The similarity rules to compare atmospheres with anisotropic and isotropic scattering are reviewed. Omission of a narrow diffraction peak in the scattering pattern is permitted and corresponds to a special application of the similarity rules. It is shown that the extrapolation length for conservative scattering can be found with great precision from a formula involving only ω2 and ω3. An asymptotic expression for high-order scattering in a semi-infinite atmosphere is given and it is shown by some examples that this expression can be used to find by interpolation the terms of any order. Finally, the way in which the contrast between a dark and bright area near the center of the disk of Mars is affected by an overlying haze is computed for isotropic and for anisotropic scattering.

We recall the concepts and nomenclature associated with the IAU 2000 definition of UT1 as function of the Earth rotation angle (ERA). We comment on the complications that arise when UT1 is regarded as both an angle and a time scale. We review the IAU 2006 expressions for the position of the celestial intermediate origin (CIO) and the equation of the origins, and the associated CIO and equinox based procedures for the celestial-to-terrestrial transformation.

We have carried out a detailed modeling of the dust Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) of the nearby, starbursting dwarf galaxy NGC 4214. A key point of our modeling is that we distinguish the emission from (i) HII regions and their associated photodissociation regions (PDRs) and (ii) diffuse dust. For both components we apply templates from the literature calculated with a realistic geometry and including radiation transfer. The large amount of existing data from the ultraviolet (UV) to the radio allows the direct measurement of most of the input parameters of the models. We achieve a good fit for the total dust SED of NGC 4214. In the present contribution we describe the available data, the data reduction and the determination of the model parameters, whereas a description of the general outline of our work is presented in the contribution of Lisenfeld et al. in this volume.

We present the results of X-ray and millimetre monitoring of the blazar 3C273 at 1–2 day intervals over the period 12 December 1992 to 24 January 1993. No large flares are seen in this period but variations in both wavebands of ∼ 30% on few day timescales are apparent. The ROSAT PSPC X-ray spectrum consists of 2 power-law components with the harder component dominating above 0.5 keV. There is very little correlation between the variability of the soft and hard components. The soft component does not correlate with the millimetre variations, but the hard component correlates reasonably well and leads the millimetre variations by about 10 days. These results show that the hard X-ray component cannot be a simple extrapolation of the millimetre/IR synchrotron component but may be explained as a self-Compton component in a shocked jet.

Radial and nonradial pulsations are excited in low-mass helium stars with effective temperatures between 7000 and 35000 K. In the case of the most luminous stars, these are driven by strange-mode instabilities (Saio & Jeffery 1988). Less luminous helium stars are mostly non-variable, except around 25000 K. V652Her is the prototype radially pulsating helium star, with Teff ~ 25000 K and a pulsation period of 0ḍ08 (Hill et al. 1981). The pulsation was only understood to be driven by the K-mechanism with the introduction of Z-bump opacity (Saio 1993).

The importance of Z-bump instability in low-mass helium stars has been investigated further through a series of pulsation models (Jeffery & Saio 1999a). It is shown that Z-bump pulsations can persist to surprisingly high hydrogen abundances in low-mass stars, and may consequently be excited in several helium-rich hot subdwarfs with Teff ~ 25000 K. Within the Z-bump instability region, both radial and nonradial pulsations are excited, and multi-periodic variability is expected.

Pulsation properties are closely linked to the global dimensions of a pulsating star by the period – mean density relation. When spectroscopic measurements are also available, the twin constraints of period and surface gravity can place very tight limits on the stellar radius (Jeffery & Saio 1999b). These are in excellent agreement with independent measurements for V652 Her and place a lower limit on the mass of the recently discovered Z-bump pulsator BXCir (Kilkenny et al. 1999).

