Contrary to common belief, the column density PDFs of molecular clouds are not described well by log-normal functions, but are instead power-laws with exponents close to two. We argue that the intrinsic functional form of the PDF cannot be securely determined below AK ~ 0.1-0.2 mag, limiting our ability to investigate more complex models for the shape of the cloud PDF.

By proclaiming the IYL2015, the United Nations recognized the importance of light and light based technology in the lives of the citizens of the world and for the development of global society on many levels. Light and application of light science and technology are vital for existing and future advances in many scientific areas and culture. Light is a key element in astronomy: as astronomers, it is what we study and makes our science possible, but it is also what threatens our observations when it is set-off from the ground (light pollution). The UN-designated year 2015 represented a magnificent and unique opportunity for the global astronomical community to disseminate these messages and raise the awareness of the importance and preservation of dark skies for heritage and the natural environment.

As such, the International Year of Light served as a launching pad for several projects during 2015. Two other projects with equally as impressive programs are highlighted and begin the narrative for this section on public education and outreach programs on light pollution issues and solutions.

This triennium has seen progress in a number of directions related to Commission 20 objectives. Foremost, the growth in the number of astrometric observations of small solar system bodies continues to accelerate and the total number of measurements recorded by the Minor Planet Center now exceeds 135 million. Currently the Pan-STARRS project and the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) dominate detection and discovery efforts, while the NEO-WISE space mission contributes infrared detections valuable for understanding the size distribution of populations. Looking forward, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is now funded and in construction on Cerro Pachon in Chile. LSST has the potential to revolutionize the field by conducting a multi-color, ten-year, all-sky survey with a limiting magnitude ~24.5 in the r-band. Survey operations are set to begin in 2022.

We report new measurements of atomic data for the neutral, singly and doubly ionised iron group element spectra for modern astrophysics applications.

Several models presented in the literature compete to explain the origin of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters (GC), but they all fail to reproduce the large variety of present-day characteristics of these systems. In parallel, independent clues on GC early evolution may be derived from observations of young massive clusters (YMC) in the Local Group. But are these two populations of clusters related? And can we reconcile the informations and data concerning GCs and YMCs? Here we summarize some open questions on the nucleosynthetic origin of multiple stellar populations in GCs, on the actual evolution and characteristics of GC low-mass stars, and on early gas expulsion from massive clusters. We propose theoretical paths to be explored in the near future.

Active gas accretion onto the Milky Way is observed in an object called the Smith Cloud, which contains several million solar masses of neutral and warm ionized gas and is currently losing material to the Milky Way, adding angular momentum to the disk. It is several kpc in size and its tip lies 2 kpc below the Galactic plane. It appears to have no stellar counterpart, but could contain a stellar population like that of the dwarf galaxy Leo P. There are suggestions that its existence and survival require that it be embedded in a dark matter halo of a few 108 solar masses.

The present-day sample of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) and globular clusters (GCs) around NGC 1399 is interpreted to be composed of individual star cluster (SC) populations. It is assumed that such an SC population forms at a constant star-formation rate (SFR), and its mass distribution is described by the embedded cluster mass function (ECMF) up to the upper limit M max. The GCs and UCDs probably formed in interactions of the progenitor galaxies during the assembly of the central Fornax galaxy cluster which is why we use them as tracers of those events. After some corrections, the overall GC/UCD mass function is decomposed into separate SC populations, each described by an ECMF. M max of each ECMF is converted to an SFR according to the SFR-M max relation, revealing the SFRs reached during the assembly of galaxies in the central Fornax galaxy cluster.

