We present a new formation mechanism to produce short-period Earth-like planets in the late stage of planet formation, through a collision-merger scenario. In this scenario, a planetary embryo is directly thrown into a close-in orbit after a collision with another embryo, and then the larger merged body is seized by the central star as a hot Earth-like planet.

The recent years witnessed a dramatic improvement in our knowledge of the phenomenology and physics of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). However, our “pillars of knowledge” remain a few, while many aspects remain obscure and not understood. There is no general agreement on the radiation mechanism of the prompt emission, nor on the process able to convert the bulk motion of the fireball into random energy of the emitting leptons. The afterglow phase can now be studied at very early phases, showing an unforeseen phenomenology, still to be understood. In this context, the detection of ~GeV emission from ~10% of GRBs, made possible by the Fermi satellite, can hopefully shed light on some controversial issues.

In this paper, we investigate whether incorporating sunspot-groups classification information would further improve the performance of our previous logistic regression based solar flare forecasting method, which uses only line-of-sight photospheric magnetic parameters. A dataset containing 4913 samples from the year 2000 to 2005 is constructed, in which 2721 samples from the year 2000, 2002 and 2004 are used as a training set, and the remaining 2192 samples from the year 2001, 2003 and 2005 are used as a testing set. Experimental results show that sunspot-groups classification combined with total gradient on the strong gradient polarity neutral line achieve the highest forecasting accuracy and thus it testifies sunspot-groups classification does help in solar flare forecasting.

Circumstellar discs of Be stars are thought to be formed from material ejected from a fast-spinning central star. This material possesses large amounts of angular momentum and settles in a quasi-Keplerian orbit around the star. This simple description outlines the basic issues that a successful disc theory must address: 1) What is the mechanism responsible for the mass ejection? 2) What is the final configuration of the material? 3) How the disc grows? With the very high angular resolution that can be achieved with modern interferometers operating in the optical and infrared we can now resolve the photosphere and immediate vicinity of nearby Be stars. Those observations are able to provide very stringent tests for our ideas about the physical processes operating in those objects. This paper discusses the basic hydrodynamics of viscous decretion discs around Be stars. The model predictions are quantitatively compared to observations, demonstrating that the viscous decretion scenario is currently the most viable theory to explain the discs around Be stars.

In this paper I relate progress in the simulation of star formation to a remarkable early (1962) paper by Fowler and Hoyle who analyzed star formation in terms of the relevant energies starting from the formation of a large (100 pc) cloud and ending with the final mass distribution of the stars. The way in which modern simulations have clarified and corrected the Fowler-Hoyle picture, and areas where we could improve our simulations, are discussed.

The Stellar Observations Network Group (SONG) is being developed as a network of 1-meter spectroscopic telescopes designed for and primarily dedicated to asteroseismology. It is patterned after the highly successful GONG project. The Danish prototype telescope will be installed in Tenerife in early 2011. Ultimately we hope to have as many as 8 identical nodes providing continuous high-resolution spectroscopic observations for targets anywhere in the sky. The primary scientific goals of SONG are asteroseismology and the search for Earth-mass exoplanets. The spectroscopic requirements for these programs push the limits of current technology, but the resulting spectrograph design will enable many secondary science programs with less stringent requirements. Doppler imaging of starspots can be accomplished using continuous observations over several stellar rotations using identical instrumentation at each node. It should be possible to observe the evolution of starspot morphology in real-time, for example. We discuss the design and status of the SONG project in general, and we describe how SONG could be used to probe short timescale changes in stellar surface structure.

The correlations between the rest frame peak of the νFν spectrum of GRBs (Epeak) and their isotropic energy (Eiso) or luminosity (Liso) could have several implications for the understanding of the GRB prompt emission. These correlations are presently founded on the time–averaged spectral properties of a sample of 95 bursts, with measured redshifts, collected by different instruments in the last 13 years (pre–Fermi). One still open issue is wether these correlations have a physical origin or are due to instrumental selection effects. By studying 10 long and 14 short GRBs detected by Fermi we find that a strong time–resolved correlation between Epeak and the luminosity Liso is present within individual GRBs and that it is consistent with the time–integrated correlation. This result is a direct proof of the existence in both short and long GRBs of a similar physical link between the hardness and the luminosity which is not due to instrumental selection effects. The origin of the Epeak – Liso correlation should be searched in the radiation mechanism of the prompt emission.