Recently derived bolometric absolute magnitudes are used to investigate the pulsational properties of some classes of red variables. The Mira variables with periods over 200 days have pulsation constants appropriate to overtone pulsatore but the shorter period 135 day Miras seem to be hotter and less luminous and may be fundamental pulsators. The large amplitude Shapley-Nail variables in the SMC are probably fundamental pulsators with masses in the 5-10 solar range. Bright supergiant red variables in the LMC show evidence of the period-luminosity relation expected if they are in the early stages of core helium burning.

It is well known that the radio galaxy NGC4486 has as a striking peculiarity a small and very bright ‘jet’ in its central part. It seems to us that the key to the understanding of the nature of this radio galaxy is the purely continuous spectrum of the jet, where not even a slight trace of emission or absorption lines is present.

This triennium has been quiet but industrious. Information and understanding about star clusters and associations have advanced in a quantitative way, on a broad front that encompasses all their aspects. The tabulations given below refer to many of the well-known objects, for which improved data are now available, plus an impressive number of objects that heretofore have been little more than catalogue entries. Clusters and associations have always been the source, the stage, and the touchstone for the investigation of star birth, stellar evolution, populations, and galactic structure, and the data of the 1976 report of Commission 37 will figure in the scientific advances reported in 1979 by several other IAU Commissions.

The molecular gas content in the Magellanic Clouds has been studied, with different spatial coverage and resolution, through obervations of CO(1-0) line emission. In the LMC and the SMC the molecular gas is dominated by clouds whose properties are different from those of their Galactic counterparts. The relation between the intensity of CO emission and molecular hydrogen column density, or the conversion factor X, is different than that of molecular clouds in our Galaxy and depends on the ambient physical conditions. Studying the molecular gas through observations in the H2 emission line may prove an alternative way to determine the molecular content associated with star forming regions in the Magellanic Clouds. In particular, results obtained towards 30 Doradus in the LMC are presented.

From November 2019 to April 2020, the prototypical red supergiant Betelgeuse experienced an unexpected and historic dimming. This event was observed worldwide by astrophysicists, and also by the general public with the naked eye. We present here the results of our observing campaign with ESO’s VLT and VLTI in the visible and infrared domains. The observations with VLT/SPHERE-ZIMPOL, VLT/SPHERE-IRDIS, VLTI/GRAVITY and VLTI/MATISSE provide spatially resolved diagnostics of this event. Using PHOENIX atmosphere models and RADMC3D dust radiative transfer simulations, we built a consistent model reproducing the images and the photometry.

From measurements of Tautenburg Schmidt plates with the APM in Cambridge positional accuracies per plate of 0.″05 for stars and of 0.″10 for galaxies were achieved. With 0.″3/100a accuracy in a single stellar proper motion we obtained the absolute proper motion of the M3 globular cluster in good agreement between the two pairs of plates used.

The quasar 4C39.25, whose nuclear radio structure was stable for many years, now shows a contraction in the brightness distribution. Possible explanations are discussed.

Zdenek Kopal has kindly invited me, and I have accepted, to “instruct the theoreticians on known facts”. He also asked me to express my opinion on the relative evolutionary stages of components.

I am essentially an observing astronomer, occupied with stars in our immediate neighborhood, say within 10 or at most some 25 parsec, i.e., the lower main sequence and the white dwarf degenerate branch.

I hope that I may perhaps contribute by surveying and reporting some relevant data. I shall touch on a number of topics, limited because of selection and lack of knowledge. My contributions to binary stars lie in the realm of parallaxes, mass-ratios and masses, – and for the past half century, perturbations, interpreted as unseen companions, stellar and otherwise. I shall briefly report on some results, and I shall be wondering and hoping that some trace of stellar evolution may possibly be present in these results. After having witnessed for more than half a century my own astronomical evolution, the time has come for me to become more aware of theoretical, evolutionary and cosmological aspects of the cosmic material, I have been playing with so long.

