Armenia is hosting the IAU South West Asian (SWA) Regional Office of Astronomy for Development (ROAD). It is a county of ancient astronomy and is also rich in modern astronomical facilities and infrastructures, hence may successfully serve as a regional center for various activities. Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO) has 2.6m and 1m Schmidt, as well as a number of smaller telescopes that are an observational basis for joint projects and collaborations. Armenian Virtual Observatory (ArVO) is hosting astronomical databases, such as the Digitized First Byurakan Survey (DFBS) and may also serve as a basis for development of VO structures in this region. Recently we have conducted a number of new activities; a meeting on “Relation of Astronomy to other Sciences, Culture and Society" (RASCS) was organized by BAO and Armenian Astronomical Society (ArAS) in Oct 2014 in Byurakan. Activities related to Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture (AAC) were initiated as well. Discussions on future Armenian-Iranian collaboration in astronomy were carried out, including an Armenian-Iranian Astronomical Workshop held in Oct 2015 in Byurakan. Similar workshops have been carried out between BAO and Abastumani Astronomical Observatory (AbAO, Georgia) since 1974.

We have obtained deep g, r, and i-band Subaru and ultra-deep 3.6 μm IRAC images of parts of the multiply-wrapped stellar stream around the nearby edge-on galaxy NGC 5907. We have fitted the surface brightness measurements of the stream with FSPS stellar population synthesis models to derive the metallicity and age of the brightest parts of the stream. The resulting relatively high metallicity ([Fe/H] = −0.3) is consistent with a major merger scenario but a satellite accretion event cannot be ruled out.

The first IAU Office of Astronomy for Development Task Force 3 project on light pollution is described along with evaluations and recommendations for future projects.

We have constructed two types of analytical models for an isothermal filamentary cloud supported mainly by magnetic tension. The first one describes an isolated cloud while the second considers filamentary clouds spaced periodically. The filamentary clouds are assumed to be highly flattened in both the models. The former is proved to be the asymptotic limit of the latter in which each filamentary cloud is much thinner than the distance to the neighboring filaments. These models show that the mass to flux ratio is crucial for the magnetohydrodynamical equilibrium. The upper bound for the line density, i.e., the mass per unit length, is proportional to the magnetic flux. The mass to flux ratio is slightly larger than the critical value, ( $2 \pi \sqrt{G}$ )−1, in the first model and lower in the second model. The first model is unstable against fragmentation and the wavelength of the fastest growing mode is several times longer than the cloud diameter. The second model is likely to be unstable only when the mass to flux ratio is supercritical.

We exploit stellar population models of absorption features in the ultraviolet to assess their power in determining the age of the stellar population in galaxies. We focus in particular on features that can differentiate between an old UV-bright population, contributing to the UV upturn, and a young population due to recent star formation. We use a system of 8 indices between 2200 - 3200Å, tracing several chemical elements including Mg and Fe. We apply these models to a large sample of z ~ 0.6 massive galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) - III / Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) to derive the ages of the UV-bright populations. We find a subset of indices to be non-degenerate between old and young UV ages allowing us to find evidence for old stars contributing to the UV, rather than new star formation. We find up to 84% of our working sample (274,661 galaxies) to contain a contribution from old UV-bright stars. Those found to have higher contributing mass fractions being on average more massive and redder then those with lower mass fractions.

We present initial results from our study of the outer halo of the Milky Way using a large sample of RR Lyr(ab) variables datamined from the archives of the Palomar Transient Facility. Of the 464 RR Lyr in our sample with distances exceeding 50 kpc, 62 have been observed spectroscopically at the Keck Observatory. vr and σ(vr) are given as a function of distance between 50 and 110 kpc, and a very preliminary rather low total mass for the Milky Way out to 110 kpc of ~7±1.5×1011M⊙ is derived from our data.

I will describe the Swift Host Galaxy Legacy Survey (SHOALS), a comprehensive multiwavelengthprogram to characterize the demographics of the GRB host population and its redshift evolution from z=0 to z=7.Using unbiased selection criteria we have designated a subset of 119 Swift gamma-ray bursts which are now beingtargeted with intensive observational follow-up. Deep Spitzer imaging of every field has already been obtained andanalyzed, with major programs ongoing at Keck, GTC, Gemini, VLT, and Magellan to obtain complementaryoptical/NIR photometry and spectroscopy to enable full SED modeling and derivation of fundamental physicalparameters such as mass, extinction, and star-formation rate. Using these data I will present an unbiasedmeasurement of the GRB host-galaxy luminosity and mass distributions and their evolution with redshift, compareGRB hosts to other star-forming galaxy populations, and discuss implications for the nature of the GRB progenitor andthe ability of GRBs to serve as tools for measuring and studying cosmic star-formation in the distant universe.

