This contribution summarises the first characterisation of the 12 μm warm dust (“exo-Zodi”) luminosity function around Sun-like stars, focussing on the dustiest systems that can be identified by the WISE mission (Kennedy & Wyatt 2013). We use the sample of main-sequence stars observed by Hipparcos within 150pc as an unbiased sample, and report the detection of six new warm dust candidates. The ages of five of these new sources are unknown, meaning that they may be sites of terrestrial planet formation or rare analogues of other old warm dust systems. We show that the dustiest old (> Gyr) systems such as BD+20 307 are 1 in 10,000 occurrences. Bright warm dust is much more common around young (<120 Myr) systems, with a ~1% occurrence rate. We show that a two component in situ model where all stars have initially massive warm disks and in which warm debris is also generated at some random time along the stars' main-sequence lifetime, perhaps due to a collision, can explain the observations. However, if all stars only have initially massive warm disks these would not be visible at Gyr ages, and random collisions on the main-sequence are too infrequent to explain the high disk occurrence rate for young stars. That is, neither component can explain the observations on their own. Despite these conclusions, we cannot rule out an alternative dynamical model in which comets are scattered in from outer regions because the distribution of systems with the appropriate dynamics is unknown. Our in situ model predicts that the fraction of stars with exo-Zodi bright enough to cause problems for future exo-Earth imaging attempts is at least roughly 10%, and is higher for populations of stars younger than a few Gyr. This prediction of roughly 10% also applies to old stars because bright systems like BD+20 307 imply a population of fainter systems that were once bright, but are now decaying through fainter levels. Our prediction should be strongly tested by the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer, which will provide valuable constraints and input for more detailed evolution models. A detection fraction lower than our prediction could indicate that the hot dust in systems like BD+20 307 has a cometary origin due to the quirks of the planetary dynamics. Population models of comet delivery need to be developed to help distinguish between different possible origins of warm dust.

We present new on-sky results for the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics imager (SCExAO) verifying and quantifying the contrast gain enabled by key components: the closed-loop coronagraphic low-order wavefront sensor (CLOWFS) and focal plane wavefront control (“speckle nulling”). SCExAO will soon be coupled with a high-order, Pyramid wavefront sensor which will yield > 90% Strehl ratio and enable 106–107 contrast at small angular separations allowing us to image gas giant planets at solar system scales. Upcoming instruments like VAMPIRES, FIRST, and CHARIS will expand SCExAO's science capabilities.

Here we present the installation and successful commissioning of an L'-band Annular Groove Phase Mask (AGPM) coronagraph on VLT/NACO. The AGPM is a vector vortex coronagraph made from diamond subwavelength gratings tuned to the L' band. The vector vortex coronagraph enables high contrast imaging at very small inner working angle (here 0″.09, the diffraction limit of the VLT at L'), potentially being the key to a new parameter space. During technical and science verification runs, we discovered a late-type companion at two beamwidths from an F0V star (Mawet et al. 2013), and imaged the inner regions of β Pictoris down to the previously unexplored projected radius of 1.75 AU. The circumstellar disk was also resolved from ≃ 1″ to 5″ (see J. Milli et al., these proceedings). These results showcase the potential of the NACO L-band AGPM over a wide range of spatial scales.

The possible presence of dust in the habitable zone around nearby main-sequence stars is considered as a major hurdle toward the direct imaging of Earth-like extrasolar planets with future dedicated space-based telescopes (e.g., Roberge et al. 2012). In this context, NASA has funded two ground-based mid-infrared nulling interferometers to combine the large apertures available at the Keck Observatory and the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). In this poster, we present the preliminary results of the extended survey carried out with the Keck Interferometer Nuller (KIN) between 2008 and 2011 and describe the forthcoming LBTI survey.

Quiescent solar prominences are cool and dense plasma clouds located inside the hot and less dense solar corona. They are highly dynamic structures displaying flows, instabilities, oscillatory motions, etc. The oscillations have been mostly interpreted in terms of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves, which has allowed to perform prominence seismology as a tool to determine prominence physical parameters difficult to measure. Here, several prominence seismology applications to large and small amplitude oscillations are reviewed.

Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter (CoMP-S), developed by HAO/NCAR, has been introduced to regular operation at the Lomnicky Peak Observatory (High Tatras in northern Slovakia, 2633 m a.s.l.) of the Astronomical Institute of Slovak Academy of Sciences. We present here the technical parameters of the current version of the instrument and its potential for observations of prominences in the visual and near-IR spectral regions. The first results derived from observations of prominences in the Hα emission line taken during a coordinated observing campaign of several instruments in October 2012 are shown here.

Using the multi-wavelength data from AIA/SDO, we report a failed filament eruption, which was associated with an X1.9 flare, but without any distinct CME, coronal dimming or EUV wave. Some magnetic arches above the filament was observed distinctly in EUV channels, especially in 94 Å and 131 Å, before and during the filament eruption. Our results show that the overlying arcades expanded along with the ascent of the filament at first until they reached a projected height of about 49 Mm above the Suns surface, where they stopped. The following filament material was observed to be confined by the stopped EUV arches and not to escape from the Sun. These results support that the overlying arcades play an important role in preventing the filament to erupt outward successfully.

We present detailed models of the edge-on protoplanetary disk ESO Hα 569 (SSTgbs J111110.7-764157) from resolved scattered light images from HST and a complete spectral energy distribution. Data was obtained as part of an HST campaign to catalogue edge-on disks around young stars in nearby star forming regions (HST program 12514, PI: Karl Stapelfeldt). We confirm that this object is an optically thick edge-on disk around a young star with an outer radius of 125 AU. Using full radiative transfer models, we probe the distribution of dust grains and overall shape of the disk (inclination, scale height, dust mass, maximum particle size, inner radius, flaring exponent and surface/volume density exponent).

Real-time monitoring of filaments is essential for the prediction of their eruption and the ensuing coronal mass ejection (CME). We apply an automated algorithm for the detection and tracking of filaments in full-disc Hα images to obtain their physical attributes. This provides an accurate onset time of the eruption, and also allows us to study the physical characteristics of the erupting filaments in an objective manner.

Some of the fundamental processes involved in the evolution of circumstellar disks and the assembly of planetary systems are just now becoming accessible to astronomical observations. The new promise of observational work in the field of planet formation makes for a very dynamic research scenario, which is certain to be amplified in the coming years as the revolutionary Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) facility ramps up to full operations. To highlight the new directions being explored in these fields, this brief review will describe how high angular resolution measurements at millimeter/radio wavelengths are being used to study several crucial aspects of the formation and early evolution of planetary systems, including: the gas and dust structures of protoplanetary disks, the growth and migration of disk solids, and the interactions between a young planetary system and its natal, gas-rich disk.

We present the results of the astrometric monitoring of βPictoris b, the closest exoplanet imaged so far, using all VLT/NaCo data we obtained so far.

We present the first ground-based adaptive optics images of a silhouette disk. This disk, Orion 218-354, is seen in silhouette against the bright nebular background of Orion, and was resolved using the new Magellan Adaptive Secondary AO system and its VisAO camera in Simultaneous Differential Imaging (SDI) mode. PSF subtraction of Orion 218-354 reveals a disk ~1″ (400 AU) in radius, with the degree of absorption increasing steadily towards the center of the disk. By virtue of the central star being unsaturated, these data probe inward to a much smaller radius than previous HST images. Our data present a different picture than previous observers had hypothesized, namely that the disk is likely optically thin at Hα at least as far inward as ~20AU. In addition to being among the first high-resolution AO images taken in the optical on a large telescope, these data reveal the power of SDI imaging to illuminate disk structure, and speak to a bright future for visible AO imaging. Analysis of the results described briefly here can be found in full detail in Follette et al. (2013).

Solar coronal cavities are regions of rarefied density and elliptical cross-section. The Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter (CoMP) obtains daily full-Sun coronal observations in linear polarization, allowing a systematic analysis of the coronal magnetic field in polar-crown prominence cavities. These cavities commonly possess a characteristic “lagomorphic” signature in linear polarization that may be explained by a magnetic flux-rope model. We analyze the spatial relation between the EUV cavity and the CoMP linear polarization signature.

