The unprecedented sensitivity, angular resolution and broad bandwidth coverage of Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio polarimetric observations will allow us to address many long-standing mysteries in cosmic magnetism science. I will highlight the unique capabilities of the SKA to map the warm hot intergalactic medium, reveal detailed 3-dimensional structures of magnetic fields in local galaxies and trace the redshift evolution of galactic magnetic fields.

We follow up on a previous finding that Miras containing the third dredge-up (3DUP) indicator technetium (Tc) in their atmosphere form a different sequence of K – [22] colour as a function of pulsation period than Miras without Tc. A near-to-mid-infrared colour such as K – [22] is a good probe for the dust mass-loss rate (MLR) of these AGB stars. Contrary to what one might naïvely expect, Tc-poor Miras show redderK – [22] colours (i.e. higher dust MLRs) than Tc-rich Miras at a given period. In the follow-up work, the previous sample is extended and the analysis is expanded towards other colours and ISO dust spectra to check if the previous finding is due to a specific dust feature in the 22 μm band. We also investigate if the same two sequences can be revealed in the gas MLR. Different hypotheses to explain the observation of two sequences in the P vs. K – [22] diagram are discussed and tested, but so far none of them convincingly explains the observations.

The chemical enrichment of the Universe is considerably affected by the contribution of cool evolved stars. We studied the O-rich star R Peg and the C-rich star V Oph, using respectively the VLTI/GRAVITY and VLTI/MIDI instruments. We interpret the data using grids of 1-D and 3-D dynamic model atmospheres.

Analyzing 41 targets data of the Kepler K2 Campaign 2 mission suspected to be Long Period Variables (LPVs), we developed a method for the prediction of periods longer than the observation period of 77.48d using the 3500 data points provided by K2. The ‘Self-Flat-Field’ method (K2SFF or SFF) of the ‘ Kepler K2 High Level Science Product’ (K2HLSP) corrected the instrumental effects best.

The Planck catalogue of Galactic cold clumps, PGCC, contains sources of ongoing and future star formation. The data show clear variations also in their dust properties.

We use Planck polarization measurements to investigate the polarization fraction in PGCC clumps and the relative orientation of filamentary structures and magnetic fields (Alina et al. 2017). The decrease of polarization fraction as a function of column density can be related to the field geometry but also suggest some loss of grain alignment.

PGCCs have been studied with ground-based observations (Liu et al. 2018). The first SCUBA-2/POL-2 polarization studies have targeted the infrared dark cloud G35.39-0.33. The magnetic field is found to be mostly perpendicular to the main filament. The plane-of-the-sky field strength is $\sim 50\mu \,{\rm{G}}$ , a noticeable support against gravity. The polarization fraction decreases with increasing column density. This matches predictions of RAT grain alignment models but the relative contribution of the field morphology is hard to quantify (Juvela et al. 2018).

We continue to use MHD simulations to study the same phenomena, with synthetic observations of clumps and filaments.

We have improved the treatment of dust opacity from the small-particle limit approximation to size-dependent which leads to models with smaller grains, lower dust-to-gas ratios, but about the same mass-loss rates and outflow velocities. The K-magnitudes get brighter, whereas the V-magnitudes can be either brighter or dimmer depending on the wind properties.

The present-day Earth with its innumerable life forms is a product of cosmic evolution starting with the formation of our galaxy and the dense gas clouds within it, and proceeding through the contraction of one of those clouds about 4.6 Gyr ago, first into filaments and then one or more protostellar disks, planets, and central stars, one of which was our Sun. Radioactive debris from a massive nearby star was included. The planets themselves formed through coagulation, accretion, and fragmentation of solid bodies. Habitability depends on a delicate balance between disk accretion by gravity and dispersal by the central star, which determine the size of the planet and its gaseous envelope, combined with a long period of stellar radiation, which has to disperse this envelope but leave a hospitable secondary atmosphere. The final step toward life involves even more complexity as self-replicating bio-molecules form with ever increasing stability.

