Solar simulations and observations showed that the detection of Earth twins around Sun-like stars is difficult in radial velocities with current methods techniques. The Sun has proved to be very useful to test processes, models, and analysis methods. The convective blueshift effect, dominating for the Sun, decreases towards lower mass stars, providing more suitable conditions to detect low mass planets. We describe the basic processes at work and how we extended a realistic solar model of radial velocity, photometry, astrometry and LogR′HK variability, using a coherent grid of stellar parameters covering a large range in mass and average activity levels. We present selected results concerning the impact of magnetic activity on Earth-mass planet detectability as a function of stellar type. We show how such realistic simulations can help characterizing the effect of stellar activity on RV and astrometric exoplanet detection.

The objective of this study is to investigate the solar-cycle variation of the areas of solar open magnetic flux regions at different latitudes. The data used in this study are the radial-field synoptic maps from Wilcox Solar Observatory from May 1970 to December 2014, which covers 3.5 solar cycles. Our results reveal a pole-to-pole trans-equatorial migration pattern for both inward and outward open magnetic fluxes. The pattern consists of the open flux regions migrating across the equator, the regions generated at low latitude and migrating poleward, and the regions locally generated at polar regions. The results also indicate the destruction of open flux regions during the migration from pole to equator, and at low latitude regions. The results have been published in Scientific Reports (Huang et al.2017)

The interaction between galaxies is believed to be the main origin of the peculiarities of galaxies. It can disturb not only the morphology but also the kinematics of galaxies. These disturbed and asymmetric features are the indicators of galaxy interaction. We study the velocity field of ionized gas in galaxy pairs based on MaNGA survey. Using the kinemetry package, we fit the velocity field and quantify the degree of kinematic asymmetry. We find that the fraction of high kinematic asymmetry is much higher for galaxy pairs with dp⩽30h−1kpc. Moreover, compared to a control sample of single galaxies, we find that the star formation rate is enhanced in paired galaxies with high kinematic asymmetry. For paired galaxies with low kinematic asymmetry, no significant SFR enhancement has been found. The galaxy pairs with high kinematic asymmetry are more likely to be real interacting galaxies rather than projected pairs.

In the efforts to map the Milky Way structure, the central regions have remained very difficult to probe. The VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea Survey (VVV) is a near-IR variability Survey that scans 560 sq.deg. across the Milky Way bulge and an adjacent section of the southern mid-plane. The main goal of the VVV Survey is to build a 3D map of the structure of the inner Galaxy and characterize its stellar populations. This survey has discovered different kinds of objects, such as globular clusters, Microlensing events, RR Lyrae stars, Cepheids, WITs, among others. The extension of the Survey (VVVX) is observing until 2020, tripling the areal coverage, and complementing the variability studies done by the VVV Survey.

The Large and Small Magellanic Cloud (LMC and SMC) are the most luminous dwarf galaxy satellites of the Milky Way. Thanks to their close proximity (50-60 kpc), they provide one of the best opportunities to study in detail the kinematics of resolved stellar populations in an interacting pair of galaxies. Large photometric surveys like the ongoing Gaia mission and the near-infrared VISTA survey of the Magellanic Cloud system (VMC) will have a significant impact on our insight into the Magellanic system. We have combined the individual strengths of VMC and Gaia DR2 data to improve our understanding of the internal kinematics of the galaxies. In this study, we present results from our ongoing project dedicated to measure and analyse the proper motions of large samples of stars across the Magellanic Clouds, efficiently removing Milk Way foreground stars utilising distances derived with the StarHorse code.

Galaxies and nuclei in dense environment at high redshift provide a good laboratory to investigate accelerated, most extreme evolution of galaxies. The SSA22 proto-cluster at z = 3.1 is known to have a three-dimensional 50 (comoving) Mpc-scale filamentary structure, traced by Lyα emitters, which makes the field a suitable target in this regard. To identify dust-obscured star-formation, a contiguous 20 arcmin2 region at the node of the cosmic structure was observed in ALMA band 6. In total 57 ALMA sources have been identified above 5σ, which makes the field one of the richest field in ALMA-identified (sub)millimeter galaxies. The follow-up spectroscopy confirmed about 20 sources as exact proto-cluster members so far. Together with high X-ray AGN fraction, our results suggest that the vigorous star formation activity and the growth of super massive black holes occurred simultaneously in the densest regions at z ∼ 3.

