The atmosphere above the Concordia station at Dome C Antarctica offers unique advantages to infrared interferometry. No other astronomical technique experiences comparable performance gains relative to other good sites. The dramatic improvement in infrared interferometry performance at the Dome C site enables a relatively modest instrument, based on three ${\sim}2$ m class telescopes, to be capable of extensive unique discovery space science; such an instrument would be especially well-suited to the study of extrasolar planets. The conditions at Concordia are the closest Earth analog to those of space and potentially provide a stepping stone to proposed space interferometers, such as Darwin and TPFI, that will search for biomarkers on other habitable worlds – worlds that may well have been detected initially by an infrared interferometer operating at Dome C.


Opening address and brief overview and aims of the Conference.

The origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) has been widely regarded as one ofthe major questions in the frontiers of particle astrophysics. Gamma ray bursts (GRB), themost violent explosions in the universe second only to the Big Bang, have been a popularcandidate site for UHECR productions. The recent IceCube report on the non-observation ofGRB induced neutrinos therefore attracts wide attention. This dilemma requires aresolution: either the assumption of GRB as UHECR accelerator is to be abandoned or theexpected GRB induced neutrino yield was wrong. It has been pointed out that IceCube hasoverestimated the neutrino flux at GRB site by a factor of ~5. In this paper we pointout that, in addition to the issue of neutrino production at source, the neutrinooscillation and the possible neutrino decay during their flight from GRB to Earth shouldfurther reduce the detectability of IceCube, which is most sensitive to the muon-neutrinoflavor as far as point-source identification is concerned. Specifically, neutrinooscillation will reduce the muon-neutrino flavor ratio from 2/3 per neutrino at GRB sourceto 1/3 on Earth, while neutrino decay, if exists and under the assumption of normalhierarchy of mass eigenstates, would result in a further reduction of muon-neutrino ratioto 1/8. With these in mind, we note that there have been efforts in recent years inpursuing other type of neutrino telescopes based on Askaryan effect, which can inprinciple observe and distinguish all three flavors with comparable sensitivities. Suchnew approach may therefore be complementary to IceCube in shedding more lights on thiscosmic accelerator question.

Rapidly rotating solar type stars display varying amounts ofchromospheric emission in their Balmer lines. The profiles of theselines often display rapid variability. Since the mid-1980s,high-cadence echelle spectroscopy of numerous such stars has revealedthat some of the variability is caused by concentrations of neutralhydrogen, trapped in the stellar coronal magnetic field at distancesup to a few stellar radii from the rotation axis. In this paper wereview the observations and the tomographic techniques that can beapplied to mapping these "slingshot prominence" systems. We discussthe possible mechanisms for formation and mechanical support of thesecondensations, in the light of recent efforts to map 3-dimensionalstellar coronal magnetic fields and X-ray emission measuredistributions, with the help of Zeeman-Doppler imaging.

We construct an approximate asymptotically flat stationary and axisymmetric vacuum metric by imposing matching conditions on an interior metric associated to a perfect fluid with equation of state µ+(1–n)p = µ0. A comparison between this vacuum metric and the Kerr one is made. Finally, a brief reflexion about the Wahlquist metric is commented in relation with our results.

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is the closest large satellite of the Milky Way (MW) and the first step of the extragalactic distance scale, hence knowing the distance to the LMC and its three-dimensional structure contributes to the definition of the entire cosmic distance ladder. RR Lyrae stars are old objects which trace the halo of the LMC. They can be used as distance indicators because they follow a period-luminosity-metallicity (PLKsZ) relation in the Ks passband. The purpose of this study was the derivation of a new PLKsZ relation for RR Lyrae stars in the LMC based on the multi-epoch Ks photometry obtained by the VISTA survey of the Magellanic Clouds system (VMC, Cioni et al. 2011).

The wealth of data in the past decades, and especially in the past 15 years has transformed our picture of the gas around the Milky Way and other spiral galaxies. There is good evidence for extraplanar gas that is a few kpc in height and is seen in all gaseous phases: neutral; warm atomic; and hot, X-ray emitting gas. This medium is seen not only around the Milky Way, but other spiral galaxies and it is related to the star formation rate, so it is likely produced by the activity in the disk through a galactic fountain. More extended examples of halo gas are seen, such as the HVC around the Milky Way and around M 31. This gas is typically 10–20 kpc from the galaxy and is not seen beyond 50 kpc. This gas is most likely being accreted. A hot dilute halo (106 K) is present with a similar size, although its size is poorly determined.

An ongoing controversy surrounds the relative amounts of outflow from the disk and accretion onto galaxies such as the Milky Way. There is good evidence for accretion of cold material onto the Milky Way and other galaxies, but it is not clear if there is enough to modify the gas content and star formation properties in the disk. The reservoir of accretion material is as yet unidentified. Some of these findings may be related to the issue that galaxies are baryon-poor: their baryon to dark matter ratio is well below the cosmological value. The absence of baryons may be due to extremely violent outflow events in the early stages of galaxy formation. We may be able to understand this stage of galaxy evolution by applying our deepening understanding of our local disk-halo environment.

The dynamical state of a multiple planet system reflects the underlying processes of planet formation and orbital evolution. Radial velocity planet searches have yielded several systems that appear to be in or near a low-order mean-motion resonance, including several near a 2:1 mean-motion ratio. Still more systems apparently contain one eccentric planet. We demonstrate that many of these systems are indistinguishable from a system with two planets in a 2:1 mean-motion ratio, and outline a framework for determining how often the observed, apparently-single planets are likely to have such a second planet present.

