Stars at the top of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) can exhibit maser emission from molecules like SiO, H2O and OH. These masers appear in general stratified in the envelope, with the SiO masers close to the central star and the OH masers farther out in the envelope. As the star evolves to the planetary nebula (PN) phase, mass-loss stops and ionization of the envelope begins, making the masers disappear progressively. The OH masers in PNe can be present in the envelope for periods of ~1000 years but the H2O masers can survive only hundreds of years. Then, H2O maser emission is not expected in PNe and its detection suggests that these objects are in a very particular moment of its evolution in the transition from AGB to PNe. We discuss the unambiguous detection of H2O maser emission in two planetary nebulae: K 3-35 and IRAS 17347-3139. The water-vapor masers in these PNe are tracing disk-like structures around the core and in the case of K3-35 the masers were also found at the tip of its bipolar lobes. Kinematic modeling of the H2O masers in both PNe suggest the existence of a rotating and expanding disk. Both PNe exhibit a bipolar morphology and in the particular case of K 3-35 the OH masers are highly polarized close to the core in a disk-like structure. All these observational results are consistent with the models where rotation and magnetic fields have been proposed to explain the asymmetries observed in planetary nebulae.

In order to investigate how the growth of galactic bulges is accompanied with the growth of central black holes (BHs), we observed molecular gas (fuel for the coming star formation) in possibly young active galaxies, narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s). We present the results of pilot observations of 12CO (1→0) line using the Nobeyama Millimeter Array for two FIR-bright NLS1s, ending in the first detection of their CO emission. Corresponding molecular-gas masses M(H2) of (1−3)×109M⊙ are the 2nd and 4th largest ones among NLS1s. Together with CO data for other NLS1s (including our sub-kpc observations) and for broad-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (BLS1s), we found that NLS1s and BLS1s contain a similar amount of molecular–gas. We do not see a significant difference in M(H2)/MBH ratios and in M(H2)/Mbulge ratios between NLS1s and BLS1s. The lack of a clear difference in M(H2) between them indicates either that bulge and BH growth phases are not overlapped or that the duration of star formation is much longer than that of active galaxies.

The second Women in Astronomy Lunchtime Meeting was held on Monday 21 August 2006, with more than 250 participants. The meeting was hosted by the EC Working Group for Women in Astronomy, established at the 2003 IAU General Assembly, and was attended by the current President, the Presidents-Elect for this and the next General Assembly, the General Secretary and Vice-Presidents, many senior astronomers, as well as students and young astronomers. It was a particular pleasure to welcome and congratulate the incoming President, Dr Catherine Cesarsky, the first woman to hold the position.

A Japanese plan of an infrared (z-band:0.9 μas or k-band:2.2 μas) space astrometry (JASMINE-project) is introduced. JASMINE (Japan Astrometry Satellite Mission for INfrared Exploration) will measure distances and tangential motions of stars in the bulge of the Milky Way. It will measure parallaxes, positions with an accuracy of 10 μas and proper motions with an accuracy of 10 μas/year for stars brighter than z=14 mag or k=11 mag. JASMINE will observe about ten million stars belonging to the bulge component of our Galaxy. With a completely new “map” of the Galactic bulge, it is expected that many new exciting scientific results will be obtained in various fields of astronomy. Presently, JASMINE is in a development phase, with a targeted launch date around 2016. Science targets, preliminary design of instruments, observing strategy, critical technical issues in JASMINE and also Nano-JASMINE project are described in this paper.

By means of high-resolution and wide-field observations in the UV and optical bands we have derived the radial distribution of the Blue Stragglers Star (BSS) population in a number of galactic globular clusters. Monte-Carlo dynamical simulations have then been used to interpret the observed radial distributions in terms of percentage of collisional and mass-transfer BSS populating each cluster. I will present the main results thus obtained and an overall cluster–to–cluster comparison for the whole sample collected so far, mainly focusing on the clues that such an approach provides about the BSS formation mechanisms.

We have studied the formation of the Local Universe using constrained cosmological simulations. To this end we use the observed local mass and velocity distributions to generate the initial density field. A variety of N-body simulations with different box sizes and resolutions have been done so far. The largest structures, such as Coma, Virgo and the Local Supercluster are reproduced with high accuracy. We have also been able to obtain a representation of the Local Group with unprecedented accuracy and resolution. From these simulations we are studying in detail the dynamics of the dark matter in our neighborhood. The next step will be to include baryons and study in detail the galaxy formation in our local universe.

