This paper is devoted to the data obtained in measurements of the linear light polarization of few stars (that are definitely known to possess planets) and the results of the measurements processing. One may surmise with caution that the suggested method yields positive results and, if confirmed, can be of use both in searching for exoplanets in transiting or tangentially transiting orbits and in refining their masses.

Integrated optical spectra of star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds and a few Galactic globular clusters are fitted using high-resolution spectral models for single stellar populations. The goal is to estimate the age, metallicity and extinction of the clusters, and evaluate the degeneracies among these parameters. Several sets of evolutionary models that were computed with recent high-spectral-resolution stellar libraries (MILES, GRANADA, STELIB), are used as inputs to the starlight code to perform the fits. The comparison of the results derived from this method and previous estimates available in the literature allow us to evaluate the pros and cons of each set of models to determine star cluster properties. In addition, we quantify the uncertainties associated with the age, metallicity and extinction determinations resulting from variance in the ingredients for the analysis.

Launched in 1887, the “Carte du Ciel” was an international project aiming at photographing the entirety of the celestial vault. Tasks required for this huge undertaking were divided among 18 observatories around the globe. Instruments were standardized and a series of international conferences established operating modes and prescribed norms to be followed everywhere. In each observatory, however, the drive toward uniformity ran into a variety of minor technical and practical problems. In this paper, we examine the strategies mobilized by observers to tinker with stated rules and adapt them to their own experience as astronomers. To underscore the tension between normative prescriptions and individual practices, we consider the Bulletin of the Permanent International Committee for the execution of the Carte du Ciel as an informal forum where various queries raised and arrangements adopted were shared among the scientific community.

The modern observations of the planetary nebulae (PNe) were used to create a new catalogue of He, C, N, O, Ne, S and some other element abundances for more than 300 Galactic and extragalactic PNe. This catalogue was a start point for studying the star formation history in the Galactic disk. We have found that He, C, N and O abundances in the thin disk PNe are very close to those in bulge PNe. We also established that the abundances of the same elements in the PNe belonging the halo of the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds are similar. We have estimated the mean ages of the progenitors of PNe in the thin and thick disks and in the bulge. The evidences in the favor of the suggestion that the formation of the intermediate-mass star began in bulge and only then continued in the thin disk were found.

The effects of shellular rotation on the modelling of solar-type stars (in particular internal structure, evolutionary tracks in the HR diagram, lifetimes and surface abundances) are first examined. Then the effects of a dynamo possibly occuring in the internal stellar radiative zone by imposing nearly solid body rotation are studied. These results are finally discussed in the context of the rotational history of exoplanet host stars and the link between lithium depletion and the presence of exoplanets.

The axial component of Earth rotation, which is conventionally expressed by Universal Time (UT1), contains small physical signals with diurnal and subdiurnal periods. This part of the spectrum is dominated by the tidal effects which are regular and predictable. The largest components express the influence of the gravitationally forced ocean tides with diurnal and semidiurnal periods and amplitudes up to 0.02 milliseconds (ms) in UT1 corresponding to an angular displacement of 0.30 milliarcseconds (mas); see Table 8.3 of the IERS Conventions (IERS, 2003). There are also smaller subdiurnal components (amplitudes up to 0.03 mas), designated as “spin libration” by Chao et al. (1991), due to direct influence of the tidal gravitation on those features of the Earth's density distribution which are expressed by the non-zonal terms of the geopotential. These components are not included in the models recommended by the IERS Conventions, in contrast to the corresponding effect in polar motion (ibid., Table 5.1).

Here we consider in detail the subdiurnal libration in UT1. We derive an analytical solution for the structural model of the Earth consisting of an elastic mantle and a liquid core which are not coupled to each other. The reference solution for the rigid Earth is computed by using the satellite-determined coefficients of geopotential and the recent developments of the tide generating potential (TGP). We arrived to the conclusion that the set of terms with amplitudes exceeding the truncation level of 0.005 mas consists of 11 semidiurnal harmonics due to the influence of the TGP term u22 on the equatorial flattening of the Earth expressed by the Stokes coefficients C22, S22. There is an excellent agreement between our estimates for the rigid Earth and the amplitudes derived by Wünsch (1991). The only important difference is the term with the tidal code ν2, which seems to be overlooked in the development of Wünsch. Our amplitudes computed for an elastic Earth with liquid core appear to be in reasonable agreement with those derived by Chao et al. (1991), but the latter model was not complete. The estimated effect is superimposed on the ocean tide influences having the same frequencies but 9 to 11 times larger amplitudes. Nevertheless, its maximum peak-to-peak size is about 0.105 mas, hence definitely above the current uncertainty of UT1 determinations. Comparison with the corresponding model of prograde diurnal polar motion associated with the Earth's triaxiality (IERS Conventions, Table 5.1) shows that: 1) the two effects are of similar size, 2) there is consistency between the underlying dynamical models, parameters employed, etc. In conclusion, we recommend adding the model developed here to the set of procedures provided by the IERS Conventions.