We review the main results of our previous works, in which we have investigated the development of the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability in the transitional regime from sub-magnetosonic to super-magnetosonic by varying the solar wind velocity, in conditions typical of those observed at the Earth’s magnetopause flanks. In super-magnetosonic regimes, we show that the vortices produced by the development of the KH instability act as an obstacle in the plasma flow and may generate quasi-perpendicular magnetosonic shock structures extending well outside the region of velocity shear.

CoRoT is the first instrument aiming at detecting exoplanets from space, using the transit method. It has been built in order to explore the domain of planets with orbital period less than three months, and size down to about two Earth radii. Successfully launched on the 27th of December 2006, the instrument started its science observations by the beginning of February 2007. The first detections show the capability of the instrument to enlarge the parameter space and to explore the transition regime between gaseous giant and terrestrial planets. Five new transiting giant planets discovered by CoRoT are fully characterized at the time of writing.

Dome C CONCORDIA is the best ground site to perform deep, large scale, diffraction limited imaging surveys in the thermal infrared, in particular in the Kd and L bands. A first iteration of a roadmap that could lead to the set up of a dedicated survey telescope (AMIDST concept) is briefly outlined.

Thick layers of warm, low density ionized hydrogen (i.e., the warm ionized medium or WIM) in spiral galaxies provide direct evidence for an interaction between the disk and halo. The wide-spread ionization implies that a significant fraction of the Lyman continuum photons from O stars, produced primarily in isolated star forming regions near the midplane and often surrounded by opaque clouds of neutral hydrogen, is somehow able to propagate large distances through the disk and into the halo. Moreover, even though O stars are the source of the ionization, the temperature and ionization state of the WIM differ significantly from what is observed in the classical O star H ii regions. Therefore, the existence of the WIM and observations of its properties provide information about the structure of the interstellar medium and the transport of energy away from the midplane as well as place significant constraints on models.

This paper reviews the overall principles of astronomical spectrographs and the design rules that cover low, medium, and high spectral resolution instruments. Several examples of spectrograph designs are described that are easy to build and are optimised for amateur telescopes. Results are given for each of these instruments. Despite the modest size of amateur telescopes, we show that high performance spectrographs in the hands of amateur astronomers provide access to some specialised areas where the amateur could contribute to useful astrophysical work.

This report aims to provide a summary of the status of our Antarctic Submillimetre Telescope (AST) project up to date. It is a very new project for Antarctic astronomy. Necessary prerequisites for a future deployment of a large size telescope infrastructure have been tested in years 2007 and 2008. The knowledge of the transmission, frost formation and temperature gradient were fundamental parameters before starting a feasibility study. The telescope specifications and requirements are currently discussed with the industrial partnership.

The Herschel Key Project SHINING performs a study of the ISM in star forming and activeinfrared bright galaxies (starbursts, AGN, (U)LIRGs, interacting and low metallicitygalaxies) at local and intermediate redshifts. Here we present some surprising andpromising first results from parts of this programme, including spatially resolved PDRdiagnostics, line deficit diagnostics, and large scale molecular outflows traced by the OHmolecule.

With the first light of COROT, the preparation of KEPLER and the future helioseismology spatial projects such as GOLF-NG, a coherent picture of the evolution of rotating stars from their birth to their death is needed. We describe here the modelling of the macroscopic transport of angular momentum and matter in stellar interiors that we have undertaken to reach this goal. First, we recall in detail the dynamical processes that are driving these mechanisms in rotating stars and the theoretical advances we have achieved. Then, we present our new results of numerical simulations which allow us to follow in 2D the secular hydrodynamics of rotating stars, assuming that anisotropic turbulence enforces a shellular rotation law. Finally, we show how this work is leading to a dynamical vision of the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram with the support of asteroseismology and helioseismology, seismic observables giving constraints on the modelling of the internal transport and mixing processes. In conclusion, we present the different processes that should be studied in the near future to improve our description of stellar radiation zones.

The mid-infrared emission of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons is found in many phases ofthe interstellar medium. Towards cold dense clouds,however,the emission is heavilyquenched. In these regions molecules are found to efficiently freeze-out on interstellargrains forming thin layers of ices. PAHs are highly non-volatile molecules and are alsoexpected to freeze-out. PAHs trapped in interstellar ices are likely to participate in theoverall chemistry,leading to the formation of cations and complex molecules in thesolid-state. The work presented here aims to experimentally study the chemical reactionsthat PAHs undergo upon vacuum ultraviolet irradiation when trapped in interstellarH2O ice.

Modeling of molecular emission from interstellar clouds requires the calculation of rate coefficients for excitation by collision with the most abundant species. Based on new highly correlated potential energy surfaces, rotational excitation of C2H and C2H− radicals in collision with He are investigated. C2H fine and hyperfine structure is taken into account. As already found for other systems, rate coefficients for the C2H− ion are larger by a factor up to 3 compared to the neutral species.

In this paper we examine the effects introduced in the luminosityfunction of white dwarf stars by a change of the gravitationalconstant during the life of the Universe. A decrease of G inducesthe expansion of the star and accelerates its cooling. This effecthas noticeable effects on the luminosity function and can be used toset upper bounds on the rate of change of G. Preliminary resultsindicate that Ġ/G ≤ 10-13 yr-1. These values are thebest ever obtained and will improve as the white dwarf luminosityfunction will improve.