The damped Lyman-α absorption-line systems (DLAs) that are observed in quasar spectra arise in neutral-gas-rich regions of intervening galaxies. With the highest neutral hydrogen column densities observed (N(HI) ⩾ 2 × 1020 atoms cm−2), they are known to trace the bulk of the neutral gas content of the Universe, and are thus powerful probes of galaxy formation and evolution. However, DLAs are extremely rare, and since the Lyman-α line falls in the UV for redshifts z < 1.65, not many are known at low redshift due to the limited availability of space data. Our HST surveys for DLAs in strong MgII absorbers have been successful at showing that MgII can be used as an unbiased tracer of DLAs. We present new results on their incidence, or redshift number density, dn/dz, and cosmological neutral gas mass density, ΩDLA, at redshifts 0.11 ⩽ z ⩽ 1.65, and incorporate results from higher and lower redshift studies in the literature to derive the evolution of neutral gas in the Universe.

We present the first experimentally determined oscillator strengths for the Pb ii transitions at 1203.6 Å and 1433.9 Å, obtained from lifetime measurements made using beam-foil techniques. We also present new detections of these lines in the interstellar medium from an analysis of archival spectra acquired by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph onboard the Hubble Space Telescope. Our observations of the Pb ii λ1203 line represent the first detection of this transition in interstellar gas. Our experimental f-values for the Pb ii λ1203 and λ1433 transitions are consistent with recent theoretical results, including our own relativistic calculations, but are significantly smaller than previous values based on older calculations. Our new f-value for Pb ii λ1433 (0.321 ± 0.034) yields an increase in the interstellar abundance of Pb of 0.43 dex over estimates based on the f-value listed by Morton. With our revised f-values, and with our new detections of Pb ii λ1203 and λ1433, we find that the depletion of Pb onto interstellar grains is not nearly as severe as previously thought, and is very similar to the depletions seen for elements such as Zn and Sn, which have similar condensation temperatures.

We present estimates of ages, [Fe/H], helium content (Y) and abundances of C, N, Mg, Ca, and several other elements for the following globular clusters (GCs): GC7 in NGC147, and Mayall II, Mackey 1 and Mackey 6 in M31. Medium-resolution integrated-light spectra of the GCs were conducted with the 6m telescope. To derive the ages and abundances for the GCs we carried out their population synthesis using model stellar atmospheres, the Padova YZVAR isochrones and the Chabrier mass function. We compare the results with the corresponding data obtained using the same method for several massive Galactic GCs. We show that the differences in the light-element abundances between GCs with similar ages and metallicities may reach 0.5-0.6 dex. The corresponding differences for other elements are usually 2-3 times smaller. We suggest that at least partially the detected differences may be due to light-element abundance variations in the atmospheres of high-luminosity red giant branch stars as a consequence of the transportation of the produced elements to the surface layers.

We present results of analysis of the spectra collected with Polish instrument RESIK flown on CORONAS-F satellite. RESIK was the bent crystal spectrometer, measuring spectra in the spectral range 3.3 - 6.1 Å with a high cadence during flares. The emission lines as well as the continuum observed by RESIK are formed in hotter (T > 3 MK) plasmas of active regions and flares. RESIK observed various types of flares: from X-ray class B and C up to strongest flares of X-class, for both, short and long duration events. The analysis of absolute and relative spectral intensities of the lines and continuum observed for 33 events allowed for determining the plasma elemental composition with subsequent detailed study of time changes of the temperature structure of the sources described in terms of the differential emission measure (DEM). As an example we present the typical DEM evolutionary patterns for the C1.9 flare (SOL2002-12-26T08:35) and discuss its thermodynamics.

β Cephei variables are the most prominent pulsators among the massive stars on the upper main sequence, extending into the class of the rare hybrid β Cephei-SPB pulsators in the overlap region with the instability strip of the Slowly Pulsating B-stars. While the κ-mechanism has been identified as the driver of the pulsations, a comprehensive explanation of the excitation of the observed p- and g-modes is still lacking. In particular, the instability regions for these main-sequence B-type pulsators are still not fully consistent with any current opacity calculations. We have determined tight observational constraints on the chemical composition of a sample of β Cephei and hybrid pulsators in the solar neighbourhood, covering all elements with abundances log (X/H) + 12 > 7.3. The star sample turns out to be chemically homogeneous, with a metallicity Z ≈ 0.014 and a non-solar abundance mix. The availability of accurate and precise abundances eliminates one of the two variables in the opacity calculations for asteroseismic applications, allowing to focus on (missing) atomic data.

