We present the Luminosity Function (LF) and Colour-Magnitude Relation (CMR) using ∼45000 galaxies drawn from the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS). Using different selection criteria, we define several samples of early-type galaxies and explore their impact on the evolution of the red-sequence (RS) and the effects of dust. Our results suggest a rapid build-up of the RS within a short time scale. We find a rise in the number density of early-type galaxies and a strong evolution in LF and CMR. Massive galaxies exist already 9 Gyr ago and experience an efficient quenching of their star formation at z = 1, followed by a passive evolution with only limited merging activity. In contrast, low-mass galaxies indicate a different mass assembly history and cause a slow build-up of the CMR over cosmic time.

We quantify the statistical evidence of the relation between the inferred morphology and the emission-line activity type of galaxies for a large sample of galaxies. We compare the distribution of the inferred morphologies of galaxies of different dominant activity types, showing that the difference in the median morphological type between the samples of different activity types is significant. We also test the significance of the difference in the mean morphological type between all the activity-type samples using an ANOVA model with a modified Tukey test that takes into account heteroscedasticity and the unequal sample sizes. We show this test in the form of simultaneous confidence intervals for all pairwise comparisons of the mean morphological types of the samples. Using this test, scarcely applied in astronomy, we conclude that there are statistically significant differences in the inferred morphologies of galaxies of different dominant activity types.

We present 3D observations of three interacting galaxies in order derive their extended kinematics and to trace events such as violent star-formation (SF), mass-transfer, structure perturbation and the presence of energetic sources induced by the interacting processes.

We discuss different methods to separate high- from low-redshift galaxies based on a combination of spectroscopic and photometric observations. Our baseline scenario is the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy eXperiment (HETDEX) survey, which will observe several hundred thousand Lyman Alpha Emitting (LAE) galaxies at 1.9 < z < 3.5, and for which the main source of contamination is [OII]-emitting galaxies at z < 0.5. Additional information useful for the separation comes from empirical knowledge of LAE and [OII] luminosity functions and equivalent width distributions as a function of redshift. We consider three separation techniques: a simple cut in equivalent width, a Bayesian separation method, and machine learning algorithms, including support vector machines. These methods can be easily applied to other surveys and used on simulated data in the framework of survey planning.

In 1997 the IAU adopted the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF) built from S/X VLBI data. In response to IAU resolutions encouraging the extension of the ICRF to additional frequency bands, VLBI frames have been made at 24, 32, and 43 GHz. Meanwhile, the 8.4 GHz work has been greatly improved with the 2009 release of the ICRF-2. This paper discusses the motivations for extending the ICRF to these higher frequency radio bands. Results to date will be summarized including evidence that the high frequency frames are rapidly approaching the accuracy of the 8.4 GHz ICRF-2. We discuss current limiting errors and prospects for the future accuracy of radio reference frames. We note that comparison of multiple radio frames is characterizing the frequency dependent systematic noise floor from extended source morphology and core shift. Finally, given Gaia's potential for high accuracy optical astrometry, we have simulated the precision of a radio-optical frame tie to be ~10–15 μas (1-σ, per component).

We present a new method of analyzing galaxy alignments in clusters originaly proposed by Godowski 2012 and now improved.

We investigate how galaxies in VIPERS (the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey) inhabit the cosmological density field by examining the correlations across the observable parameter space of galaxy properties and clustering strength. The high-dimensional analysis is made manageable by the use of group-finding and regression tools. We find that the major trends in galaxy properties can be explained by a single parameter related to stellar mass. After subtracting this trend, residual correlations remain between galaxy properties and the local environment pointing to complex formation dependencies. As a specific application of this work we build subsamples of galaxies with specific clustering properties for use in cosmological tests.

Expectations of the Gaia astrometry mission regarding the realisation of an optical kinematical reference frame based on extragalactic sources are summarized.

The INPOP ephemerides have undergone several improvements since the last INPOP10a release (Fienga et al. 2011). Improvements in the asteroid mass determinations have been made and the effect of the solar corona has also been investigated (Verma et al. 2012). Since 2010 and INPOP10a, in anticipation to IAU resolution B2, the au is fixed in the INPOP construction while the mass of the Sun is fitted. Descriptions of tests of general relativity made with INPOP10a are recalled here. Perspectives about Messenger data analysis and new gravity tests are finally introduced.

The luminosity function is an important quantity for analysis of large scale structure statistics, interpretation of galaxy counts (Lin & Kirshner 1996). We investigate the luminosity function of galaxy clusters. This is performed by counting the brightness of galaxies belonging to clusters in PF Catalogue. The obtained luminosity function is significantly different than that obtained both for optical and radiogalaxies (Machalski & Godowski 2000). The implications of this result for theories of galaxy formation are discussed as well.