Reverberation mapping takes advantage of the presence of a time delay or lag, τ, between continuum and emission line flux variations observed through spectroscopic monitoring campaigns to infer the radius of the broad-line region (BLR) and, subsequently, the central black hole mass in type 1 AGNs. We present results from a multi-month reverberation mapping campaign undertaken primarily at MDM Observatory with supporting observations from around the world. We measure BLR radii and black hole masses for six objects. The primary goal of this campaign was to obtain either new or improved Hβ reverberation lag measurements for several relatively low-luminosity AGNs. Using cross correlation techniques to measure the time delay between the mean optical continuum flux density around 5100 Å and the integrated Hβ flux, we determine the Hβ lags and black hole mass measurements listed in columns 2 and 3 of Table 1, respectively. Column 4 tells if this measurement is new, an improvement meant to replace a previous, less reliable measurement, or simply an additional measurement not used to replace a previous value. The complete results from this study are currently being prepared for publication. A subsequent velocity-resolved analysis of the Hβ response shows that three of the six primary targets demonstrate kinematic signatures (column 5) of infall, outflow, and non-radial virialized motions (see Denney et al. 2009).

The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) Rapid Service/Prediction Center (RS/PC) produces daily and weekly EOP combination and prediction solutions. The daily solutions are produced after 1700 UTC while the weekly EOP solutions are produced Thursday after 1700 UTC. These solutions include data from Atmospheric Angular Momentum (AAM) analysis and forecasts, Global Positioning System (GPS) solutions, Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) solutions, and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) solutions. The solutions are sent to roughly 700 people by e-mail per week and are picked up in roughly 40000 ftp downloads per month.

Cosmological simulations describing both the evolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies were performed by using the tree PM-SPH code GADGET-2 (Springel 2005). Physical mechanisms affecting the dynamics and the physical conditions of the gas (ionization and cooling processes, local heating by stars, injection of mechanical energy by supernovae, chemical enrichment) were introduced in the present version of the code (Filloux 2009). Black holes in a state of accretion (AGNs) also inject mechanical energy in the surrounding medium, contributing for quenching the star formation activity. In all simulations a ΛCDM cosmology was adopted (h = 0.7, ΩΛ=0.7, Ωm=0.3, Ωb=0.046 and σ8=0.9). Simulations were performed in a volume with a side of 50h−1 Mpc, starting at z = 50 and through the present time (z = 0). For low and intermediate resolution runs, the initial gas mass particles are respectively 5.35× 108M⊙ and 3.09×108M⊙. Black holes (BHs) are represented by collisionless particles and seeds of 100 M⊙ were introduced in density peaks at z = 15, growing either by accretion or coalescence. The accretion rate from the “disk mode” is based on a turbulent viscous thin disk model whereas in the “spherical mode” the rate is given by the Bondi–Hoyle formula. When accreting matter, jets, modeled by conical regions perpendicular to the disk plane, inject kinetic energy into the surrounding medium. Two models were tested: in the first, the injected energy rate is about 10% of the gravitational energy rate released in the accretion process while in the second, the injected energy rate is based on the Blandford & Znajek (1977) mechanism. All simulations give, at z = 0, similar black hole mass function but they overestimate slightly the BH density for masses above ~ 108M⊙. The resulting BH density in this mass range is affected by feedback processes since they control the amount of gas available for accretion. The present simulations are not able to produce very massive BHs (~109M⊙) at z ~ 6. However the evolution of the BH mass density derived from our simulations are in quite good agreement with that derived from the QSO luminosity function. This indicates that our simulations reproduce quite well the average accretion rate history of BHs. Correlations between the BH mass and properties of the host galaxy (velocity dispersion for bulge systems or the stellar mass or the dark halo mass) are also well reproduced. In conclusion, these exploratory simulations reproduce the data at z = 0 quite well. However, the present adopted recipe for the accretion rate in the “disk mode” seems to be inefficient to produce massive BHs as early as z ~ 6. Higher resolution simulations including a new approach for modeling the “disk mode” are presently under way and that particular difficulty is expected to be solved.

