility and objectivity, and therefore produce the most reliable results. However, no systematics models are perfect, and the best strategy is to compare multiple methods and repeat observations where possible.

Space weathering affects reflectance spectra of the Moon and S-complex asteroids by spectral bluing (increasing reflectance with decreasing wavelength) of their surface materials at UV/blue (less than 400 nm) wavelengths. This spectral bluing is attributed to a degradation of the UV absorption feature seen in spectral reflectance of olivine as a result of the creation of nanophase (npFe0) iron. We have modeled the effect of the addition of small amounts of npFe0 intimately mixed with particles from a hypothetical material and a terrestrial basalt. The addition of 0.0001% npFe0 affects the reflectance at these UV/blue wavelengths, while the addition of 0.01% is required to see the visible/near infrared reddening and diminution of VNIR absorption features. Thus, the UV/blue spectral reflectance characteristics allow earlier detection of the onset of space weathering effects.

The AURA Observatory site in northern Chile, which includes Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachon, has been operational for over 50 years now, facing a variety of challenges to its long-term future. The site now hosts over 20 operational telescopes, ranging from small projects with 0.4m telescopes to the Blanco 4m, the SOAR 4.1m, and the 8m Gemini-South telescopes. In addition, we have recently begun the construction of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) on the summit of Cerro Pachon. We summarize our efforts over the past 20-30 years to highlight the importance of site protection through education and public outreach as well as through more recent promotion of IDA certifications in the region and support for the World Heritage initiatives described by others in this conference.

We report recent investigations in the field of Early Black Holes. We summarize recent theoretical and observational efforts to understand how Black Holes formed and eventually evolved into Super Massive Black Holes at high-z. This paper makes use of state of the art computer simulations and multiwavelength surveys. Although non conclusive, we present results and hypothesis that pose exciting challenges to modern astrophysics and to future facilities.

We challenge the assumptions present in previous efforts to model the ensemble of detected Kepler systems, which require a dichotomous stellar population of ‘fertile’ and ‘sterile’ planet producing stars. We remove the assumption of Rayleigh distributed mutual inclinations between planets and show that the need for two distinct stellar populations disappears when the inner part of planetary disks are assumed to be flat, rather than flared.

We use SCUBA-2, HARP C18O J= 3 → 2, Herschel and IRAM N2H+ J= 1 → 0 observations of the Ophiuchus molecular cloud to identify and characterise the properties of the starless cores in the region. The SCUBA-2, HARP and Herschel data were taken as part of the JCMT and Herschel Gould Belt Surveys. We determine masses and temperatures and perform a full virial analysis on our cores, and find that our cores are all either bound or virialised, with gravitational energy and external pressure energy on average of similar importance in confining the cores. There is wide variation from region to region, with cores in the region influenced by B stars (Oph A) being substantially gravitationally bound, and cores in the most quiescent region (Oph C) being pressure-confined. We observe dissipation of turbulence in all our cores, and find that this dissipation is more effective in regions which do not contain outflow-driving protostars. Full details of this analysis are presented by Pattle et al. (2015).

It has long been recognized that magnetic fields play an important role in many astrophysical environments, yet the strength and structure of magnetic fields beyond our solar system have been at best only qualitatively constrained. The Galactic magnetic field in particular is crucial for modeling the transport of Galactic CRs, for calculating the background to dark matter and CMB-cosmology studies, and for determining the sources of UHECRs. This report gives a brief overview of recent major advances in our understanding of the Galactic magnetic field (GMF) and its lensing of Galactic and ultrahigh energy cosmic rays.

This paper briefly reviews some advances and unsolved problems related to the formation of cosmic dust in the evolved environments of AGB stars and supernovae.

The wealth of strong lensing features observed in the Frontier Fields clusters offers insights on the nature of dark energy. The large number of multiple-images systems with redshifts allows to simultaneously estimate the lens model parameters and the cosmological parameters involved in the distances calculations. In particular for the ΛCDM model, it is possible to estimate the matter density Ωm and the dark energy equations parameters w X . In this talk, I will present recent analyses of systematic errors based on Frontier Fields observed and simulated data.

