Cold molecular and atomic gas plays a central role in our understanding of early galaxy formation and evolution. It represents the component of the interstellar medium (ISM) that stars form out of, and its mass, distribution, excitation, and dynamics provide crucial insight into the physical processes that support the ongoing star formation and stellar mass buildup. We here present results that demonstrate the capability of the Atacama Large (sub-)Millimeter Array (ALMA) to detect the cold ISM and dust in “normal” galaxies at redshifts z=5–6. We also show detailed studies of the ISM in massive, dust-obscured starburst galaxies out to z>6 with ALMA, the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA), the Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI), and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). These observations place some of the most direct constraints on the dust-obscured fraction of the star formation history of the universe at z>5 to date, showing that “typical” galaxies at these epochs have low dust content, but also that highly-enriched, dusty starbursts already exist within the first billion years after the Big Bang.

This short review is intended to be a snapshot of some recent observational facts and open questions regarding the study of chemical evolution in the innermost regions of the Milky Way, as traced by spectroscopy of cool giant and supergiant stars.

Laboratory astrophysics is the Rosetta stone that enables astronomers to understand and interpret the cosmos. The IAU Commission 14, the predecessor of the new IAU Laboratory Astrophysics Commission C. B5 and the AAS Laboratory Astrophysics Division (LAD) decided to coordinate their efforts this summer to hold a joint meeting at the IAU General Assembly.

C46 was a Commission of the Executive Committee of the IAU under Division XII (Union-Wide Activities), then after 2012 under Division C (Education, Outreach, and Heritage). It was the only commission dealing exclusively with astronomy education; a previous Commission 38 (Exchange of Astronomers), which allocated travel grants to astronomers who needed them, and a Working Group on the Worldwide Development of Astronomy, have been absorbed by Commission 46.

Comparative analysis of GMS and MSC is presented based on data collected on these objects in the Galaxy and other galaxies. The model is proposed of gravitational instability of GMC and MSC system. Some implications are discussed.

The importance of dark sky protection, potential threats to further degradation from LED technology, the announcement of a new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness, and the use of color images from the orbiting International Space Station for monitoring potential sources of light pollution were discussed in the six talks of this session. It was clear from the presentations that the work of professional astronomy depends upon continued restraint in the use of outdoor lighting, especially new LED technology, which relies upon blue-rich sources to support the advantages of high luminous efficacy and resulting energy savings.

Dessart et al., demonstrated that type II supernova (SN II) model spectra present increasing metal line strength with increasing progenitor metallicity. To confront these models with observations, we obtained a large sample of SN II host H ii region emission line spectroscopy. We show that inferred SN II host H ii region metallicities have a statistically significant correlation with the strength of SN II metal lines, specifically Fe ii 5018Å.

One of the most powerful SOC tools - the wavelet transform modulus maxima approach to calculating multifractality - is connected to one of the most powerful equations in all of physics - Ampere's law. In doing so, the multifractal spectra can be expressed in terms of current density, and how current density can then be used for the prediction of future energy release from such a system.

When an area of education, and more particularly the research within this area, is aimed to development, one of the basic requirements is the existence of a regular publication that accounts for the scientific production in that area. This study aims to analyze 10 years of Latin-American Journal of Astronomy Education (RELEA) [http://www.relea.ufscar.br/].

N131 is an infrared dust bubble residing in a molecular filament. We aim to study the formation and fragmentation of this bubble with multi-wavelength dust and gas observations. Towards the bubble N131, we analyzed archival multi-wavelength observations including 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, 8.0, 24, 70, 160, 250, 350, 500 μm, 1.1 mm, and 21 cm. In addition, we performed new observations of CO (2-1), CO (1-0), and 13CO (1-0) with the IRAM 30-m telescope. Multi-wavelength dust and gas observations reveal a ringlike shell with compact fragments, two filamentary structures, and a secondary bubble N131-A. The bubble N131 is a rare object with a large hole at 24 μm and 21 cm in the direction of its center. The dust and gas clumps are compact and might have been compressed at the inner edge of the ringlike shell, while they are extended and might be pre-existing at the outer edge. The column density, excitation temperature, and velocity show a potentially hierarchical distribution from the inner to outer edge of the ringlike shell. We also detected the front and back sides of the secondary bubble N131-A in the direction of its center. The derived Lyman-continuum ionizing photon flux within N131-A is equivalent to an O9.5 star. Based on the above, we suggest that the bubble N131 might be triggered by the strong stellar winds from a group of massive stars inside the bubble. We propose a scenario in which the bubble N131 forms from the disruption of a gas filament by expansion of H II region, strong stellar winds, and fragments under self-gravity.

The spectrum of the Fe I atom is critical to many areas of astrophysics and beyond. Measurements of the energies of its high-lying levels remain seriously incomplete. Here we update the work by Peterson & Kurucz (2015) to identify such levels using new and archival high-resolution absorption-line UV and optical spectra of stars whose warm temperatures favor Fe I lines. Our GO-14161 Hubble program will obtain UV spectra for four metal-poor turnoff stars, archive them at ASTRAL, and draw from them the new identifications of 250 – 500 Fe I levels.