As part of our near-infrared photometric survey of nearby dwarf galaxies, we present recent results for Leo I and Leo II dwarf spheroidal galaxies. We selected O- and C-rich AGB stellar populations using two-color diagrams and compared their luminosity functions and star counts with the predictions of the most recent AGB theoretical models.

We present FLAMES/GIRAFFE spectroscopy obtained with the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Using these observations, we have been able (for the first time) to observe the Lii doublet in the main-sequence (MS) stars of a globular cluster. We also observed Li in a sample of subgiant (SG) stars of the same B − V colour. Our final sample is composed of 84 SG and 79 MS stars. In spite of the fact that SG and MS stars span the same temperature range, we find that the equivalent widths of the Lii doublet in SG stars are systematically greater than in MS stars, suggesting a higher Li content among SG stars. This is confirmed by our quantitative analysis, which makes use of both 1D and 3D model atmospheres. We find that SG stars show, on average, a higher Li abundance, by 0.1 dex, than MS stars. We also detect a positive slope of Li abundance with effective temperature: the higher the temperature the higher the Li abundance, both for SG and MS stars, although the slope is slightly steeper for MS stars. These results provide unambiguous evidence that the Li abundance changes with evolutionary state. The physical mechanisms that contribute to this are not yet clear, since none of the proposed models seem to describe accurately the observations. Whether such a mechanism can explain the cosmological lithium problem is still an open question.

We explore the biological damage initiated in the environments of F, G, K, and M-type main-sequence stars due to photospheric, chromospheric and flare radiation. The amount of chromospheric radiation is, in a statistical sense, directly coupled to the stellar age as well as the presence of significant stellar magnetic fields and dynamo activity. With respect to photospheric radiation, we also consider detailed synthetic models, taking into account millions or hundred of millions of lines for atoms and molecules. Chromospheric UV radiation is increased in young stars in regard to all stellar spectral types. Flare activity is most pronounced in K and M-type stars, which also has the potential of stripping the planetary atmospheres of close-in planets, including planets located in the stellar habitable zone. For our studies, we take DNA as a proxy for carbon-based macromolecules, guided by the paradigm that carbon might constitute the biochemical centerpiece of extraterrestrial life forms. Planetary atmospheric attenuation is considered in an approximate manner.

After World War I, the foundation of the International Astronomical Union delimited a space for a new form of internationality, which led to a rapid change in the way astronomical research had previously been pursued. This structure was to be a sort of parliament of astronomical nations which planned to supervise scientific programs and to rationalise inter-observatory cooperation. In this article, I will discuss the sociological aspects of this institutional process and introduce the idea of ‘scientific diplomacy’.

Radial metallicity gradients are observed in the disks of the Milky Way and in several other spiral galaxies. In the case of the Milky Way, many objects can be used to determine the gradients, such as HII regions, B stars, Cepheids, open clusters and planetary nebulae. Several elements can be studied, such as oxygen, sulphur, neon, and argon in photoionized nebulae, and iron and other elements in cepheids, open clusters and stars. As a consequence, the number of observational characteristics inferred from the study of abundance gradients is very large, so that in the past few years they have become one of the main observational constraints of chemical evolution models. In this paper, we present some recent observational evidences of abundance gradients based on several classes of objects. We will focus on (i) the magnitude of the gradients, (ii) the space variations, and (iii) the evidences of a time variation of the abundance gradients. Some comments on recent theoretical models are also given, in an effort to highlight their predictions concerning abundance gradients and their variations.

Asteroseismology is a powerful tool to derive stellar parameters, including the helium content and internal helium gradients, and the macroscopic motions which can lead to lithium, beryllium, and boron abundance variations. Precise determinations of these parameters need deep analyses for each individual stars. After a general introduction on helio and asteroseismology, I first discuss the solar case, the results which have been obtained in the past two decades, and the crisis induced by the new determination of the abundances of heavy elements. Then I discuss asteroseismology in relation with light element abundances, especially for the case of main sequence stars.

A new empirical formulae is given for estimating the masses of black holes in AGNs from the Hβ velocity dispersion and the continuum luminosity at 5100 Å. It is calibrated to reverberation-mapping and stellar-dynamical estimates of black hole masses. The resulting mass estimates are as accurate as reverberation-mapping and stellar-dynamical estimates. The new mass estimates show that there is very little scatter in the MBH–Lbulge relationship for high-luminosity galaxies, and that the scatter increases substantially in lower-mass galaxies.