On 13 December 2012, Chang'e-2 completed a successful flyby of the near-Earth asteroid 4179 Toutatis at a closest distance of 770 meters from the asteroid's surface. The observations show that Toutatis has an irregular surface and its shape resembles a ginger-root of a smaller lobe (head) and a larger lobe (body). Such bilobate shape is indicative of a contact binary origin for Toutatis. In addition, the high-resolution images better than 3 meters provide a number of new discoveries about this asteroid, such as an 800-meter depression at the end of the large lobe, a sharply perpendicular silhouette near the neck region, boulders, indicating that Toutatis is probably a rubble-pile asteroid. Chang'e-2 observations have significantly revealed new insights into the geological features and the formation and evolution of this asteroid. In final, we brief the future Chinese asteroid mission concept.

X-ray surveys of normal galaxies, i.e. those that do not host actively supermassive black holes, have revealed important information on the nature of accreting stellar-mass compact objects (neutron stars and black holes), constraints on populations of possible intermediate-mass black holes (102–5M ⊙), and on the reservoir of materials in the hot interstellar medium of the most massive galaxies. Here we summarize briefly the results of Chandra and NuSTAR surveys of several samples of galaxies covered during the 2015 IAU General Assembly. This includes a comprehensive study of six nearby starburst galaxies by the NuSTAR mission, of high-redshift galaxies from the 6 Ms Chandra Deep Field South for which evolutionary trends in X-ray emission over cosmic time have been measured, of collisional ring galaxies which are excellent local environments for studying intermediate-mass black holes and of elliptical galaxies which are ideal for study of the hot gas reservoirs containing the effects of stellar and AGN feedback.

Integral field spectroscopy of nearby supernova sites within ~30 Mpc have been obtained using multiple IFU spectrographs in Hawaii and Chile. This technique enables both spatial and spectral information of the explosion sites to be acquired simultaneously, thus providing the identification of the parent stellar population of the supernova progenitor and the estimates for its physical parameters including age and metallicity via the spectrum. While this work has mainly been done in the optical wavelengths using instruments such as VIMOS, GMOS, and MUSE, a near-infrared approach has also been carried out using the AO-assisted SINFONI. By studying the supernova parent stellar population, we aim to characterize the mass and metallicity of the progenitors of different types of supernovae.

The preliminary results of an analysis of the time-series photometric data of binary star GSC 02049-01164 (ROTSE1 J164341.65+251748.1) are presented. GSC 02049-01164 was observed for eight consecutive nights with the 0.84-m telescope of the San Pedro Martir Observatory in Mexico. The light curve of GSC 02049-01164 is typical of those of W UMa type binary stars. In an effort to gain a better understanding of the binary system and determine its physical properties we have analyzed the light curve with the software PHOEBE V.0 0.31a. We have found that GSC 02049-01164 binary system has a mass ratio of ~ 0.42, an inclination of ~ 85 degrees, a semi-major axis of ~ 2.24 R ⊙. It is likely that the two stellar components are in contact, with a degree of overcontact of 13%. The physical parameters of the stellar components have been derived.

We have aggregated together data available in the literature, or analysed by us, to compute the lightcurves of most young supernovae (SNe) that have been detected in X-rays. Currently the database contains about 60 SNe spanning all the various types, but it is expanding rapidly. We use this library of lightcurves and spectra to explore the diversity of SNe, the characteristics of the environment into which they are expanding, and the implications for their progenitors. X-ray spectra can provide insight into the density structure, composition and metallicity of the surrounding medium, and the ionization level, through the spectra themselves as well as the X-ray absorption. Since core-collapse SNe expand mainly in environments created by the progenitor star mass-loss, this can provide crucial information about the nature of the progenitor star, and its mass-loss parameters in the decades or centuries before its death. In a few cases, via detailed modelling, we can distinguish the composition of the SN ejecta from that of the environment. X-ray observations therefore provide an invaluable probe into the stellar environments of core-collapse SNe, complementing data available at other wavelengths. We provide an overview of the X-ray lightcurves of various SN types, the implications for their environment, and clues to their progenitor stars.