We have used ACS and WFC3 cameras on board HST to resolve stars in the halo of NGC 5128 out to 140 kpc (25 effective radii, Reff) along the major axis and 70 kpc (13 Reff) along the minor axis. This dataset provides an unprecedented radial coverage of stellar halo properties in any galaxy. Color-magnitude diagrams clearly reveal the presence of the red giant branch stars belonging to the halo of NGC 5128 even in the most distant fields. The V-I colors of the red giants enable us to measure the metallicity distribution in each field and so map the metallicity gradient over the sampled area. The stellar metallicity follows a shallow gradient and even out at 140 kpc (25 Reff) its median value does not go below [M/H]~−1 dex. We observe significant field-to-field metallicity and stellar density variations. The star counts are higher along the major axis when compared to minor axis field located 90 kpc from the galaxy centre, indicating flattening in the outer halo. These observational results provide new important constraints for the assembly history of the halo and the formation of this gE galaxy.

Our understanding of galactic structure and evolution is far from complete. Within the past twelve months we have learnt that the Milky Way is about 50% wider than was previously thought. As a consequence, new models are being developed that force us to reassess the kinematic structure of our Galaxy. Similarly, we need to take a fresh look at the halo structure of external galaxies in our Local Group. Studies of stellar populations, star-forming regions, clusters, the interstellar medium, elemental abundances and late stellar evolution are all required in order to understand how galactic assembly has occurred as we see it. PNe play an important role in this investigation by providing a measure of stellar age, mass, abundances, morphology, kinematics and synthesized matter that is returned to the interstellar medium (ISM). Through a method of chemical tagging, halo PNe can reveal evidence of stellar migration and galactic mergers. This is an outline of the advances that have been made towards uncovering the full number of PNe in our Local Group galaxies and beyond. Current numbers are presented and compared to total population estimates based on galactic mass and luminosity. A near complete census of PNe is crucial to understanding the initial-to-final mass relation for stars with mass >1 to <8 times the mass of the sun. It also allows us to extract more evolutionary information from luminosity functions and compare dust-to-gas ratios from PNe in different galactic locations. With new data provided by the Gaia satellite, space-based telescopes and the rise of giant and extra-large telescopes, we are on the verge of observing and understanding objects such as PNe in distant galaxies with the same detail we expected from Galactic observations only a decade ago.

The use of red colour as the basis for selecting candidate high redshift dusty galaxies from surveys made with Herschel has proved highly successful. The highest redshift such object, HFLS3, lies at z = 6.34 and numerous other sources have been found. Spectroscopic followup confirms that most of these lie at z > 4. These sources are found in such numbers that they represent a challenge to current models of galaxy evolution. We also examine the prospects for finding dusty galaxies at still higher redshifts. These would not appear in the SPIRE surveys from Herschel but would be detected in longer wavelength, submm, surveys. Several such ‘SPIRE-dropouts’ have been found and are now subject to followup observations.

We report on our search for L dwarf flares using NASA's Kepler mission. Spectroscopically confirmedflares were detected with the original Kepler mission from an L1 dwarf stars. We discuss the physicalcharacteristics of these white light flares and compare them to M dwarf flares. For “habitable zone” planets, the apparent flare brightnesses would be comparable to the most powerful M dwarf flares. Weare monitoring more L dwarfs with the Kepler K2 mission. We discussthe prospect for more detections during the remainder of the K2 mission.

We have studied oscillation frequencies of two-dimensional uniformly rotating zero-age main sequence stellar models in the delta Scuti mass range. We identified 370 p and g axisymmetric modes for non-rotating models and then traced their evolution as the rotational velocity was increased. For each mass we considered a rotation sequence of ten models, with the largest rotation rate being about 200 km s−1. We constrained the models to have the same surface shape, which can be characterized for uniform rotation by the ratio between the polar and the equatorial radii. We find that scaling relationships exist among the oscillation frequencies calculated for models with the same shape. For p modes, this scaling closely follows the period root-mean-density relation found in spherical stars. The g modes also scale between models of the same shape, with the scaling reflecting the change in properties outside the convective core as the stellar mass increases. These scaling relationships can be particularly useful in finding specific stellar models to match the oscillation frequencies of individual stars.

