We address three timely regression analysis problems in solar-terrestrial observations: the identification of trends in observations that exhibit a high level of internal variability, the choice of explanatory variables in the multilinear regression of climate data, and the identification of power laws in power spectral densities. In all three of them we focus on some common mistakes, and on how these may help facilitate critical reading of research in the field.

Here we present the results of a 3 mm survey of 23 galaxies, obtained with the EMIRreceiver at the IRAM 30 m telescope. Emission of the main molecular species is comparedwith existing chemical models, in order to find and test molecular signatures of galaxyevolution and to compare them to IR evolutionary tracers.

We discuss the selection of blue horizontal branch stars (BHBs) using preliminary Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) color data and outline techniques for structure detection using those data. We first outline the adaptation of an old color selection for for BHBs using Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data to the Pan-STARRS filter set. We next outline a rudimentary search algorithm designed to autonomously detect substructure in the Galactic halo. Finally we discuss preliminary results and comment on future refinements to the process.

The halo masses of nearby individual elliptical galaxiescan be estimated by using the kinematics of their stars, planetary nebulae, and globularclusters–ideally in combination.With currently improving coverage of galaxies of ordinary luminosities and morphologies,systematic trends may be identified.Bright, boxy ellipticals show strong signatures of dark matter,while faint, disky ones typically do not.The former result is problematic for the MOND theory of gravity, and the latter is a challenge to explain in theΛCDM paradigm of galaxy formation.

Two competing theories posit that Ultra Compact Dwarfs (UCDs) form either as the stripped nuclei of dwarf galaxies or as giant globular clusters (GGCs) associated with the largest globular cluster (GC) systems. By focussing on the field and group environments where young UCDs may be most common, we have discovered the first UCD that is clearly the result of recent (< 4Gyr ago) stripping of a companion galaxy during a minor galaxy merger. However, we have also found a definitive case of a multiple-UCD system created via GC formation processes, which are likely associated with major galaxy mergers.

In recent years, astronomical photometry has been revolutionised by space missions such as MOST, CoRoT and Kepler. However, despite this progress, high-quality spectroscopy is still required as well. Unfortunately, high-resolution spectra can only be obtained using ground-based telescopes, and since many interesting targets are rather faint, the spectra often have a relatively low S/N. Consequently, we have developed an algorithm based on the least-squares deconvolution profile, which allows to reconstruct an observed spectrum, but with a higher S/N. We have successfully tested the method using both synthetic and observed data, and in combination with several common spectroscopic applications, such as e.g. the determination of atmospheric parameter values, and frequency analysis and mode identification of stellar pulsations.

We analyze a sample of Swift X-ray and optical GRB afterglows which werechosen so as to reduce selection effects against the weakest events. We tentativelyidentify important differences in GRBs that show a fast decay with respect to the averageGRB, in particular a tendency for the more energetic bursts to have a steeper afterglowdecline. An explanation to this finding could be bursts in a wind environment are onaverage more energetic than bursts occurring in a constant density medium.

We include a Chern-Simons term in a GL(3,R) gauge formulation ofgravity with a cosmological contribution in 2+1 dimension and weexplore consistence showing that excitations must be causal andstandard topological massive gravity is recovered from this typeof construction at the torsionless limit.

In this talk I have presented the data analysis results of extracting properties of halo WIMPs: the mass and the (ratios between the) spin–independent and spin–dependent couplings/cross sections on nucleons by the amidas website. Although non–standard astronomical setup has been used to generate pseudodata sets for our analyses, it has been found that, without prior information/assumption about the local density and velocity distribution of halo Dark Matter, these WIMP properties have been reconstructed with  ~5% to ≲40% deviations from the input values.

The Gaia space satellite will perform absolute astrometry, aiming at the definition of aglobal astrometric reference frame at visual wavelengths. Within this reference system, itwill be very difficult to identify possible errors in the measurements or in the datareduction process that brings about the definition of the final catalogue. The Gaia DataProcessing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) has established an Astrometric Verification Unit(AVU) to verify crucial steps in the baseline data processing chain and report on anysignificant difference. This process is essential in order to guarantee a high qualitycatalogue to the larger scientific community. We describe here the global spherereconstruction (GSR) component of AVU hosted by the Italian data processing centre atTorino (DPCT).

The nuclei of active galaxies harbor massive young stars, an accreting central black hole, or both. Results are presented for molecular gas that is exposed to X-rays (1–100 keV, XDRs) and far-ultraviolet radiation (6–13.6 eV, PDRs). Particular attention is paid to species like HCN, HNC and HCO+. Line ratios of HCN/HCO+ and HNC/HCN discriminate between PDRs and XDRs.