The Antennae galaxies are a spectacular example of a burst of star formation triggered by the encounter of two galaxies, being an ideal source to understand how the dynamics of galaxy mergers drives star formation. We present archive ALMA CO(3−2) and VLT near-IR H2 spectro-imaging observations, and new ALMA 13CO(2−1) and dust continuum observations, at ~50 pc resolution. Combining tracers of density and velocity structure of the gas and its energetics, we demonstrate that star formation involves a complex interplay of merger-driven gas dynamics and turbulence, and the dissipation of the gas kinetic energy. We focus on a compact, bright H2 source, associated with cold molecular gas and dust continuum emission, located where the velocity gradient in the interaction region is observed to be the largest. The characteristics of this source suggest that we are witnessing the formation, initiated by turbulent dissipation, of a cloud massive enough (~4×106M⊙) to form a super star cluster within 1 Myr.

NOTE. This chapter gives the membership of the “old” Commissions (listed by Commission number), as they were re-affiliated to the new Divisions that were established at the XXVIII GA in 2012. These Commissions ceased to exist at the XXIX GA and replaced by the new Commissions (se Chapter IX of these Transactions). The membership of the new Commissions was highly provisional and incomplete at the time of the XXIX GA (August 2015), therefore it is not reported here and it will be published in the next issue of the Transactions B.

Up to ages of ~ 100 Myr, massive clusters are still swamped in large amounts of gas and dust, with considerable and uneven levels of extinction. At the same time, large grains (ices?) produced by type II supernovae profoundly alter the interstellar medium (ISM), thus resulting in extinction properties very different from those of the diffuse ISM. To obtain physically meaningful parameters of stars, from basic luminosities and effective temperatures to masses and ages, we must understand and measure the local extinction law. This problem affects all the massive young clusters discussed in his volume.

The Grism Lens-Amplified Survey from Space (GLASS) has obtained slitless near-infrared spectroscopy of 10 galaxy clusters selected for their strong lensing properties, including all six Hubble Frontier Fields. Slitless grism spectra are ideal for mapping emission lines such as [O ii], [O iii], and Hα at z=1–3. The combination of strong gravitational lensing and Hubble's diffraction limit provides excellent sensitivity with spatial resolution as fine as 100 pc for highly magnified sources, and ~500 pc for less magnified sources near the edge of the field of view. The GLASS survey represents the largest spectroscopic sample with such high resolution at z > 1. GLASS and Hubble Frontier Field data provide the distribution of stellar mass, star formation, gas-phase metallicity, and other aspects of the physical structure of high redshift galaxies, reaching stellar masses as low as ~107 M⊙ at z=2. I discuss precise measurements of these physical properties and implications for galaxy evolution.

The evolved, core helium burning, extreme horizontal branch stars (also known as hot B subdwarfs) host several classes of pulsators showing either p- or g-modes, or both. They offer particularly favorable conditions for probing with asteroseismology their internal structure, thus constituting arguably the most interesting seismic window for this intermediate stage of stellar evolution. G-modes in particular have the power to probe deep inside these stars, down to the convective He-burning core boundary where uncertain physics (convection, overshooting, semi-convection) is at work. Space data recently obtained with CoRoT and Kepler are offering us the possibility to probe these regions in detail and possibly shed new light on how these processes shape the core structure. In this short paper, we present the most recent advances that have taken place in this field and we provide hints of the foreseen future achievements of hot subdwarf asteroseismology.

We propose to use a deterministically-driven class of self-organized criticality sandpile models to carry out predictions of the largest, most dangerous, and hardest to predict solar flares.

Chandra has deeply observed the clusters and parallel fields in four Frontier Fields. These observations allow us to dramatically improve our understanding of cluster mergers by comparing the detailed mapping of the hot cluster gas with high resolution mass maps and by identifying merger shocks and cold fronts. In merging clusters, relativistic particles can be re-accelerated to produce radio relics. A comparison of lensing maps and Chandra images allows us to determine the cluster morphology and dynamical state and if there are offsets between the dark matter and the hot gas.

The study of active asteroids has attracted a great deal of interest in recent years since the recognition of main-belt comets (which orbit in the main asteroid belt, but exhibit comet-like activity due to the sublimation of volatile ices) as a new class of comets in 2006, and the discovery of the first disrupted asteroids (which, unlike MBCs, exhibit comet-like activity due to a physical disruption such as an impact or rotational destabilization, not sublimation) in 2010. In this paper, I will briefly discuss key areas of interest in the study of active asteroids.

We show data from the SCUBA2 camera on JCMT, of molecular clouds. We focus on starless cores within the clouds. We present data of the Taurus region and show how the environment is affecting some cores' appearance in this region. We compare the SCUBA2 data with Herschel data and discuss the sensitivity of SCUBA2 to surface brightness in the sub-millimetre. We show how this leads to its ability to pick out the densest cores at a given temperature. Hence SCUBA2 preferentially picks out gravitationally bound pre-stellar cores. We discuss the effects of the magnetic field, and how this lends support to a model for the formation and evolution of cores in filamentary molecular clouds.