BlaSGalF is the name of an online, regularly updated list of known RR Lyraes exhibiting the Blazhko effect. It is an acronym of Blazhko Stars of Galactic Field. The list currently contains about 270 stars. It gives basic information about positions, brightnesses, pulsation and modulation periods based on data from catalogs and more than sixty papers. Using this database we found a lack of Blazhko stars with appropriate period characteristics. We introduce the present form of the list and discuss future plans for this database.

AE Aqr is a cataclysmic variable consisting of a magnetised white dwarf with a spin period of 33 s, and a K-dwarf companion. Because of the rapid spin the magnetosphere of the white dwarf the matter that is flowing over from the secondary cannot accrete onto the white dwarf, and rather it is ejected from the system. AE Aqr is subject to extended flaring activity at all wavelengths from radio via optical to X-rays. I present observations of AE Aqr at 345 and 850 GHz using the LABOCA and SABOCA bolometers on APEX. These observations are good enough to distinguish individual flares at both 345 and 850 GHz, and the SABOCA observation is the first measurement of the system at 850 GHz.

We provide a brief overview of some key issues that came out of the IAUS 256 symposium on the Magellanic System (http://www.astro.keele.ac.uk/iaus256).

A survey of radio recombination lines (RRLs) in the Galactic plane (l = 332° − 0° − 89°) near 327 MHz made using the Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT) has detected carbon RRLs from all the positions in the longitude range 0° < l < 20° and from a few positions at other longitudes. The carbon lines detected in the survey are, most likely, emission counterparts of the absorption lines observed at frequencies below 150 MHz. Observations towards l = 13°.9, b = 0°.0 indicate that the broader (∼ 38 km s−1) carbon line detected in the lower resolution observation consists of multiple narrow components (∼ 10 km s−1) with different central velocities. The implications of the presence of such narrow components for the modeling of line emission is discussed.

During the past three years the measurement of stellar radial velocities has formed an important part of the spectroscopic programme of most observatories possessing large telescopes. As observations are carried to fainter and fainter stars and the number of observable objects increases rapidly, a natural development has been the selection of special groups and types of stars, the radial velocities of which will aid in the solution of certain specific problems. Illustrations are the studies of the O, B and A type stars made at the Dominion Astrophysical, the Lick, and the Simeis Observatories, of the members of the galactic clusters at the Lick Observatory, and of the fainter Cepheid variables and early-type stars with strong interstellar lines at the Mount Wilson Observatory.

Using Hipparcos and Tycho-2 data, together with the radial velocity information, a statistical analysis is applied to all the orbital solutions of planetary candidates, in order to avoid a bias towards small inclinations. There are hints of additional, longer period companions.

New observations have been made of the [OIII] 5007Å ine profile from the central and outer regions of 6720 in order to study in detail the radial velocity structure of the nebula. This data was obtained using a Fabry-Perot Interferometer working at a resolution of 67,000. The line profile is clearly s p l i t in the centre indicating the presence of a gaseous envelope surrounding, and in radial expansion from, the central star at avelocity of 25 ±5 km/sec. Irregularities in the emission intensities indicate local patchiness in this shell.

Stars are the main ingredients of galaxies, and the sites of the creation of most chemical elements in our universe. The knowledge that we gain from studying nearby resolved stellar populations assists directly our ability to measure the properties of distant galaxies. The overall objective of this project is to study galaxy formation and evolution in a complete environment of the dwarf galaxies in the Local Group, by using the same methods for all of them. For that purpose, we used the INT to conduct a monitoring survey of the majority of Local-Group dwarf galaxies in order to identify the most evolved AGB stars that are long-period variables (LPV). LPV stars reach their maximum brightness amplitudes at optical wavelengths, owing to changes in temperature. They trace stellar populations as young as ∼30 Myr up to as old as ∼10 Gyr, and identifying them is one of the best ways of reconstructing star-formation history using a method that we have developed and applied successfully to other Local-Group galaxies. Since the luminosity variations span 100–1000 days, we planned observations over 10 epochs, spaced ∼3 months apart; 9 epochs of data have so far been obtained.

We present a matched-filter, surface density map of the “300 km/s” stream recently discovered in the vicinity of the ultrafaint dwarf galaxy Segue 1.

The business session of the Working Group followed the completion of Special Session 7, Astronomy in Antarctica. The proceedings of this meeting are published in Highlights in Astronomy, Volume 14 (Ed. K. A. van der Hucht, 2007, CUP). The session involved 18 papers spread over 5 sessions, together with a further 18 poster papers. A dinner was also held in Prague following the first day of the Special Session.

The origin of homochirality is one of the longest-standing puzzles in understanding the origins of life. In the laboratory, illumination by circularly polarised UV radiation (asymmetric photolysis) is an effective means of producing an enantiomeric excess in an otherwise racemic mix of chiral molecules. In the natural world, however, it has proven difficult to identify a suitable source of Circularly Polarised Light (CPL). Recent observations of L-excesses of 2–9% for a number of α-methyl amino acids in the Murchison meteorite and our discovery of large degrees of CPL in some star forming regions has added weight to the suggestion that the origin of homochirality is extra-terrestrial. Here we report initial modelling of the production of that CPL.

