20 years of CORAVEL photoelectric radial-velocity measurements associated with the high precision achieved by the ELODIE spectrograph on a fair time span allow us to propose a new list of high-precision radial-velocity standards with velocity variations lower than a few times 10 m s−1.

Juno is the next NASA New Frontiers mission which will launch in August 2011. The mission is a solar powered spacecraft scheduled to arrive at Jupiter in 2016 and be placed into polar orbit around Jupiter. The goal of the Juno mission is to explore the origin and evolution of the planet Jupiter. Juno's science themes include (1) origin, (2) interior structure, (3) atmospheric composition and dynamics, and (4) polar magnetosphere and aurora. A total of nine instruments on-board provide specific measurements designed to investigate Juno's science themes. The primary objective of investigating the origin of Jupiter includes 1) determine Jupiter's internal mass distribution by measuring gravity with Doppler tracking, 2) determine the nature of its internal dynamo by measuring its magnetic fields with a magnetometer, and 3) determine the deep composition (in particular the global water abundance) and dynamics of the sub-cloud atmosphere around Jupiter, by measuring its thermal microwave emission.

Period04, a reworked and extended version of Period98 (Sperl 1998) and PERIOD/PERDET (Breger 1990), is a new software package especially dedicated to the statistical analysis of large astronomical data sets containing gaps. It offers tools to extract the individual frequencies from the multiperiodic content of time series and provides a flexible interface to perform multiple-frequency fits. A review of the functions of Period04 is given.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

Astronomical sources of maser emission have now been studied for more than 30 years, and research related to masers spans a very wide range of topics in astrophysics. Over this period great progress has been made in many areas of maser research. This summary will put maser research into an historical perspective and focus on highlights from this conference.

In The Realm of the Nebulae, Hubble (1936) first drew attention to the fact that the Milky Way system and the Andromeda galaxy belong to a small cluster that also contains M32, M33, the Magellanic Clouds, NGC 205, NGC 6822 and IC 1613. Hubble also listed IC 10 as a possible member of what he referred to as “the Local Group”. Inspection of the prints of the Palomar Sky Survey shows (van den Bergh 1962) that a large fraction of all field galaxies are located in such small groups or clusters. Our Milky Way system therefore appears to be situated in a rather typical region of space. All of the well-established Local Group members that are listed above are at distances D ≤ 1.0 Mpc. A conservative limit D < 1.5 Mpc may therefore be used to search for new Local Group members. An additional criterion for physical membership in the Local Group is that a candidate member with solar apex distance θ and radial velocity Vr should lie close to the Vr versus cos θ relation for well-established Local Group members (Courteau & van den Bergh 1999). Finally candidates may be disqualified from membership if they appear projected on nearby groups of galaxies that are centered at distances greater than 1.5 Mpc. In particular the Local Group candidates NGC 1560, NGC 1569, UGC-A86 and Cassiopeia 1 were excluded because they appear projected on (or near) the IC 342/Maffei group. Furthermore NGC 55 and UKS 2323-326 were excluded because they appear projected on (or near) the Sculptor (= South Polar) group. Observational data on 35 probable Local Group members are given in Table 1.

High resolution, high S/N spectra have been successfully modeled to yield information on the magnetic properties of cool stars for some 15 years now. These analyses yield estimates of the intensity weighted surface filling factor of active regions, f, and the mean unsigned field strength in these regions), B. The measurements are difficult, though, hampered by the small magnitude of the Zeeman effect, small f values for most stars, and the unknown spatial and thermodynamic properties of the active regions. Recent data, mostly in the infrared (IR) where the Zeeman effect (∞ λ2) is larger, are yielding better measurements than ever before. I summarize the new observations here, and show how they are expanding and modifying our understanding of magnetic fields on cool stars.

If the Sun is observed like a star, without spatial resolution, its magnetic field seldom exceeds 1 Gauss. But with high spatial resolution the field is seen to be largely concentrated into kG structures. Observations of the structure and dynamics of solar magnetic fields can therefore provide a guide to the nature of magnetic fields of other stars which cannot be resolved. Solar activity and the structure of the chromosphere and inner corona are intimately linked with magnetism and a complete understanding of these features often depends on magnetic field details. There are unsolved physical problems involving solar magnetic fields which have challenged many physicists. For example, confinement of small-scale fields in kG structures is a problem of current interest (Parker, 1976; Piddington, 1976; Spruit, 1976). Solar observers are no less challenged since the Sun presents us with a complicated magnetic field having a range of scales from global to less than the scale of our best observations as illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3. This paper is a survey of observational techniques and results at the small-scale end of the spectrum of sizes in the solar photosphere. This topic has been frequently reviewed (e.g. Athay, 1976; Beckers, 1976; Deubner, 1975; Howard, 1972; Mullan, 1974; Severny, 1972; Stenflo, 1975) so that recent work is emphasized here.