Here I briefly highlight our studies of the gas content, kinematics and star formation in nearby dwarf galaxies (D < 10 Mpc) based on the ‘Local Volume Hi Survey’ (LVHIS, Koribalski et al. 2018), which was conducted with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). The LVHIS sample consists of nearly 100 galaxies, including new discoveries, spanning a large diversity in size, shape, mass and degree of peculiarity. The hydrogen properties of dwarf galaxies in two nearby groups, Sculptor and CenA / M83, are analysed and compared with many rather isolated dwarf galaxies. Around 10% of LVHIS galaxies are transitional or mixed-type dwarf galaxies (dIrr/dSph), the formation of which is explored. — I also provide a brief update on WALLABY Early Science, where we focus on studying the Hi properties of galaxies as a function of environment. WALLABY (Dec < +30 degr, z < 0.26) is conducted with the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP), a ∽6-km diameter array of 36 × 12-m dishes, each equipped with wide-field (30 sq degr) Chequerboard Phased Array Feeds.

The gas dynamics of protoplanetary disks (PPDs) plays a crucial role in almost all stages of planet formation, yet it is far from being well understood largely due to the complex interplay among various microphysical processes. Primarily, PPD gas dynamics is likely governed by magnetic fields, and their coupling with the weakly ionized gas is described by non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects. Incorporating these effects, I will present the first fully global simulations of PPDs that include the most realistic disk microphysics. Accretion and disk evolution is primarily driven by magnetized disk winds with significant mass loss comparable to accretion rate. The overall disk gas dynamics strongly depends on the polarity of large-scale poloidal magnetic field threading the disk owing to the Hall effect. The flow structure in the disk is highly unconventional with major implications on planet formation.

We present ALMA band 7 data of the extreme OH/IR star, OH 26.5+0.6. In addition to lines of CO and its isotopologues, the circumstellar envelope also exhibits a number of emission lines due to metal-containing molecules, e.g., NaCl and KCl. A lack of C18O is expected, but a non-detection of C17O is puzzling given the strengths of H217O in Herschel spectra of the star. However, a line associated with Si17O is detected. We also report a tentative detection of a gas-phase emission line of MgS. The ALMA spectrum of this object reveals intriguing features which may be used to investigate chemical processes and dust formation during a high mass-loss phase.

The dramatic transformation of the spherical outflows of AGB stars into the extreme aspherical geometries seen during the planetary nebula (PN) phase is widely believed to be linked to binarity and is likely driven by the associated production of fast jets and central disks/torii. We first briefly summarize results from the imaging surveys of large samples of young PNe and pre-PNe with HST which show that almost all objects have bipolar, multipolar and elliptical morphologies, with widespread presence of point-symmetric structure. We describe a relatively new technique of using UV photometic observations of large AGB star samples to search for binarity and associated accretion activity, and follow-up studies using UV spectroscopy and X-ray observations. We present results from studies of individual objects in transition to the PN phase, highlighting observational techniques being used to determine jet properties that can constrain the accretion modes that power these jets.

We present the first measurement of differences in MgII absorption strength in multiple intervening absorbers, which are also identified as (sub-)Damped Lyman alpha absorption systems, in the four spectra of the quadruply lensed quasar H1413+1143, often referred to the “Cloverleaf”, from highly spatial resolution and high signal-to-noise spectroscopy with an optical multi-mode spectrograph, the Kyoto tridimentional spectrograph II on board the Subaru telescope. The detection of significant MgII absorptions in multiple components in the spatially-resolved spectra suggests that chemical enrichment differs at least on scale of about 10 kpc within the separation of sightlines. For, a DLA system at redshift zabs = 1.66, the rest equivalent widths of MgII absorption lines change by factors up to 6, which is similar to those of HI absorption lines. This suggests that (inhomogeneous) cold absorbers which give rise to strong HI/MgII absorptions dwell on a scale within 10 kpc in the circumgalactic medium (CGM).