We match the XMM-Newton 3XMMi-DR4 catalog with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 10 and the United Kingdom Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Data Release 9. Based on this X-ray/optical/infrared catalog, we probe the distribution of various types of X-ray emitters in the multidimensional parameter space. It is found that quasars, galaxies and stars have some kind distribution rule, especially for stars. The result shows that only using the X-ray/optical features, stars are difficult to discriminate from galaxies and quasars, the added information from infrared band is very helpful to improve the classification result of any classifier. Comparing the classification accuracy of random forests with that of rotation forests, rotation forests show better performance.

The radio and optical characteristics of faint radio sources are investigated thanks to the VIPERS spectroscopic and photometric data, and radio data from the VLA FIRST survey at 1.4 GHz.

The largest uncertainty in the ephemerides for the inner planets is in the orientation of the dynamical system to the celestial reference frame. A program of VLBI measurements of spacecraft in orbit about Venus and Mars has been performed to reduce the orientation uncertainty to 0.2 milliarcseconds.

Euclid is the next ESA mission devoted to cosmology. It aims at observing most of the extragalactic sky, studying both gravitational lensing and clustering over ~15,000 square degrees. The mission is expected to be launched in year 2020 and to last six years. The sheer amount of data of different kinds, the variety of (un)known systematic effects and the complexity of measures require efforts both in sophisticated simulations and techniques of data analysis. We review the mission main characteristics, some aspects of the the survey and highlight some of the areas of interest to this meeting.

The last version of the planet part of EPM's ephemerides of IAA RAS (EPM2011) is described briefly. At present EPM ephemerides are the basis for the Russian Astronomical and Nautical Astronomical Yearbooks and are used for scientific research.

The Euclid space mission proposes to survey 15000 square degrees of the extragalactic sky during 6 years, with a step-and-stare technique. The scheduling of observation sequences is driven by the primary scientific objectives, spacecraft constraints, calibration requirements and physical properties of the sky. We present the current reference implementation of the Euclid survey and on-going work on survey optimization.

We use a sample of 36 galaxies to study empirical relations between Herschel infrared (IR) luminosities and the total mass of the interstellar gas (H2 + HI). Such a comparison provides a simple empirical relationship without introducing the uncertainty of dust model fitting. We find tight correlations, and provide fits to these relations, between Herschel luminosities and the total gas mass integrated over entire galaxies, with the tightest, almost linear, correlation found for the longest wavelength data (SPIRE500). However, we find that accounting for the gas-phase metallicity (affecting the dust-to-gas ratio) is crucial when applying these relations to low-mass, and presumably high-redshift, galaxies. When examining these relations as a function of galactocentric radius, we find the same correlations, albeit with a larger scatter, up to radius of r ∼ 0.7r25 (containing most of a galaxy's baryonic mass). The tight relations found for the bulk of the galaxy's baryonic content suggest that total gas masses of disk-like (non-merging/ULIRG) galaxies can be inferred from far-infrared continuum measurements in situations where only the latter are available. This work is to appear in Groves et al. (2014).

In this paper we outline several problems related to the realization of the international celestial and terrestrial reference frames — the ICRF and ITRF — at the millimeter level of accuracy, with emphasis on ICRF issues. We consider here the current status of the ICRF, the interrelationship between the ICRF and ITRF, and considerations for future ICRF realizations.

We investigate the physical properties of the interstellar gas in the nearby edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 891, using Herschel PACS/SPIRE observations of the most important far-infrared (FIR) cooling lines – [Cii] 158 μm, [Nii] 122, 205 μm, [Oi] 63, 145 μm, and [Oiii] 88 μm – obtained as part of the Very Nearby Galaxy Survey (P. I.: C. D. Wilson). We compare our observations to the predictions of a photo dissociation region (PDR) model to determine the gas density, n, and the strength of the incident FUV radiation field, G0, on a pixel-by-pixel basis. The majority of PDRs in NGC 891's disc exhibit properties similar to the physical conditions found in the spiral arm and inter-arm regions of the face-on M51 galaxy. We estimate a stronger FUV field in the far north-eastern side than compared to the rest of the disc.

Theories beyond the Standard Model and General Relativity predict a violation of the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) just below the current best experimental upper limits. MICROSCOPE (Micro-Satellite à traînée Compensée pour l'Observation du Principe d'Equivalence) will allow us to lower them by two orders of magnitude, and maybe to detect a WEP violation. However, analyzing the MICROSCOPE data will be challenging, mostly because of missing data and a colored noise burrying the signal of interest. In this communication, we apply an inpainting technique to simulated MICROSCOPE data and show that inpainting will help detect a WEP violation signal.