Using the first 12 months of HIPPARCOS mission data already reduced, a synthesis solution was obtained by both CERGA and ARI teams. The reduction includes two steps. In the first one the origins of individual reference circles are determined, thus constituting the HIPPARCOS celestial reference frame. This solution uses a subset of some 30 000 bright and evidently single stars in order to minimize possible corruptive effects on the system. In the second step, the abscissa measurements of all observed stars are substituted in the system and then processed star by star in a least squares adjustment providing the astrometric parameters (positions and parallaxes).

The results of sphere solution and astrometric parameter determination are discussed. In this context error ellipses and internal errors are calculated. External errors are derived by comparison with suitable astrometric catalogues. Especially, for estimating the external errors of the HIPPARCOS measured FK5 stars the instrumental system was tied to the FK5 system by rigid rotations followed by comparisons of the positions with those of FK5. The mean internal errors of the HIPPARCOS positions of FK5 stars is 1.5 milliarcseconds (mas) while the standard deviation of the differences HIPPARCOS minus FK5 reaches 90 mas. For the 5022 measured parallaxes the mean internal and external errors are 3.8 mas and 16.7 mas, respectively. — The results of precision and comparisons with external data show that the accuracy predicted for the final catalogue can be reached.

The standard model of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) predicts that Type 2 AGNs and Type 1 AGNs only differ in the orientation of a dust torus, which does or does not allow one to observe the central region. If the model is correct, the time-scales and the amplitudes of observed temporal variations should be different between obscured and unobscured objects. In order to test this hypothesis, we started a multi-wavelength (BRIJKs) monitoring campaign of a sample of quasars of both types. Here we present the data and preliminary results of that project.

ESO has two telescope projects: the NTT (New Technology Telescope) with 3.5 m aperture and the VLT (Very Large Telescope) with 16 m equivalent aperture. The former is already in the engineering phase and should be completed in 1987; the latter is still in the study phase and will be described at this conference by our colleague, D. Enard.

This paper is concerned with the primary support system of the NTT. The basic principles and layout of this support have already been described in the literature 1,2,3).

Observations of SS433 are consistent with the view that the Doppler-shifted line emission originates in a pair of oppositely-directed, precessing jets in which a gas outflow is maintained at the remarkably time- and space-invariant speed of 0.26c. A radiative acceleration mechanism is described for the jets and a detailed, numerical, relativistic flow calculation presented which explain this terminal velocity as the result of “line-locking”. The “line-locking” mechanism suggested here for SS433 may be important as well in extra-galactic radio sources in which the radio luminosity is similarly weak compared with the kinetic energy and optical luminosities.

Since the start of the SoHO mission, EIT -the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope- offers a global view of the solar corona over the whole rising phase of the current activity cycle. Such a dataset is unprecedented. We give here the current results of an on-going investigation over the entire EIT archive. In the Fe XV images (2 MK), the on-disk and off-disk intensity distributions have been evaluated, and their evolution is described. Additionally, we developed an image processing technique that extracts the smallest detectable features. The cosmic ray hits are statistically disentangled from the solar point-like phenomena, and the trends in both rates are assessed.

The 30-inch Thaw Refractor of the University of Pittsburgh's Allegheny Observatory has been completely rebuilt. Changes include a new objective lens, a new detector system, and computer control and data acquisition. With an observational accuracy exceeding one-thousandth of an arc second, the new system will greatly expand the domain of astrometric research.

We present results from a study of the SFH of a sample of LSB galaxies around the HDF-S. For the selection of the LSB galaxy candidates we used color–color diagrams, from which we selected the candidates based on their different location in comparison to the HSB galaxy redshift tracks. We compared measured spectra to synthetic SEDs from synthesis evolution models. We were able to fit SEDs in the range of 2 to 5 Gyr to the spectra of the LSB galaxies, while applying the same method to a sample of HSB galaxies resulted in an averaged stellar population of about 10 to 14 Gyr. Therefore, LSB galaxies tend to show much younger averaged stellar populations. This implies that the major star formation event of LSB galaxies took place at a redshift of z ~ 0.2 to 0.4 while for HSB galaxies this tends to be at z ~ 2 to 4.

During the 25 years that the author has been involved in astrometry, the quality of ground-based parallaxes has increased by about a factor of 10 (from 3 mas to 0.3 mas), but the quantity has increased by only a few hundred. When asked, the average astronomer will cite the $H^2$ space missions (Hubble and Hipparcos) as the great advances in astrometry even thought the ground-based work has played a critical role in the understanding classes of stars such as the L- and T-dwarfs. The next decade promises stunning advances in both the quality and quantity of parallax measurements, and both ground- and space-based projects will play significant roles. The Gaia space mission and the various ground-based telescopes with large etendue (DMT, LSST, Pan-STARRS, etc.) will improve the quality or quantity (or both) by factors of a thousand or more. The situation will be discussed, and the author will express his hope that he might live long enough to see the fruits of these labors.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

A moon in synchronous rotation has longitudinal librations because of its non-spherical mass distribution and its elliptical orbit around the planet. We study the librations of Titan with periods of 14.7y and 29.5y and include deformation effects and the existence of a subsurface ocean. We take into account the fact that the orbit is not Keplerian and has other periodicities than the main period of orbital motion around Saturn due to perturbations by the Sun, other planets and moons. An orbital theory is used to compute the orbital perturbations due to these other bodies.

We numerically evaluate the amplitude of the long-period librations for many interior structure models of Titan constrained by the mass, radius and gravity field. Measurements of the librations may give constraints on the interior structure of the icy satellites.