Absorption line spectroscopy of foreground gas in the spectra of background quasars has revealed some clear cases where neutral gas is present and associated with dwarf galaxies. Spectroscopy of Lyα and low-ionization metal lines can be combined to derive neutral gas phase metallicities. The damped Lyα absorbers (DLAs) in quasar spectra are the clearest cases of absorption by predominantly neutral gas regions. Here we present some results on neutral gas phase metallicities for cases where the DLA is clearly associated with a dwarf galaxy. We find that the neutral gas phase metallicities in these systems are similar to those in other DLAs. We argue that there may be many unrecognized cases where a DLA is actually associated with a dwarf galaxy even though there is a luminous galaxy within 100 kpc of the quasar sightline.

Informal science educators at museums and planetariums face the challenging task of engaging a diverse public audience in contemporary science. To do this they need a solid background in the science itself, educational pedagogy, and modern practices in science communication. The task has gotten even more challenging in the era of big data. Interpreting and visualizing these datasets in planetarium shows and museum exhibits requires specialized technical skills. Furthermore, the increasing pace of discovery means that informal science educators have less time to accomplish these tasks. This presentation will summarize a variety of museum and planetarium community efforts to address these challenges through worldwide collaboration and coordination among museums and planetariums. Solutions include content sharing and distribution mechanisms as well as networking museums and planetariums together to create global worldwide events.

It has been recognized that non-ideal MHD effects (Ohmic diffusion, Hall effect, ambipolar diffusion) play crucial roles for the circumstellar disk formation and evolution. Ohmic and ambipolar diffusion decouple the gas and the magnetic field, and significantly reduces the magnetic torque in the disk, which enables the formation of the circumstellar disk (e.g., Tsukamoto et al. 2015b). They set an upper limit to the magnetic field strength of ∼ 0.1 G around the disk (Masson et al. 2016). The Hall effect notably changes the magnetic torques in the envelope around the disk, and strengthens or weakens the magnetic braking depending on the relative orientation of magnetic field and angular momentum. This suggests that the bimodal evolution of the disk size possibly occurs in the early disk evolutionary phase (Tsukamoto et al. 2015a, Tsukamoto et al. 2017). Hall effect and ambipolar diffusion imprint the possibly observable characteristic velocity structures in the envelope of Class 0/I YSOs. Hall effect forms a counter-rotating envelope around the disk. Our simulations show that counter rotating envelope has the size of 100–1000 au and a recent observation actually infers such a structure (Takakuwaet al. 2018). Ambipolar diffusion causes the significant ion-neutral drift in the envelopes. Our simulations show that the drift velocity of ion could become 100-1000 ms–1.

Two-dimensional spectral classifications, on a narrow-band photometric system that measures near-infrared bands of TiO and CN, are being obtained for several hundred previously unclassified “suspected late-type supergiants” in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The objective is to identify supergiants of spectral type K, which are known to be plentiful in the Small Magellanic Cloud but were thought to be rare in the LMC. In the fields examined to date, 35 % of the targets are found to be K-type supergiants, while 25 % are early-M supergiants and 40 % are foreground stars of lower luminosity.

The long-term SAAO survey of Local Group galaxies in the near-infrared (JHKs) has included five dwarf irregulars (dIrr), namely, NGC 6822, IC 1613, WLM, Sgr dIG and NGC 3109. We have found long-period (Mira) variables in all of them. Most of the Miras, which follow a linear LMC period-luminosity (PL) relation well, are carbon-rich. A small group of oxygen-rich Miras are brighter than the linear PL relation predicts, presumably because they are undergoing hot-bottom burning (HBB).

I use SkyMapper DR1.1 to explore the quality of its uvgriz photometry, and zero-points. I introduce a formalism to derive photometric zero-points across the sky by benchmarking against stars with well known effective temperatures, bypassing the need for absolute spectrophotometry.