Magnetic fields vary in complexity for different stars. The stability of dipolar magnetic fields is known to depend on different quantities, e.g., the stellar rotation, the stratification, and the intensity of convective motions. Here, we study the dipolar stability in a system with an inner stable zone. We present preliminary results of dynamo simulations using the Rayleigh number as a control parameter. The stiffness of the stable zone is accordingly varied to keep a constant ratio of the Brunt-Väisälä frequency to the angular velocity. Similarly to the completely convective spherical shell, we find that a transition exists between a regime where the magnetic field is dipolar to a multipolar regime when the Rossby number is increased. The value of the Rossby number at the transition is very close to the one of the fully convective case.

The ALMA-ALPINE [CII] survey (A2C2S) aims at characterizing the properties of normal star-forming galaxies (SFGs) observed in the [CII]-158μm line in the period of rapid mass assembly at redshifts 4 < z < 6. Here we present the survey and the selection of 118 galaxies observed with ALMA, selected from large samples of galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts derived from UV-rest frame. The observed properties derived from the ALMA data are presented and discussed in terms of the overall detection rate in [CII] and far-IR continuum. The sample is representative of the SFG population at these redshifts. The overall detection rate is 61% down to a flux limit of 0.07 mJy. From a visual inspection of the [CII] data cubes together with the large wealth of ancillary data we find a surprisingly wide range of galaxy types, including 32.4% mergers, 25.7% extended and dispersion dominated, 13.5% rotating discs, and 16.2% compact, the remaining being too faint to be classified. ALPINE sets a reference sample for the gas distribution in normal star-forming galaxies at a key epoch in galaxy assembly, ideally suited for studies with future facilities like JWST and ELTs.

An interesting problem in plasma physics, when approached from the point of view of Statistical Mechanics is to obtain properties of collisionless plasmas, which are described by the Vlasov equation. Through what we call the Ehrenfest procedure, which uses statistical mechanical relations we obtain expectation value relations for arbitrary observables, which allows us to study the dynamics of the Earth's Outer Radiation Belt. Focusing on the velocity fluctuations, the width of the distribution function and the pitch angle, a computer simulation was performed to describe the system in order to compare and test the Ehrenfest approach. Our results show that the change in the average width of the distribution follows the analytical relation. However, for the velocity fluctuation results are not conclusive yet and require more exploration. It remains as future work to verify the relation for the pitch angle.

With the LAMOST DR4 and Gaia DR2 common red clump giant stars, we investigate the three-dimensional kinematics of Milky Way disk stars in mono-age populations between Galactocentric distances of R = 6 and 15 kpc. We confirm the 3D asymmetrical motions of recent works, and provide time tagging of the Galactic outer disk asymmetrical motions. Radial motions present a north-south asymmetry in the region corresponding to recent density and velocity substructures that were sensitive to the perturbations in the early 6 Gyr. What’s more, we discover a new velocity substructure in the north side corresponding to density dip found recently (“south-middle opposite”) in the radial and azimuthal velocity. Meanwhile, the vertical velocity with clear vertical bulk motions or bending mode motions has no clear asymmetry corresponding to the in-plane asymmetrical features.

The birth of stars and the formation of galaxies are cornerstones of modern astrophysics. While much is known about how galaxies globally and their stars individually form and evolve, one fundamental property that affects both remains elusive. This is problematic because this key property, the stellar initial mass function (IMF), is a key tracer of the physics of star formation that underpins almost all of the unknowns in galaxy and stellar evolution. It is perhaps the greatest source of systematic uncertainty in star and galaxy evolution. The past decade has seen a growing number and variety of methods for measuring or inferring the shape of the IMF, along with progressively more detailed simulations, paralleled by refinements in the way the concept of the IMF is applied or conceptualised on different physical scales. This range of approaches and evolving definitions of the quantity being measured has in turn led to conflicting conclusions regarding whether or not the IMF is universal. Here I summarise the growing wealth of approaches to our understanding of this fundamental property that defines so much of astrophysics, and highlight the importance of considering potential IMF variations, reinforcing the need for measurements to quantify their scope and uncertainties carefully. I present a new framework to aid the discussion of the IMF and promote clarity in the further development of this fundamental field.