While the identification of a worthy topic or challenge is fundamental to the goal of conducting cutting-edge research, another ingredient is indispensable in the field of observational astronomy: the best possible target. Indeed, the ability to choose from a significant number of extremely powerful gravitational lenses was central to the success of the Frontier Fields project. We here briefly review the surveys that provided this crucial pool of targets, before focusing on the results of ongoing work to identify similarly extreme (if not more extreme) systems at higher redshift for the exploration of a yet more distant extragalactic frontier – with JWST and other, evermore ambitious missions.

According to the ΛCDM paradigm of cosmology, galaxies form at the centers of dark matter (DM) halos. While galaxy formation involves complex baryonic physics, the formation of DM halos is governed solely by gravity and cosmology. As a result, many of their properties exhibit a near scale-free behaviour, self-similar in either halo mass, cosmic time or both. This is especially true in the Einstein-de Sitter (EdS) regime, valid at redshifts z ≳ 1, when cosmological scaling relations become particularly simple, and in the narrow mass range of normal galaxies, where the fluctuation power spectrum can be approximated by a power law. Since many galaxy properties are strongly correlated with halo mass, they tend to exhibit a self-similar behaviour as well. A partial list of self-similar properties include the mass function of DM halos, the structure of the cosmic web, the accretion/merger rate of matter onto halos, the density profiles of DM halos and their angular momentum, which eventually determines the galaxy structure. We briefly review these below, and comment on how they can be used in conjunction with simple toy models to gain insight into galaxy formation.

What is a galaxy group?

The rotational braking of magnetic stars through the extraction of angular momentum by stellar winds has been studied for decades, leading to several formulations. We recently demonstrated that the dependency of the braking law on the coronal magnetic field topology can be taken into account through a simple scalar parameter: the open magnetic flux. The Zeeman-Doppler Imaging technique has brought the community a reliable and precise description of the surface magnetic field of distant stars. The coronal structure can then be reconstructed using a potential field extrapolation, a technique that relies on a source surface radius beyond which all field lines are open, thus avoiding a computationally expensive MHD simulations. We developed a methodology to choose the best source surface radius in order to estimate open flux and magnetic torques. We apply this methodology to five K-type stars from 25 to 584 Myr and the Sun, and compare the resulting torque to values expected from spin evolution models.

Hot Jupiters, i.e., Jupiter-mass planets with orbital semi major axes of <10 stellar radii, can interact strongly with their host stars. If the planet is moving supersonically through the stellar wind, a bow shock will form ahead of the planet where the planetary magnetosphere slams into the the stellar wind or where the planetary outflow and stellar wind meet. Here we present high resolution spectra of the hydrogen Balmer lines for a single transit of the hot Jupiter HD 189733 b. Transmission spectra of the Balmer lines show strong absorption ~70 minutes before the predicted optical transit, implying a significant column density of excited hydrogen orbiting ahead of the planet. We show that a simple geometric bow shock model is able to reproduce the important features of the absorption time series while simultaneously matching the line profile morphology. Our model suggests a large planetary magnetic field strength of ~28 G. Follow-up observations are needed to confirm the pre-transit signal and investigate any variability in the measurement.

Submillimetre observations of externally irradiated low-mass protostellar envelopes show that the gas temperature in the envelopes is dominated by the external irradiation. Detailed studies of the protostar IRS7B in Corona Australis also show that the chemistry is strongly affected by the irradiation, depleting the abundances of complex organic molecules.

Brief report. The Extended Case Study for AURA-O as a “Window to the Universe” (http://www2.astronomicalheritage.net/index.php/show-entity?identity=000059&idsub-entity=005) was prepared in the context of supporting the desire to preserve humanity's scientific/cultural heritage of outstanding, high-mountain, ground-based, observatory sites developed over the period 1870–2000.

We present estimates of cool-star X-ray flare rates determined from the XMM-Tycho survey (Pye et al. 2015, A&A, 581, A28), and compare them with previously published values for the Sun and for other stellar EUV and white-light samples. We demonstrate the importance of applying appropriate corrections, especially in regard to the total, effective size of the stellar sample. Our results are broadly consistent with rates reported in the literature for Kepler white-light flares from solar-type stars, and with extrapolations of solar flare rates, indicating the potential of stellar X-ray flare observations to address issues such as ‘space weather’ in exoplanetary systems and our own solar system.