To fulfil its numerous science objectives, the Gaia mission needs to account for theimpact of the radiations at CCD level. Through the defects generated in the silicon, theradiations will not only degrade the overall signal-to-noise ratio of the measurements,but also corrupt them with a bias to be corrected on ground. In order to characterize thiseffect, and help deriving a proper calibration strategy, an extensive radiation testcampaign has been carried out in EADS Astrium since 2006, covering the differentinstruments and CCD variants. We present an overview of this radiation test bench, and thedifferent investigations performed so far and associated findings.

The Very Large Telescope (VLT) Observatory on Cerro Paranal (2635 m) in Northern Chile is approaching completion. After the four 8-m Unit Telescopes (UT) individually saw first light in the last years, two of them were combined for the first time on October 30, 2001 to form a stellar interferometer, the VLT Interferometer. The remaining two UTs will be integrated into the interferometric array later this year, so that any two UTs can be used for interferometry. In this article, we will describe the subsystems of the VLTI and the planning for the following years.

It has already been demonstrated that a mesoscale meteorological model such as Meso-NH (Lafore et al. 1998) is highly reliable in reproducing 3D maps of optical turbulence (Masciadri et al. 1999; Masciadri & Jabouille  2001; Masciadri et al. 2004). Preliminary measurements above the Antarctic Plateau have so far indicated a pretty good value for the seeing: 0.27'' (Lawrence et al. 2004 ), 0.36'' (Agabi et al. 2006) or 0.4'' (Trinquet et al. 2008) at Dome C. However some uncertainties remain. That's why our group is focusing on a detailed study of the atmospheric flow and turbulence in the internal Antarctic Plateau. Our intention is to use the Meso-NH model to do predictions of the atmospheric flow and the corresponding optical turbulence in the internal plateau. The use of this model has another huge advantage: we have access to informations inside an entire 3D volume which is not the case with observations only. Two different configurations have been used: a low horizontal resolution (with a mesh-size of 100 km) and a high horizontal resolution with the grid-nesting interactive technique (with a mesh-size of 1 km in the innermost domain centered above the area of interest). We present here the turbulence distribution reconstructed by Meso-NH for 16 nights monitored in winter time 2005, looking at the the seeing and the surface layer thickness.

The emission properties of the components of the multiphase interstellar medium (ISM) require observations at very different wavelengths covering the range from X-rays for the hot phase to radio emission for the non-thermal component. This contribution gives an overview of the observational evidence for the presence of a multiphase ISM in halos of spiral galaxies. It is shown that the presence of halo gas correlates with the starformation rate in the disk. Recent radiocontinuum observations for NGC 253 are discussed with regard to the propagation of cosmic rays into the halos.

We analyze two X-shooter spectra of the GRB 120327A afterglow, acquired    2.1 and    30hrs after the trigger. The ISM in the GRB host galaxy at z = 2.8145 isextremely rich in absorption features, with three components contributing to the lineprofiles. The hydrogen column density associated with GRB 120327A islog NHI / cm2 = 22.01 ± 0.09,and the metallicity of the host galaxy is in the range [X/H] =  − 1.7 to  − 1 with respectto the solar values, i.e., a typical value for a GRB host galaxy. Inaddition to the ground state lines, we detect in the first observation several excitedabsorption features, which disappeared in the second observation. Using these features, wederive that component I is at dI = 200+100-60 pc from the GRB, while component II is located closer,at dII = 100+4030 pc. These values are among the lowest found in GRBs.Comparing the abundances with star formation history models, we find that the GRB 120327Ahost galaxy abundances are compatible with a star formation efficiency of 10Gyr-1, typical of spheroids (elliptical or bulge).

Interstellar gas is thought to be heated by photoelectronsejected by small grains and PAHs. This process is reviewed and evidence for its importance is examined.In particular, the importance of the PAH charge for the photo electric effect and for the spectral characteristics of interstellar PAHs is discussed.

The origin of solar energetic particle (SEP) events is an issue for the understanding of particle acceleration and transport in astrophysics, as well as for space weather. We outline some recent studies addressing from the observational viewpoint the relationship between interacting and escaping particles, conditions for particle escape from the Sun, and the interplanetary magnetic field configurations where the particles propagate.

A brief review of the terms and definitions related to stellar atmosphere modelling and spectral line formation is presented. In particular, two topics are discussed: the chemical elements that can be treated in a given atmosphere as trace elements, and the scattering processes that are taken into account in line formation modelling.

Within the Cold Dark Matter scenario the hierarchical merging paradigm is the natural result to form massive galactic halos by the minor mergers of sub-halos and, by this, inherently their stellar halo. Although this must be also invoked for the Milky Way, the context of chemical and kinematic coherence of halo stars and dwarf spheroidal galaxies is yet unsolved a focus of present-day research. To examine this issue we model the chemo-dynamical evolution of the system of satellites selected from the cosmological Via Lactea II simulations to be similar for the Milky Way environment but at an early epoch.