Globular clusters (GCs) is dominated by behaviors of high-mass components such as neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs). In this work, we perform direct N-body simulations of a GC assuming two BH masses. We used the BH masses of 10 and 20 M⊙ with total math ratio between those two populations is assumed to be 2:1 and 5:1. Our results show that the heavier BHs (20 M⊙) are depleted in the early stage of cluster evolution. The existence of heavier BH components increase the retention rate of lighter BHs during the cluster evolution. About 30% of ejected BHs are in binaries.

We introduce a new data reduction method for Hayabusa/AMICA data to subtract a scattered light inside the optics. As the result, we obtained a map of space weathering on Itokawa for all available channels.

We present accurate measurements of the large-scale clustering of photometric quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. These results, detailed in Leistedt & Peiris (2014), rely on a novel technique to identify and treat systematics when measuring angular power spectra, using null-tests and analytical marginalisation. This approach can be used to maximise the extraction of information from current and future galaxy or quasar surveys. For example, it enables to robustly constrain primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG), which modifies the bias of galaxies and quasars on large scales – the most sensitive to observational systematics. The constraints on PNG obtained with the quasar power spectra are detailed in Leistedt, Peiris & Roth (2014); these are the most stringent constraints to date obtained with a single tracer of the large-scale structure.

Scattering line polarization and the Hanle effect are among the most important mechanisms for diagnostics of the solar and stellar atmospheres. The fact that real stellar atmospheres are horizontally inhomogeneous makes the spectral synthesis and interpretation very challenging because the effect of thermodynamic fluctuations on spectral line polarization is entangled with the action of magnetic fields. This applies to the spatially resolved as well as to the averaged spectra. The necessary step towards the interpretation of such spectra is to study the line formation in sufficiently realistic 3D MHD models and compare the synthetic spectra with observations. This paper gives an overview of recent progress in the field of 3D NLTE synthesis of polarized spectral lines resulting from investigations with the radiative transfer code PORTA.

Variable mass accretion is thought to be an important aspect of protostar formation. Mid-infrared wavelength observations trace variations in accretion luminosity and thus can probe mass accretion on sub-AU scales. We present results from the Spitzer YSOVAR campaign towards Class I protostars in NGC 2264. The precise (0.02 mag) medium-cadence light curves at 3.6 and 4.5 microns show that young star variability is ubiquitous, with a variety of morphologies and time scales. A structure function analysis shows the light curves, on average, have a power-law behavior up to 30 days. The trend continues to longer timescales (years) for protostars (Class I), in contrast with the smaller brightness changes displayed by T Tauri stars (Class II). The power-law behavior suggests a stochastic process, such as turbulent mass accretion, drives the variability.

We present results from deep Chandra X-ray observations of the galaxy group NGC 5813. This system shows three pairs of collinear cavities, with each pair associated with an elliptical AGN outburst shock. Due to the relatively regular morphology of this system, and the unique unambiguous detection of three distinct AGN outburst shocks, it is particularly well-suited for the study of AGN feedback and the AGN outburst history. We find that the mean kinetic power is roughly the same for each outburst, and that the total energy associated with the youngest outburst is significantly lower than that of the previous outbursts. This implies that the mean AGN jet power has remained stable for at least 50 Myr, and that the youngest outburst is ongoing. We find that the mean shock heating rate balances the local radiative cooling rate at each shock front, suggesting that AGN outburst shock heating alone is sufficient to offset cooling and establish AGN/ICM feedback within at least the central 30 kpc. Finally, we find non-zero shock front widths that are too large to be explained by particle diffusion, but are instead consistent with arising from broadening of the shock fronts due to propagation through a turbulent ICM with a mean turbulent speed of ~ 70 km s−1.

The solar abundances of Fe and of the CNO elements play an important role in addressing a number of important issues such as the formation, structure, and evolution of the Sun and the solar system, the origin of the chemical elements, and the evolution of stars and galaxies. Despite the large number of papers published on this issue, debates about the solar abundances of these elements continue. The aim of the present investigation is to quantify the impact of photospheric magnetic fields on the determination of the solar chemical abundances. To this end, we used two 3D snapshot models of the quiet solar photosphere with a different magnetization taken from recent magneto-convection simulations with small-scale dynamo action. Using such 3D models we have carried out spectral synthesis for a large set of Fei, Ci, Ni, and Oi lines, in order to derive abundance corrections caused by the magnetic, Zeeman broadening of the intensity profiles and the magnetically induced changes of the photospheric temperature structure. We find that if the magnetism of the quiet solar photosphere is mainly produced by a small-scale dynamo, then its impact on the determination of the abundances of iron, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen is negligible.

In this paper, I investigate a possibility to detect a brown dwarf companion in a protoplanetary disk based on spectral energy distribution (SED) profile analysis. I present synthetic spectral energy distributions of protoplanetary disks with and without an embedded companion that clears a gap. The computations are performed for a star (0.8 M⊙) and a substellar companion (30 MJ) at an age of 5 Myr embedded in a protoplanetary disk, located at a distance 100 pc from the Sun. Analysis of the SED profile shape indicates that the maximum difference between the fluxes of the systems with and without the companion is ≈ 0.43 Jy at 34 μm.