The relationship between the r.m.s. photometric accuracy on the data points of a stellar spectrum and the final accuracy on abundances and physical parameters derived from these data is discussed.

Published mass models fitted to galaxy rotation curves are used to study the systematic properties of dark matter (DM) halos in late-type and dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies. Halo parameters are derived by fitting non-singular isothermals to (V2 – V2vis)1/2, where V(r) is the observed rotation curve and Vvis is the rotation curve of the visible matter. the latter is calculated from the surface brightness assuming that the mass-to-light ratio M/L is constant with radius. “Maximum disk” values of M/L are adjusted to fit as much of the inner rotation curve as possible without making the halo have a hollow core. Rotation curve decomposition becomes impossible fainter than absolute magnitude Mb ≃ −14, where V becomes comparable to the velocity dispersion of the gas. To increase the luminosity range further, we include dSph galaxies, which are physically related to spiral and irregular galaxies. Combining the data, we find that DM halos satisfy well defined scaling laws analogous to the “fundamental plane” relations for elliptical galaxies. Halos in less luminous galaxies have smaller core radii rc, higher central densities ρ0, and smaller central velocity dispersions σ. Scaling laws provide new and detailed constraints on the nature of DM and on galaxy formation and evolution. Some simple implications include:

1 – A single, continuous physical sequence of increasing mass extends from dSph galaxies with Mb ≃ −7.6 to Sc I galaxies with Mb ≃ −22.4.

2 – the high DM densities in dSph galaxies are normal for such tiny galaxies. Since virialised density depends on collapse redshift zcoll, ρ0 ∝ (1 + zcoll)3, the smallest dwarfs formed at least Δzcoll ≃ 7 earlier than the biggest spirals.

3 – the high DM densities of dSphs implies that they are real galaxies formed from primordial density fluctuations. They are not tidal fragments. Tidal dwarfs cannot retain even the low DM densities of their giant-galaxy progenitors. in contrast, dSphs have higher DM densities than do giant-galaxy progenitors.

4 – the fact that, as luminosity decreases, dwarf galaxies become much more numerous and also more nearly dominated by DM raises the possibility that there exists a large population of objects that are completely dark. Such objects are a canonical prediction of cold DM theory. If they exist, “empty halos” are likely to be small and dense -that is, darker versions of Draco and UMi.

5 – the slopes of the DM parameter correlations provide a measure on galactic mass scales of the slope n of the power spectrum |δk|2 ∝ kn of primordial density fluctuations. Our preliminary results, not yet corrected for baryonic compression of DM, give n ≃ –1.9 ± 0.2. This is consistent with cold DM theory.

The IERS Conventions (2010) provides the international standard for models for use in the generation of celestial reference systems (CRS), terrestrial reference systems (TRS), and the Earth orientation parameters (EOPs) that relate the associated frames. Significant improvements over the previous IERS Conventions (2003) are outlined, and an overview of the latest adopted models and standards is shown. Finally, future plans for the Conventions are provided.

I briefly outline some of the unanswered questions that have emerged as recurring themes at this conference and offer some speculation about how these will be addressed with new techniques and facilities of the future.

The star formation histories of Local Group (LG) dwarf galaxies and more distant potential LG members are reviewed. Problems in defining the spatial extent of the LG and membership are briefly discussed. The morphological types found in the LG are presented, and it is suggested that we see continuous evolution from low-mass dwarf irregulars (dIrrs) to dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) in the LG.

Star formation histories for LG dwarfs and nearby LG candidates are compiled using population boxes. No two dwarfs, irrespective of morphological type, show the same evolutionary history, and all vary widely in ages of their subpopulations and in their enrichment history. The lack of gas in dSphs and certain dwarf ellipticals (dEs) is puzzling, both with respect to their star formation histories and the expected mass loss from red giants, but a new photoionization scenario may reconcile these contradictions. Old populations, often spatially very extended, may be a common property of dwarf galaxies, though their fractions can be very small. Almost all types of dwarf galaxies studied in detail so far show spatial variations in ages and abundances such as radial age/metallicity gradients. The observed star formation histories impose constraints on merger and accretion scenarios.

Properties of the Milky Way dwarf spheroidals are compared to the M31 dSphs and discussed in the framework of the ram pressure/tidal stripping scenario. It is demonstrated that the newly discovered LG dwarfs follow the same relationship for central surface brightness, mean metallicity, and absolute magnitude as the other LG dwarfs.

We report on the statistical relationships between solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed during 1996-2007 inclusively. We used soft X-ray flares observed by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) and CMEs observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission. Main results are (1) the CME association rate increases with flare's peak flux, fluence, and duration, (2) the difference between flare and CME onsets shows a Gaussian distribution with the standard deviation σ = 17 min (σ = 15 min) for the first (second) order extrapolated CME onset, (3) the most frequent flare site is under the center of the CME span, not near one leg (outer edge) of the CMEs, (4) a good correlation was found between the flare fluence versus the CME kinetic energy. Implications for flare-CME models are discussed.