The context is that of the so-called “fundamental ambiguity” (also azimuth ambiguity, or 180° ambiguity) in magnetic field vector measurements: two field vectors symmetrical with respect to the line-of-sight have the same polarimetric signature, so that they cannot be discriminated. We propose a method to solve this ambiguity by applying the “simulated annealing” algorithm to the minimization of the field divergence, added to the longitudinal current absolute value, the line-of-sight derivative of the magnetic field being inferred by the interpretation of the Zeeman effect observed by spectropolarimetry in two lines formed at different depths. We find that the line pair Fe I λ 6301.5 and Fe I λ 6302.5 is appropriate for this purpose. We treat the example case of the δ-spot of NOAA 10808 observed on 13 September 2005 between 14:25 and 15:25 UT with the THEMIS telescope. Besides the magnetic field resolved map, the electric current density vector map is also obtained. A strong horizontal current density flow is found surrounding each spot inside its penumbra, associated to a non-zero Lorentz force centripetal with respect to the spot center (i.e., oriented towards the spot center). The current wrapping direction is found to depend on the spot polarity: clockwise for the positive polarity, counterclockwise for the negative one. This analysis is made possible thanks to the UNNOFIT2 Milne-Eddington inversion code, where the usual theory is generalized to the case of a line (Fe I λ 6301.5) that is not a normal Zeeman triplet line (like Fe I λ 6302.5).

The study of ages, helium mass fraction (Y) and chemical composition of globular clusters in dwarf galaxies is important for understanding the physical conditions at the main evolutionary stages of the host galaxies and for constraining the build-up histories of large galaxies. We present the analysis of integrated-light spectra of 8 extragalactic and 20 Galactic globular clusters (GCs) using our population synthesis method. We calculate synthetic spectra of GCs according to the defined stellar mass functions using model atmospheres and stellar parameters ([Fe/H], Teff, and logg) set by theoretical isochrones. The main advantage of our method is the ability to determine not only chemical composition but also the age and mean Y in a cluster by modelling and analysis of Balmer absorption lines. The knowledge of Y and anomalies of light elements in star clusters is one of the key points for understanding the phenomenon of multiple stellar populations.

The history of observations of the Chandler motion is presented in brief and the importance of the ninety years of the ILS data is stressed. Essential features and different empirical models of the Chandler motion are discussed.

This essay introduces the papers from the specially organized session on the theme ‘The 2012 phenomenon: Maya calendar, astronomy, and apocalypticism in the worlds of scholarship and popular culture’. The papers that follow address this topical theme in the contexts of Maya and Western cultures as well as academic and popular cultures.

The early identification of the strong X-ray source in Taurus with the Crab nebula (Bowyer et al. 1964) was the first milestone in the association of X-ray emission with supernova remnants. Unfortunately, it proved to be “red herring” which clouded the interpretation of X-ray emission from supernova remnants for a decade. Because the Crab was one of the brightest X-ray sources in the sky at a few keV, the interrogation energy of the early surveys, and because it was the first (and for several years the only) X-ray source conclusively identified, the potential association of a supernova origin with the large body of unidentified X-ray sources was not an unreasonable hypothesis.

The composition and physical properties of interstellar grain mantles continues to be an important problem in astrophysics. Part of this importance comes from the fact that grain mantle composition, photochemistry and photophysics are involved in interstellar chemistry (Greenberg et al. 1972, Greenberg, 1979, Greenberg et al. this volume). Because most molecules have a number of fundamental modes of vibration which possess activity between 2.5 and 25 μm (the middle infrared), spectroscopic measurement in this region can provide a direct probe of the molecules making up grain mantles. In addition to molecular composition, under favorable conditions, such measurements can yield molecular abundances, the solid/gas ratio for specific molecules and give an indication of such physical grain properties as temperature and thermal history.

The spiral galaxy M81 is a challenging object for testing a density-wave theory. It is of large angular size and favourably inclined to the line of sight; radio observations of neutral atomic hydrogen showing well defined spiral arms with noncircular motions are available (Rots and Shane 1975), and there is evidence from surface photometry for density waves in the old disk population (Schweizer 1976). Can these observations be unified in one density-wave model?