Rich regular frequency patterns were found in the Fourier spectra of low-amplitude δ Scuti stars observed by CoRoT satellite (see Paparó et al. in prep.). The CoRoT observations are, however, influenced by the disturbing effect of the South Atlantic Anomaly. The effect is marginal for high amplitude variable stars but it could be critical in the case of low amplitude variables, especially if the frequency range of the intrinsic variation overlaps the interval of the instrumental frequencies. Some tests were carried out both on synthetic and real data for distinguishing technical and stars' frequencies.

On August 11 we held a panel discussion at the 2015 IAU General Assembly, within the three-day Focus Meeting FM2, “Astronomical Heritage: Progressing the UNESCO–IAU Initiative”. Our purpose was to both honor and explore the contributions of John Jefferies to the creation and development of Mauna Kea as an astronomical site.

We run global two dimensional hydrodynamical simulations, using the PLUTO code and the planet-disk model of Uribe et al. 2011, to investigate the effect of the convective overstability (CO) on planet-disk interactions. First, we study the long-term evolution of planet-induced vortices. We found that the CO leads to smoother planetary gap edges, thus weaker planet-induced vortices. The main result was the observation of two generation of vortices, which can pose an explanation for the location of the vortex in the Oph IRS48 system. The lifetime of the primary vortices, as well as the birth time of the secondary vortices are shown to be highly dependent on the thermal relaxation timescale. Second, we study the long-term evolution of the migration of low mass planets and assess whether the CO can prevent the saturation of the horseshoe drag. We found that the disk parameters that favour slow inward or outward migration oppose the amplification of vortices, meaning that the CO does not seem to be a good mechanism to prevent the saturation of the horseshoe drag. On the other hand, we observed a planetary trap, caused by vortices formed in the horseshoe region. This trap may be an alternative mechanism to prevent the fast type I migration rates.

Do cycles of violent, intense, but short-lived bursts constitute a significant mode of global starformation in present-day galaxies? Such events can have a profound effect on galaxies, particularly those with shallowpotential wells, and observational measures of their prevalence inform our understanding of a wide range of issues ingalaxy evolution. I will highlight what we have learned about starbursts from multi-wavelength observations of galaxiesin the local volume on both galactic and smaller scales, and explore how connections with the study of the deaths ofmassive stars may further our understanding of open issues in galaxy evolution.

Our view of the Milky Way's satellite population has radically changed after the discovery, ten years ago, of the first Ultra-Faint Dwarf galaxies (UFDs). These extremely faint, dark-matter dominated, scarcely evolved stellar systems are found in ever-increasing number in our cosmic neighbourhood and constitute a gold-mine for studies of early star formation conditions and early chemical enrichment pathways. Here we show what can be learned from the measurements of chemical abundances in UFD stars read through the lens of chemical evolution studies, point out the limitations of the classic approach, and discuss the way to go to improve the models.

We performed three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of idealized giant molecular cloud collisions including star formation and radiative transfer. We found that the characteristics of the colliding systems are similar to the observations of the Spitzer bubbles, suggesting these objects could be created in such interactions. A high velocity collision creates a top-heavy core mass distribution but is not strongly affected by radiation. At lower collision speeds, the HII regions have time to expand within the shock and promote the formation of massive cores.

I will give an overview of the emission-line diagnostics used for star-forming galaxies. I will review the UV, optical, and IR diagnostics that can be used to yield information about the ISM conditions, star-formation properties, and power sources in GRB hosts, both globally, and with spatially-resolved data. I will discuss wide integral field spectroscopy and AO-led integral field spectroscopy on current and future telescopes, focusing on the insights to be gained on the properties of GRB sites.

We use the Magneticum Pathfinder (www.magneticum.org) hydro-dynamical cosmological simulation set to investigate the buildup of the stellar component within cosmological structures. These simulations result in the self-consistent formation of ICM, AGNs, and both spheroidal and disk galaxy populations, which properly reproduce the observed properties.