Using three radio databases of the university of Michigan Radio Astronomy Observatory (UMRAO), the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and the Metsähovi Observatory, we analyzed the radio light curves by the power spectral analysis and CLEANest method in search for possible periodicity. Multiple periods are found in some sources at multi-frequencies. We adopted the wavelets for period analysis of unevenly sampled time series to search for the evolution of the parameters (period, amplitude) of possible periodicities. Some possible variation of these parameters are found.

In this article we examine the motion of fictitious Trojan planets close to the equilateral Lagrangean equilibrium points in extrasolar planetary systems. Whether there exist stable motion in this area or not depends on the massratio of the primariy bodies in the restricted three body problem, namely the host star and the gasgiant. Taking into account also the eccentricity of the primaries we show via results of extensive numerical integrations that Trojan planets may survive only for e < 0.25. We also show first results of a mapping in the 1:1 resonance with a gas giant on an eccentric orbit which is applied to the extrasolar planetary systems HD 17051. We furthermore study the influence of an additional outer planet which perturbs the motion of the gasgiant as well as the Trojan cloud around its L4 Lagrangean point.

Over the last decade it has been demonstrated that supernova remnant (SNR) OH (1720 MHz) masers are unique tracers of SNR/molecular cloud interactions. Here I briefly review the current state of our observational understanding of these masers including results from recent MERLIN and VLBA full polarization studies of the masers in W28, W44, and W51C. Some of our findings include that (1) in accordance with theory, the linear polarization position angles are either parallel or perpendicular to the plane-of-sky magnetic field determined through other observations; (2) the maser spot sizes are fairly large (~ 1014 cm) and exhibit a core/halo morphology; and (3) while the magnetic field strengths do increase slightly with higher resolution, this effect can be completely explained by spectral/spatial blending.

Current observational evidence seems to indicate that blue stragglers are a dynamically created population, though exactly how the mechanism(s) of formation operates remains a mystery. We search for links between blue straggler formation and environment by considering only those stars found within one core radius of the cluster center. In so doing, we aim to isolate a sample that is representative of an approximately uniform cluster environment where, ideally, a single blue straggler formation mechanism is predominantly operating. Normalized blue straggler frequencies are found and apart from new anticorrelations with the central velocity dispersion and the half-mass relaxation time, we find no other statistically significant trends.

Concerns regarding the method of normalization used to calculate relative blue straggler frequencies are discussed, specifically whether the previously observed anticorrelation with total cluster mass (see Piotto et al. 2004) is a consequence of the normalization process. A new correlation between the observed number of blue stragglers in the core and the number predicted from single-single collisions alone is presented. This new link between formation and environment represents the first direct evidence that the blue straggler phenomenon has, at least in part, a collisional origin.

The problem of determination of the orbital velocity of an astrometric satellite from its own observational data is studied. It is well known that data processing of microarcsecond-level astrometric observations imposes very stringent requirements on the accuracy of the orbital velocity of satellite (a velocity correction of 1.45 mm/s implies an aberrational correction of 1 μas). Because of a number of degeneracies the orbital velocity cannot be fully restored from observations provided by the satellite. Seven constraints that must be applied on a velocity parameterization are discussed and formulated mathematically. It is shown what part of velocity can be recovered from astrometric data using a combined fit of both velocity parameters and astrometric parameters of the sources. Numerical simulations show that, with the seven constraints applied, the velocity and astrometric parameters can be reliably estimated from observational data. It is also argued that the idea to improve the velocity of an astrometric satellite from its own observational data is only useful if a priori information on orbital velocity justifies the applicability of the velocity constraints. The proposed model takes into account only translational motion of the satellite and ignores any satellite-specific parameters. Therefore, the results of this study are equally applicable to both scanning missions similar to Gaia, and pointing ones like SIM, provided that enough sources were observed sufficiently uniformly.