We present Doppler tomographic observations of the transiting planet Kepler-13b (aka KOI-13b), a highly inflated hot Jupiter orbiting the Teff=8500 K primary of a hierarchical triple stellar system. As the planet transits the rapidly rotating host star, it successively blocks regions of the stellar disk with different radial velocities, causing a “bump” in the stellar spectral line shape, which we resolve spectroscopically. The manner in which this perturbation moves across the stellar line during the transit gives information on the relative alignment between the stellar spin and planetary orbital angular momentum vectors. This is a powerful statistical probe of planetary migration processes, as the expected spin-orbit misalignment distributions from dynamically cold migration (disk interactions) and dynamically hot migration (planet-planet scattering, Kozai cycles) are significantly different: the former will lead to primarily aligned orbits; the latter to a wide distribution. Doppler tomography also promises to be a powerful technique for confirming transiting planet candidates around rapidly rotating stars like Kepler-13A, which are not amenable to radial velocity follow-up and thus are currently a poorly sampled region of parameter space.

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are eruptive events that originate, propagate away from the Sun, and carry along solar material with embedded solar magnetic field. Some are accompanied by prominence eruptions. A subset of the interplanetary counterparts of CMEs (ICMEs), so-called Magnetic Clouds (MCs) can be characterized by magnetic flux-rope structures. We apply the Grad-Shafranov (GS) reconstruction technique to examine the configuration of MCs and to derive relevant physical quantities, such as magnetic flux content, relative magnetic helicity, and the field-line twist, etc. Both observational analyses of solar source region characteristics including flaring and associated magnetic reconnection process, and the corresponding MC structures were carried out. We summarize the main properties of selected events with and without associated prominence eruptions. In particular, we show the field-line twist distribution and the intercomparison of magnetic flux for these flux-rope structures.

In current theory of planet formation, streaming instability is one of the most promising mechanisms to overcome the meter-barrier in the course of core accretion. Almost all previous works, however, were focused on a local region of protoplanetary disks with a limited size of about 0.2 gas scale heights. Only one radial filamentary particle concentration was seen in these studies. To address this, we conduct the largest-scale simulations of this kind to date, up to 0.8 gas scale heights both horizontally and vertically. We demonstrate that streaming instability remains robust on large scale and multiple radial particle concentrations exist in large enough boxes. This result may be important in characterising the feeding zone of planetesimal formation.

The HR 8799 four-planet host is known to host a multi-component disk from Spitzer observations. We have obtained Herschel† observations of the disk which provide increased sensitivity and resolution of its outer components: the planetesimal belt and halo. We find that the two components cannot be discerned from the spectral energy distribution alone, but require resolved images to independently identify them. In the resolved images, the halo stands out for its steep radial profile and large radial extent to 2000 AU, a factor of two larger than was estimated from Spitzer data.

Direct imaging and spectroscopy of exoplanets is a key element for understanding planet formation and migration. Such direct detections and characterizations remains technologically challenging, since a very high contrast ratio and small angular separation are involved, and futhermore speckle noise limits the high-contrast imaging performance. We further discuss a speckle subtraction and suppression technique that fully takes advantage of spectral and time-domain information on quasi-static speckles to measure the highest-fidelity photometry as well as accurate astrometry of detected companions.

Sudden Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) intensity decreases are related to the passage of Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections (ICMEs). These phenomena are also known as Forbush Decreases (FDs). The deepest FDs are associated with the passage of Magnetic Clouds (MCs). In this preliminary study we select “non-interacting” MCs associated with FDs observed from ground Neutron Monitors in the period 1996-2009, with the aim of reducing the complexity and the number of parameters involved in the GCR-MC interactions. We introduce a method to determine properties of the “ejecta component” of the FD. We analyze properties of the ejecta component in combination with properties of MCs. From the resulting selection of events, we find that those FDs containing ejecta components show stronger correlations with MC parameters than our total sample of events.

Characterization of exoplanet atmospheres with space-based infrared telescopes is important to detect biomarkers. A promising method is temporary differential observation. For this method, designs of a wideband infrared spectral disperser are presented. A design using a CdTe prism simultaneously covers λ=1–30 μm. Designing binary pupil masks for segmented pupils to be used in spatially resolved observations are also shown for another observational method.