We investigate the validity of internal methods to estimate the uncertainty of the galaxy two-point correlation function. We consider the jackknife and bootstrap methods, which are based on re-sampling sub-regions of the original data. These are cheap computationally, and do not depend on the accuracy of external simulations. We test the different methods over a large range of scales using a set of 160 mock catalogues from the LasDamas set of simulations. Our results show that the standard bootstrap method significantly overestimates the true uncertainty at all scales. We try two possible generalisations of the bootstrap, but find them not to be robust. Regarding jackknife, we obtain that this method provides an unbiased estimation of the error at small and intermediate scales, up to ∼ 40 h−1, Mpc. At larger scales, it typically overestimates the error by a ∼13%.

We investigated comets active at large heliocentric distances using observations obtained at the 6-m BTA telescope (SAO RAS, Russia). Long-slit and photometric modes of the focal reducer SCORPIO were used. Two of the comets, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 (SW1) and C/2002 VQ94 (LINEAR) were observed to be emission rich. Detection of CO+ and N2 + emissions in the comae of these comets is evidence that they were formed in the outer regions of the Solar System or in a pre-solar interstellar cloud in a low temperature environment with T ~ 25K. The ratio of N2+/CO+ is equal to 0.011 and 0.027 for SW1 and LINEAR, respectively. Comet LINEAR is the most distant object in the Solar System (7.332 AU) for which CO+ and N2+ are measured. The photometric maximum of the isolated CO+ coma in comet LINEAR is shifted by 1.4 arcsec (7.44 × 103 km) relative to the photometric maximum of the dust coma. This shift deviates from the sunward direction by 63 degrees.

Quasar feedback in the form of powerful outflows is invoked as a key mechanism to quench star formation, preventing massive galaxies to over-grow and producing the red colors of ellipticals. On the other hand, some models are also requiring ‘positive’ AGN feedback, inducing star formation in the host galaxy through enhanced gas pressure in the interstellar medium. However, finding observational evidence of the effects of both types of feedback is still one of the main challenges of extragalactic astronomy, as few observations of energetic and extended radiatively-driven winds are available. We present SINFONI near infrared integral field spectroscopy of XID2028, an obscured, radio-quiet z=1.59 QSO, in which we clearly resolve a fast (1500 km/s) and extended (up to 13 kpc from the black hole) outflow in the [OIII] lines emitting gas, whose large velocity and outflow rate are not sustainable by star formation only. The narrow component of Hα emission and the rest frame U band flux show that the outflow position lies in the center of an empty cavity surrounded by star forming regions on its edge. The outflow is therefore removing the gas from the host galaxy (‘negative feedback’), but also triggering star formation by outflow induced pressure at the edges (‘positive feedback’). XID2028 represents the first example of a host galaxy showing both types of feedback simultaneously at work.

Massive gas outflows are considered a key component in the process of galaxy formation and evolution. Because of this, they are the topic of many studies aimed at learning more about their occurrence, location and physical conditions as well as the mechanism(s) at their origin. This contribution presents recent results on two of the best examples of jet-driven outflows traced by cold and molecular gas. Thanks to high-spatial resolution observations, we have been able to locate the region where the outflow occurs. This appears to be coincident with bright radio features and regions where the interaction between radio plasma jet and ISM is known to occur, thus strongly supporting the idea of jet-driven outflows. We have also imaged the distribution of the outflowing gas. The results clearly show the effect that expanding radio jets and lobes have on the ISM. This appears to be in good agreement with what predicted from numerical simulations. Furthermore, the results show that cold gas is associated with these powerful phenomena and can be formed - likely via efficient cooling - even after a strong interaction and fast shocks. The discovery of similar fast outflows of cold gas in weak radio sources is further increasing the relevance that the effect of the radio plasma can have on the surrounding medium and on the host galaxy.

We interpret the radio/X-ray correlation of LR ∝ LX~1.4 for LX/LEdd ≳ 10−3 with a detailed disk corona-jet model, in which the accretion flow and the jet are connected by a parameter, η, describing the fraction of the matter in the accretion flow ejected outward to form the jet. We calculate LR and LX at different Ṁ, adjusting η to fit the observed radio/X-ray correlation of the black hole X-ray transient H1743-322 for LX/LEdd > 10−3. It is found that the value of η for this radio/X-ray correlation for LX/LEdd > 10−3, is systematically less than that of the case for LX/LEdd < 10−3, which is consistent with the general idea that the jet is often relatively suppressed at the high luminosity phase in black hole X-ray binaries.