In principle, dark galaxies in the dwarf-galaxy mass range may be detectable through additional, small-scale image splitting of quasars that are already known to be multiply-imaged on arcsecond scales. Here, we derive the image separations expected for dark galaxies with density profiles favoured by recent N-body simulations. The results are compared to the angular resolution of existing and planned telescopes at X-ray, optical, near-infrared and radio wavelengths.

The current Statutes and Bye-Laws were extensively re-written and approved at the Sydney GA in 2003 in order to streamline many of the processes of the IAU and to bring the IAU more into conformity with the structure of other ICSU unions. These revision have generally been well received, however there have been several changes to the Statutes and Bye-Laws that Individual Members and National Members have deemed desirable in the past three years and which have been brought to the attention of the EC.

The dynamical interactions of planetary systems may be a clue to their formation histories. Therefore, the distribution of these interactions provides important constraints on models of planet formation. We focus on each system's apsidal motion and proximity to dynamical instability. Although only ∼25 multiple planet systems have been discovered to date, our analyses in these terms have revealed several important features of planetary interactions. 1) Many systems interact such that they are near the boundary between stability and instability. 2) Planets tend to form such that at least one planet's eccentricity periodically drops to near zero. 3) Mean-motion resonant pairs would be unstable if not for the resonance. 4) Scattering of approximately equal mass planets is unlikely to produce the observed distribution of apsidal behavior. 5) Resonant interactions may be identified through calculating a system's proximity to instability, regardless of knowledge of angles such as mean longitude and longitude of periastron (e.g. GJ 317 b and c are probably in a 4:1 resonance). These properties of planetary systems have been identified through calculation of two parameters that describe the interaction. The apsidal interaction can be quantified by determining how close a planet is to an apsidal separatrix (a boundary between qualitatively different types of apsidal oscillations, e.g. libration or circulation of the major axes). This value can be calculated through short numerical integrations. The proximity to instability can be measured by comparing the observed orbital elements to an analytic boundary that describes a type of stability known as Hill stability. We have set up a website dedicated to presenting the most up-to-date information on dynamical interactions: http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rory/research/xsp/dynamics.

The International Astronomical Union (referred to as the Union) is an international non-governmental organization. Its objective is to promote the science of astronomy in all its aspects.

In this paper, we first summarize the results of a large-scale double-blind tests campaign carried out for the realistic estimation of the Gaia potential in detecting and measuring planetary systems. Then, we put the identified capabilities in context by highlighting the unique contribution that the Gaia exoplanet discoveries will be able to bring to the science of extrasolar planets during the next decade.

We present optical and X-ray data for the first object showing strong evidence for being a black hole in a globular cluster. We show the initial X-ray light curve and X-ray spectrum which led to the discovery that this is an extremely bright, highly variable source, and thus must be a black hole. We present the optical spectrum which unambiguously identifies the optical counterpart as a globular cluster, and which shows a strong, broad [O III] emission line, most likely coming from an outflow driven by the accreting source.

Over the past decade we have learned that probably all ellipticals and bulges contain a central supermassive black hole (SMBH). The mass of the SMBH correlates both with the mass of the bulge component (about 0.15% of the bulge mass) and with the velocity dispersion σ of the bulge. We are investigating whether these relations remain valid or how they change when galaxies with pseudobulges, very low-mass bulges or bulgeless galaxies are considered. Studying SMBH relations for both classical bulges and pseudobulges can reveal the importance of different growing mechanisms (mergers vs. secular evolution) for the evolution of SMBHs. Low-mass classical bulges and bulgeless galaxies may harbour seed black holes in their earliest evolutionary stages, and studying them is of paramount importance for understanding the link between bulge evolution and black hole growth.

Compact OH(1720 MHz) masers have proven to be excellent signposts for the interaction of supernova remnants with adjacent molecular clouds. Less appreciated has been the weak, extended OH(1720 MHz) emission which accompanies strong compact maser sources. Recent single-dish and interferometric observations reveal the majority of maser-emitting supernova remnants(SNRs) have accompanying regions of extended maser emission. Enhanced OH abundance created by the passing shock is observed both as maser emission and absorption against the strong background of the remnant. Modeling the observed OH profiles gives an estimate of the physical conditions in which weak, extended maser emission arises. I will discuss how we can realize the utility of this extended maser emission, particularly the potential to measure the strength of the post-shock magnetic field via Zeeman splitting over these large-scales.