The accuracy of parallaxes obtained with ground-based CCD cameras now often reaches or exceeds 0.5 milliarcseconds. This improved accuracy permits us to measure significant parallaxes and determine distances for the nearest planetary nebulae. At present, the central stars of 11 planetary nebulae have been observed as part of the USNO parallax program. We now have determined distances with accuracies better than 20 percent for four central stars and better than 50 percent for five more. This paper gives the present status of the program, a brief interpretation of the results, and future prospects.

The expected final evolution of massive close binaries (CB) in case B is reviewed. Primary stars with masses ≳ 12–15 M⊙ are, after loosing most of their envelope by mass exchange, expected to explode as supernovae, leaving behind a neutron star or a black hole.

Conservative close binary evolution (i.e. without a major loss of mass and angular momentum from the system during the first stage of mass transfer) is expected to occur if the initial mass ratio q0 = M20/M10 is ≳ 0.3. In this case the primary star will be the less massive component when it explodes, and the system is almost never disrupted by the explosion. The explosion is followed by a long-lasting quiet stage (106–107 yr) when the system consists of a massive main-sequence star and an inactive compact companion. After the secondary has left the main-sequence and becomes a blue supergiant with a strong stellar wind, the system becomes a massive X-ray binary for a short while (2–5 × 104 yr).

The numbers of Wolf-Rayet binaries and massive X-ray binaries observed within 3 kpc of the Sun are in reasonable agreement with the numbers expected on the basis of conservative CB evolution, which implies that several thousands of massive main-sequence stars with a quiet compact companion should exist in the Galaxy. About a dozen of these systems must be present among the stars visible to the naked eye. During the second stage of mass exchange, large loss of mass and angular momentum from the system is expected, leading to a rapid shrinking of the orbit. The supernova explosion of the secondary will in most cases disrupt the system. If it remains bound, the final system will consist of two compact stars and may resemble the binary pulsar PSR 1913 + 16.

In systems with q0 ≲ 0.2–0.3 large mass loss from the system is expected during the first stage of mass exchange. The exploding primary will then be more massive than its unevolved companion and the first supernova explosion disrupts the system in most cases. In the rare cases that it remains bound, the system will have a large runaway velocity and, after a very long (108–109 yr) inactive stage evolves into a low-mass X-ray binary, possibly resembling Her X-1.

The ESA space astrometry mission Gaia will measure the positions, parallaxes and proper motions of the 1 billion brightest stars on the sky. Expected accuracies are in the 7–25 μas range down to 15 mag and sub-mas accuracies at the faint limit (20 mag). The astrometric data are complemented by low-resolution spectrophotometric data in the 330–1000 nm wavelength range and, for the brighter stars, radial velocity measurements. The scientific case covers an extremely wide range of topics in galactic and stellar astrophysics, solar system and exoplanet science, as well as the establishment of a very accurate, dense and faint optical reference frame. With a planned launch around 2012 and an (extended) operational lifetime of 6 years, final results are expected around 2021. We give a brief overview of the science goals of Gaia, the overall project organisation, expected performance, and some key technical features and challenges.

When a contact binary expands so much that the stellar surface moves beyond the outer Lagrangian point, a common envelope binary is formed. The suggestion is made that while the two dense stellar nuclei spiral towards each other, the envelope expands and is eventually lost. Most of the angular momentum is lost with the envelope, and therefore the final orbital period may be orders of magnitude shorter than the initial period. V471 Tau could have formed from a binary with a ten year orbital period. Most probably, cataclysmic variables are products of the evolution of systems like V471 Tau. Observational discovery of a short period binary being a nucleus of a planetary nebula would provide very important support for the evolutionary scenario presented in this paper.

A proper motion survey of the northern hemisphere, utilizing first epoch plates made some thirty years ago with the 13 – inch Pluto search telescope of the Lowell Observatory, was begun in 1957. The relative proper motions of stars fainter than the eighth magnitude and with motions greater than 0.″26 per year are measured directly on the calibrated grid of the projection blink comparator.

Modern solar telescope design in the EUV to x-ray range is now capable of producing large images in multiple channels at rapid cadences, with high spatial and temperature resolution. We discuss reconstruction of differential emission measures for solar coronal plasma using two state-of-the-art instruments: the X-Ray Telescope on Solar-B, and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on the Solar Dynamics Observatory. We discuss the relative merits of iteration and direct inversion methods for determining DEM($T$). We also consider strategies for automating and visualizing DEM maps, given the high data rates that these instruments will produce. We touch on the scientific potential of high-cadence, spatially resolved DEM data products.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html