Long-baseline optical and IR interferometers now routinely resolve the wind and disk-like structures around early-type stars. The typical angular scales resolved by current generation of instruments are well bellow the milli-arcsecond level. These type of observations allow, in some cases for the first time, placing very tight constraints on current theories and models of the circumstellar structures around these type of stars. Specific examples of observations obtained at the Navy Prototype Optical interferometer of the spatially resolved regions around a luminous blue variable star P Cyg and a B-type star with circumstellar disk are presented. The need for connection between interferometric observables and physical parameters predicted by theory and numerical models are emphasized.

Advances in available computing facilities, judiciously employed by our colleagues, have undoubtedly enhanced our understanding of the processes by which stars (and planets) form, from very diffuse gas to something you could almost live around. Nevertheless we remain very far from being able to describe (let alone explain) what is going on in many cases. And this is likely to remain true even as Moore's Law growth begins to hit its head against energy and power considerations. A large fraction of long-standing questions appear to have honest answers of the general form, “yes and no”, “all of the above”, or “some of them are and some of them aren't”. This includes many of my favorites, like triggering, formation of binary populations, and the role of magnetic fields. Rather few questions have actually been retired from the universe of discourse in recent years.

We present the results of the three-dimensional, fully non-linear MHD simulations of the large-scale magnetic field evolution in a barred galaxy with the back reaction of magnetic field to gas. We also include the process of the cosmic-ray driven dynamo. In addition, we check what physical processes are responsible for the magnetic field evolution in the tidally influenced spiral galaxies. We solve the MHD equations for the gas and magnetic field in a spiral galaxy with gravitationally prescribed bulge, disk and halo which travels along common orbit with the second body. In order to compare our modeling results with the observations we also construct the maps of high-frequency (Faraday rotation-free) polarized radio emission from the simulated magnetic fields. The model accounts for the effects of projection and limited resolution.

We found that the obtained magnetic field configurations are highly similar to the observed maps of the polarized intensity of barred galaxies, because the modeled vectors form coherent structures along the bar and spiral arms. We also found a physical explanation of the problem of inconsistency between the velocity and magnetic fields character present in this type of galaxies. Due to the dynamical influence of the bar, the gas forms spiral waves which go radially outward. Each spiral arm forms the magnetic arm which stays much longer in the disk than the gaseous spiral structure. The modeled total energy of magnetic field and magnetic flux grows exponentially due to the action of the cosmic-ray driven dynamo. We also obtained the polarization maps of tidally influenced spiral galaxies which are similar to observations.

Planetesimal formation occurs early in the evolution of a solar system, embedded in the circumstellar gas disk, and it is the crucial first step in planet formation. Their growth is difficult beyond boulder size, and likely proceeds via the accumulation of many rocks in turbulence followed by gravitational collapse - a process we are only beginning to understand. We have performed global simulations of the gas disk with embedded particles in the FLASH code. Particles and gas feel drag based on differential velocities and densities. Grains and boulders of various sizes have been investigated, from micron to km, with the goal of understanding where in the disk large planetesimals will tend to form, what sizes will result, and what size ranges of grains will be preferentially incorporated. We have so far simulated particles vertical settling and radial drift under the influence of gas drag, and their accumulations in turbulent clumps.

We have carried out the B,V and R-band polarimetric and V-band photometric study of the star LO Peg. Our analysis reveal that LO Peg is highly polarized among the sun-like stars. The degree of polarization and polarization position angle are found to be rotationally modulated. The levels of polarization observed in LO Peg could be the result of scattering of an anisotropic stellar radiation field by an optically thin circumstellar envelope or scattering of the stellar radiation by prominence-like structures. The long term photometric observations of LO Peg indicate three independent groups of spots are present on the surface of LO Peg.