The tight correlations observed between galaxies and their SMBH provides compelling evidence that the evolution of the galaxy and its central black hole are strongly linked. This is generally attributed to feedback mechanisms which, according to simulations, often take the form of outflows of gas, quenching star formation in the host galaxy and halting accretion onto the central black hole. While there are a number of plausible ways that outflows could be produced, recent results have shown that in some cases radio jets could be responsible for driving fast outflows of gas. One such example is seen in the nearby radio galaxy 3C293. In this talk I will present results from JVLA radio observations where we detect fast outflows (~1200 km/s) of neutral gas which are being driven by the radio-jet approximately 0.5 kpc from the central core, providing direct evidence for jet-ISM interaction. This is accompanied with recent IFU observations showing that ionised gas outflows are also being driven by the radio jet. Pinpointing the location of these outflows enables us to derive crucial parameters, such as the mass outflow rates and kinetic energy involved, which we can compare to predictions from galaxy evolution simulations.

The KMOS3D survey will provide near-IR IFU observations of a mass-selected sample of ∼600 star-forming galaxies at 0.7<z<2.7 with the K-band Multi Object Spectrograph (KMOS) at the VLT. We present kinematic results for a first sample of ∼200 galaxies, focusing on the evolution of the gas velocity dispersion with redshift. Combined with existing measurements, we find an approximate (1+z) evolution from z∼4 to the present day, which can be understood from the co-evolution of the gas fraction and specific star formation rate (sSFR) in the the equilibrium picture of galaxy evolution.

We combine the KMOS3D sample with data from the LUCI and SINFONI spectrographs, as well as multi-wavelength HST imaging from CANDELS, to address the relations between stellar mass, SFR, and the [N II]/Hα flux ratio as an indicator of gas-phase metallicity for a sample of 222 star-forming galaxies. We find a constant slope at the low-mass end of the mass-metallicity relation and can fully describe its redshift evolution through the evolution of the characteristic turnover mass where the relation begins to flatten at the asymptotic metallicity. At a fixed mass and redshift, our data do not show a correlation between the [N II]/Hα ratio and SFR.

Gaussianizing transformations are used statistically in many non-cosmological fields, but in cosmology, we are only starting to apply them. Here I explain a strategy of analyzing the 1-point function (PDF) of a spatial field, together with the ‘essential’ clustering statistics of the Gaussianized field, which are invariant to a local transformation. In cosmology, if the tracer sampling is sufficient, this achieves two important goals. First, it can greatly multiply the Fisher information, which is negligible on nonlinear scales in the usual δ statistics. Second, it decouples clustering statistics from a local bias description for tracers such as galaxies.

With the development of high contrast imaging techniques and instruments, vast efforts have been devoted during the past decades to detect and characterize lighter, cooler and closer companions to nearby stars, and ultimately image new planetary systems. Complementary to other planet-hunting techniques, this approach has opened a new astrophysical window to study the physical properties and the formation mechanisms of brown dwarfs and planets. In this review, I will briefly describe the different observing techniques and strategies used, the main samples of targeted nearby stars, finally the main results obtained so far about exoplanet discoveries characterization of their physical properties, and study of their occurrence and possible formation and evolution mechanisms.

In our previous attempt to model the Stokes profiles of the Cr i triplet at 5204-5208 Å and the Ba ii D2 at 4554 Å, we found it necessary to slightly modify the standard FAL model atmospheres to fit the observed polarization profiles. In the case of Cr i triplet, this modification was done to reduce the theoretical continuum polarization, and in the case of Ba ii D2, it was needed to reproduce the central peak in Q/I. In this work, we revisit both these cases using different standard model atmospheres whose temperature structures closely resemble those of the modified FAL models, and explore the possibility of synthesizing the line profiles without the need for small modifications of the model atmosphere.

Visible 4-color simultaneous imager is being developed for a new 2-m telescope at Lulin observatory in Taiwan. The main task of this instrument is quick and efficient follow-up observations for large scale surveys, such as PS1 sky surveys. NCUcam-1 is one of unit cameras for this instrument. It is equipped with a new type of CCD chip, fully depleted CCD, and have superb sensitivity at the wavelength of 1 micron. Igneous asteroids exhibit prominent absorption feature around 1 micron due to minerals, and NCUcam-1 is able to deliver reliable taxonomic classifications. NCUcam-1 has achieved the first-light using 1-m telescope at Lulin in July 2011. Results of the characterization work for NCUcam-1 and tests observations of asteroids are reported. Upcoming plan for the study of pair asteroids search and identification is also presented.

We explore X-ray spectral evolution and radio–X-ray correlation simultaneously for four X-ray binaries (XRBs). We find that hard X-ray photon indices, Γ, are anti- and positively correlated to X-ray fluxes when the X-ray flux, F3–9keV, is below and above a critical flux, FX,crit, which may be regulated by ADAF and disk-corona respectively. We find that the data points with anti-correlation of Γ-F3–9keV follow the universal radio–X-ray correlation of FR ∝ FXb (b ~ 0.5-0.7), while the data points with positive X-ray spectral evolution follow a steeper radio–X-ray correlation (b ~ 1.4, the so-called ‘outliers track’). The bright active galactic nuclei (AGNs) share similar X-ray spectral evolution and radio–X-ray correlation as XRBs in ‘outliers’ track, and we present a new fundamental plane of log LR=1.59+0.28−0.22 log LX−0.22+0.19−0.20 log MBH−28.97+0.45−0.45 for these radiatively efficient BH sources.