We have examined the variation of carbon-14 content in annual tree rings, and investigated the transitions of the characteristics of the Schwabe/Hale (11-year/22-year) solar and cosmic-ray cycles during the last 1200 years, focusing mainly on the Maunder and Spoerer minima and the early Medieval Maximum Period. It has been revealed that the mean length of the Schwabe/Hale cycles changes associated with the centennial-scale variation of solar activity level. The mean length of Schwabe cycle had been ~14 years during the Maunder Minimum, while it was ~9 years during the early Medieval Maximum Period. We have also found that climate proxy record shows cyclic variations similar to stretching/shortening Schwabe/Hale solar cycles in time, suggesting that both Schwabe and Hale solar cycles are playing important role in climate change. In this paper, we review the nature of Schwabe and Hale cycles of solar activity and cosmic-ray flux during the Maunder Minimum and their possible influence on climate change. We suggest that the Hale cycle of cosmic rays are amplified during the grand solar minima and thus the influence of cosmic rays on climate change is prominently recognizable during such periods.

In recent years, a series of papers (Kroupa & Weidner 2003, Weidner & Kroupa 2004, Weidner & Kroupa 2005 and Weidner & Kroupa 2006, WK06 from now on) have proposed that the stellar content of an entire galaxy may not be well described by the same initial mass function (IMF) that describes the distribution of stellar masses in the star clusters, where these stars form. The reason is that star clusters also form with a cluster mass function (CMF), which is a power law with a power law index of ~−2. If the lowest mass clusters are of masses smaller than the physical upper mass limit for stars they will be deficient in high mass stars. Therefore, if the stellar content of all clusters is added together, making up the Integrated Galactic Initial Mass Function (IGIMF), the distribution of stellar masses may be steeper at the high mass end, depending on the exact shape of the CMF.

The teaching and the popularization of Astronomy, nowadays, suffers from the absence of attractiveness. It's, somehow, consensual that the most efficient approach to attract the general public or even an uninterested student to the Astronomy is the sky observation. With the help of instruments like telescopes or binoculars, the observation of aesthetical impressive objects such as galactic clusters, approaching planets and many others may have a great impact upon those people. We have been executing an efficient and attractive didactic method which has been evaluated permanently for more than two years and has shown great efficiency that consists in the utilization of legends and myths from different cultures (including Brazilian Indians myths, in an etnoastronomical approach) about the constellations and their dispositions in the sky. The objective of this panel is to show the efficiency of the method and some of its teaching routines always beginning with myths or legends involving a great number of constellations (using, preferentially, most of the watchable sky in a certain time of year), using asterisms for identification and then following to a certain constellation from which it is possible to extract the information required for the studied subject.

Time ephemeris is the location-independent part of the transformation formula relating two time coordinates such as TCB and TCG (Fukushima 2009). It is computed from the corresponding (space) ephemerides providing the relative motion of two spatial coordinate origins such as the motion of geocenter relative to the solar system barycenter. The time ephemerides are inevitably needed in conducting precise four dimensional coordinate transformations among various spacetime coordinate systems such as the GCRS and BCRS (Soffel et al. 2003). Also, by means of the time average operation, they are used in determining the information on scale conversion between the pair of coordinate systems, especially the difference of the general relativistic scale factor from unity such as LC. In 1995, we presented the first numerically-integrated time ephemeris, TE245, from JPL's planetary ephemeris DE245 (Fukushima 1995). It gave an estimate of LC as 1.4808268457(10) × 10−8, which was incorrect by around 2 × 10−16. This was caused by taking the wrong sign of the post-Newtonian contribution in the final summation. Four years later, we updated TE245 to TE405 associated with DE405 (Irwin and Fukushima 1999). This time the renewed vale of LC is 1.48082686741(200) × 10−8 Another four years later, by using a precise technique of time average, we improved the estimate of Newtonian part of LC for TE405 as 1.4808268559(6) × 10−8 (Harada and Fukushima 2003). This leads to the value of LC as LC = 1.48082686732(110) × 10−8. If we combine this with the constant defining the mean rate of TCG-TT, LG = 6.969290134 × 10−10 (IAU 2001), we estimate the numerical value of another general relativistic scale factor LB = 1.55051976763(110) × 10−8, which has the meaning of the mean rate of TCB-TT. The main reasons of the uncertainties are the truncation effect in time average and the uncertainty of asteroids' perturbation. As a compact realization of the time ephemeris, we prepared HF2002, a Fortran routine to compute approximate harmonic series of TE405 with the RMS error of 0.446 ns for the period 1600 to 2200 (Harada and Fukushima 2003). It is included in the IERS Convention 2003 (McCarthy and Petit 2003) and available from the IERS web site; http://tai.bipm.org/iers/conv2003/conv2003_c10.html.