Bose-Einstein condensation in the early universe is considered. The magnetic properties of a condensate of charged vector bosons are studied, showing that a ferromagnetic state is formed. As a consequence, the primeval plasma may be spontaneously magnetized inside macroscopically large domains and primordial magnetic fields can be generated.

The purpose of the SEEDS project (PI: M. Tamura) is to conduct a direct imaging survey, searching for giant planets as well as protoplanetary/debris disks at a few to a few tens of AU regions around 500 nearby solar-type or more massive young stars with the combination of the Subaru 8.2m telescope, the new high-contrast instrument HiCIAO, and the adaptive optics system AO188. After instrument performance verification, the SEEDS survey successfully started in October 2009. We have already detected many companion candidates to be followed-up, and clear and much better detections of disks or details of known disks structures. In this contribution, we will outline our goal, current status, early results, and future instrumentation plans.

Both types of long and short gamma ray bursts involve a stage of a hyper-Eddington accretion of hot and dense plasma torus onto a newly born black hole. The prompt gamma ray emission originates in jets at some distance from this ‘central engine’ and in most events is rapidly variable, having a form of sipkes and subpulses. This indicates at the variable nature of the engine itself, for which a plausible mechanism is an internal instability in the accreting flow. We solve numerically the structure and evolution of the neutrino-cooled torus. We take into account the detailed treatment of the microphysics in the nuclear equation of state that includes the neutrino trapping effect. The models are calculated for both Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes. We find that for sufficiently large accretion rates (>~10M⊙ s−1 for non-rotating black hole, and >~1M⊙ s−1 for rotating black hole, depending on its spin), the inner regions of the disk become opaque, while the helium nuclei are being photodissociated. The sudden change of pressure in this region leads to the development of a viscous and thermal instability, and the neutrino pressure acts similarly to the radiation pressure in sub-Eddington disks. In the case of rapidly rotating black holes, the instability is enhanced and appears for much lower accretion rates. We also find the important and possibly further destabilizing role of the energy transfer from the rotating black hole to the torus via the magnetic coupling.

There are currently two optical interferometry recombiners that can provide spectral resolutions better than 10000, AMBER/VLTI operating in the H-K bands, and VEGA/CHARA, recently commissioned, operating in the visible. These instruments are well suited to study the wind activity of the brightest AB supergiants in our vicinity, in lines such as Hα or Brγ. We present here the first observations of this kind, performed on Rigel (B8Ia) and Deneb (A2Ia). Rigel was monitored by AMBER in two campaigns, in 2006-2007 and 2009-2010, and observed in 2009 by VEGA; whereas Deneb was monitored in 2008-2009 by VEGA. The extension of the Hα and Brγ line forming regions were accurately measured and compared with CMFGEN models of both stars. Moreover, clear signs of activity were observed in the differential visibility and phases. These pioneer observations are still limited, but show the path for a better understanding of the spatial structure and temporal evolution of localized ejections using optical interferometry.

We present BV(RI)C photometric measurements of the dM4-type V374 Peg covering ~430 days. The star has a mass of ~0.28MSun, so it is supposed to be fully convective. Previous observations detected almost-rigid-body rotation and stable, axisymmetric poloidal magnetic field. Our photometric data agree well with this picture, one persistent active nest is found on the stellar surface. Nevertheless, the surface is not static: night-to-night variations and frequent flaring are observed. The flares seem to be concentrated on the brighter part of the surface. The short-time changes of the light curve could indicate emerging flux ropes in the same region, resembling to the active nests on the Sun. We have observed flaring and quiet states of V374 Peg changing on monthly timescale.

We carry out a resolution study on the fragmentation boundary of self-gravitating discs. We perform three-dimensional Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations of discs to determine whether the critical value of the cooling timescale in units of the orbital timescale, βcrit, converges with increasing resolution. Using particle numbers ranging from 31,250 to 16 million (the highest resolution simulations to date) we do not find convergence. Instead, fragmentation occurs for longer cooling timescales as the resolution is increased. These results certainly suggest that βcrit is larger than previously thought. However, the absence of convergence also questions whether or not a critical value exists. In light of these results, we caution against using cooling timescale or gravitational stress arguments to deduce whether gravitational instability may or may not have been the formation mechanism for observed planetary systems.