I would like to present an overview of red supergiants (RSGs) in the Milky Way. There are only about 1400 objects listed as RSGs in the spectroscopic catalog by Skiff (2014); moreover, we are not sure yet about how they formed and where they formed. Indeed, most of them are strangely found in isolation, while extraordinary massive clusters of RSGs are observed at the near-end of the Galactic Bar. This intriguing overdensity poses some questions about the continuity of star formation in the Galactic Disk.

Here, we explore the enrichment of Lithium in the Galaxy using a large sample of stars common among large spectroscopic surveys such as the GALAH and astrometric survey by the Gaia satellite. For this study we used about 60,000 low mass (M⩽ 2M⊙) dwarfs from the GALAH survey. Further, we discuss Li enrichment among giant stars based on a sample of 52,000 low mass giants, of which 335 are Li-rich with A(Li) ⩾ 1.80 ± 0.14 dex, culled from the GALAH survey. These low mass giants appears to be one of the promising source of Li enrichment in the Galaxy as their atmospheric Li can be added to the ISM through mass loss.

We present the recent discovery of new halo structures in the Milky Way (MW) based on the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Subaru Strategic Program (SSP). HSC is a wide-field imager installed at the prime focus of the Subaru Telescope, and a 300-night survey with this instrument is being carried out in this program. The combination of the superb image quality and depth and the fact that it is a multi-band survey allows us to identify new faint satellites as well as field halo stars in the outskirts of the MW halo beyond the reach of previous surveys. We report here on the new insights into the nature of both stellar and dark halos in the MW as revealed from this on-going survey program and show prospects based on the upcoming large spectroscopic survey with Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph.

Evolution and the formation of bars in the galactic disks is studied in the context of Modified Gravity (MOG) by using N-body simulations. It is found that changing the value of free parameters of the model can effectively alter the strength of the bar and disk’s stability.

Spectroscopic observations of galaxies at high redshift has recently been revolutionised by the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument in operation at the VLT since 2014. Thanks to its unrivalled capabilities, MUSE has been able to increase by an order of magnitude the number of spectroscopic redshifts in these fields. The most spectacular increase is at high redshift (z > 3), where MUSE was able to detect thousands of Lyman-alpha emitters. In the deepest exposures, MUSE is even able to goes beyond the limiting magnitude of the deepest HST exposures. These observations have led to a breakthrough in our understanding of the high redshift universe: e.g. the discovery of Lyman-alpha emission from the circumgalactic medium around individual galaxies, the role and property of low mass galaxies. In this talk I will present the latest results obtained with the MUSE observations of the Hubble deep and ultra-deep fields.

The unprecedented amount and accuracy of kinematic data from the second release of the Gaia mission have started revolutionizing our understanding of the dynamics of the Milky Way disk. The detailed stellar velocity field in the Galactic disk should allow us to constrain with unprecedented precision the parameters of the non-axisymmetric modes of the disk. We present here the status of our current modelling efforts in this area, and their implication on the dynamics of the Galactic bar in particular.

We present observations on optical emission lines acquired with the scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer of the observatoire du Mont Mégantic, of the Andromeda galaxy (M31). A 765 order Fabry-Perot were used with a fast readout EM-CCD. From data obtained, kinematic maps and data points for the rotation curve of the innermost part of the galaxy are derived. Several dozen of regions have been scanned with the Fabry-Perot interferometer and narrow band interference filters. The central 10’x10’ were scanned with five different filters. Observations have been made in order to get better Hα data for kinematics purposes.

Although the stellar halo accounts for just ∼1% of the total stellar mass of the Milky Way, the kinematics of halo stars can tell us a lot about the origins and evolution of our Galaxy. It has been shown that the high transverse velocity stars in Gaia DR2 reveal a double sequence in the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram, indicating a duality in the local halo within 1 kpc. We fit these stars by updating the popular Besançon/Galaxia model, incorporating the latest observational results for the stellar halo. We are able to obtain a good match to the Gaia data and provide new constraints on the properties of the disc and halo. In particular, we show that the thick disc contribution to this high velocity tail is small, but not negligible, and likely has an influence on the red sequence of the HR diagram.