The possibility that the Sun's radius is changing, even at a faint level, has been discussed over a long time. As the solar radius is certainly one of the most important basic pieces of astrophysical information, it is crucial to determine the physical mechanisms that may cause shrinking or expansion of the solar envelope. The wavelength dependence has been poorly inspected up to now. Here we examine recent solar radius determinations from space observations, mainly from Mercury and Venus transits, made by different teams in 2006, 2012 and 2014. Seemingly, the results are not consistent: authors interpreted the discrepancies because of the different methods of analysis used in their work. However, looking at the wavelength dependence, adding other available observations, from X-EUV up to radio, a typical relationship between the radius and the wavelength can be found, reflecting the different heights at which the lines are formed. Possible explanations are discussed. Such results can be interesting for studying solar-stellar connections.

Dwarf galaxies can have very high globular cluster specific frequencies, and the GCs are in general significantly more metal-poor than the bulk of the field stars. In some dwarfs, such as Fornax, WLM, and IKN, the fraction of metal-poor stars that belong to GCs can be as high as 20%–25%, an order of magnitude higher than the 1%–2% typical of GCs in halos of larger galaxies. Given that chemical abundance anomalies appear to be present also in GCs in dwarf galaxies, this implies severe difficulties for self-enrichment scenarios that require GCs to have lost a large fraction of their initial masses. More generally, the number of metal-poor field stars in these galaxies is today less than what would originally have been present in the form of low-mass clusters if the initial cluster mass function was a power-law extending down to low masses. This may imply that the initial GC mass function in these dwarf galaxies was significantly more top-heavy than typically observed in present-day star forming environments.

Recent advances in X-ray and microwave observations have provided unprecedented insights into the structure and evolution of the hot X-ray emitting plasma from their cores to the virialization region in outskirts of galaxy clusters. Recent Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) surveys (ACT, Planck, SPT) have provided new cluster catalogs, significantly expanding coverage of the mass-redshift plane, while Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray follow-up programs have improved our understanding of cluster physics and evolution as well as the surveys themselves. However, the current cluster-based cosmological constraints are still limited by uncertainties in cluster astrophysics. In order to exploit the statistical power of the current and upcoming X-ray and microwave cluster surveys, it is critical to improve our understanding of the structure and evolution of the hot X-ray emitting intracluster medium (ICM). In this session, we discussed recent advances in observations and simulations of galaxy clusters, with highlights on (i) the evolution of ICM profiles and scaling relations, (ii) physical processes operating in the outskirts of galaxy clusters, and (iii) impact of mergers on the ICM structure in groups and clusters.

We carried out spectroscopic observations with Subaru/HDS of 50 solar-type superflare stars found from Kepler data. More than half (34 stars) of the target stars show no evidence of the binary system, and we confirmed atmospheric parameters of these stars are roughly in the range of solar-type stars.

We then conducted the detailed analyses for these 34 stars. First, the value of the “v sin i” (projected rotational velocity) measured from spectroscopic results is consistent with the rotational velocity estimated from the brightness variation. Second, there is a correlation between the amplitude of the brightness variation and the intensity of Ca II IR triplet line. All the targets expected to have large starspots because of their large amplitude of the brightness variation show high chromospheric activities compared with the Sun. These results support that the brightness variation of superflare stars is explained by the rotation of a star with large starspots.

Submillimetre observations of the externally irradiated protostar R CrA IRS7B show that this source has dramatically different chemical abundances in comparison with otherwise similar embedded protostars not subject to external irradiation.

Massive stars pulsate in various modes; radial and nonradial p-modes, g-modes, and strange modes including oscillatory convective (non-adiabatic g−) modes. Those modes are responsible for the light and velocity variations of β Cephei stars, slowly pulsating B (SPB) stars, and α Cyg variables. The instability mechanisms for these pulsations are discussed. We also discuss the relation between the evolution of massive stars and the excitation of strange modes, which are considered responsible for the pulsation in most of the α Cyg variables. The surface He and CNO abundances of hotter α Cyg variables seem to indicate that the Ledoux criterion of convection is better than the Schwarzschild criterion, although the latter is extensively used in stellar evolution computations.