The asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars with the reddest colors have the largest amounts of circumstellar dust. AGB stars vary in their brightness, and studies show that the reddest AGB stars tend to have longer periods than other AGB stars and are more likely to be fundamental mode pulsators than other AGB stars. Such stars are difficult to study, as they are often not detected at optical wavelengths. Therefore, they must be observed at infrared wavelengths. Using the Spitzer Space Telescope, we have observed a sample of very dusty AGB stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) over Cycles 9 through 12 during the Warm Spitzer mission. For each cycle’s program, we typically observed a set of AGB stars at both 3.6 and 4.5 μm wavelength approximately monthly for most of a year. We present results from our analysis of the data from these programs.

We examine the metallicity trends in the Milky Way (MW) bulge – using APOGEE DR13 data – and explore their origin by comparing two N-body models of isolated galaxies which develop a bar and a boxy/peanut (b/p) bulge. Both models have been proposed as scenarios for reconciling a disc origin of the MW bulge with a negative vertical metallicity gradient. The first is a superposition of co-spatial disc populations, different scaleheights and metallicities (with flat gradients) where the thick, metal-poor populations contribute significantly to the stellar mass budget in the inner galaxy. The second model is a single disc with an initial steep radial metallicity gradient which gets mapped by the bar into the b/p bulge in such a way that the vertical metallicity gradient of the MW bulge is reproduced – as shown already in previous works in the literature. As we show here, the latter model does not reproduce the positive longitudinal metallicity gradient of the inner disc, nor the metal-poor innermost regions seen in the data. The model with co-spatial thin and thick disc populations reproduces all the aforementioned trends. We therefore see that it is possible to reconcile a (primarily) disc origin for the MW bulge with the observed trends in metallicity by mapping the inner thin and thick discs of the MW into a b/p.

Over a hundred millisecond radio pulsars (MSPs) have been observed in globular clusters (GCs), motivating theoretical studies of the formation and evolution of these sources through stellar evolution coupled to stellar dynamics. Here we study MSPs in GCs using realistic N-body simulations with our Cluster Monte Carlo code. We show that neutron stars (NSs) formed in electron-capture supernovae can be spun up through mass transfer to form MSPs. Both NS formation and spin-up through accretion are greatly enhanced through dynamical interaction processes. We find that our models for average GCs at the present day with masses ≍ 2 × 105M⊙ can produce up to 10 – 20 MSPs, while a very massive GC model with mass ≍ 106M⊙ can produce close to 100. We show that the number of MSPs is anti-correlated with the total number of stellar-mass black holes (BHs) retained in the host cluster. As a result, the number of MSPs in a GC could be used to place constraints on its BH population. Some intrinsic properties of MSP systems in our models (such as the magnetic fields and spin periods) are in good overall agreement with observations.

We present observations of nearby red supergiants with SPHERE.

I will give here a very short summary of some of the work I have been doing lately on the chemical evolution in Milky-Way-like spiral galaxies.

The Nearby Evolved Stars Survey aims to observe over 400 evolved stars within 2 kpc, to determine why, and how much, our Galaxy cares about AGB stars. This contribution presents a brief introduction to the survey and data. NESS is an open project. Anyone is welcome to get involved and we aim to make as much data and code available to the community as possible.

In this contribution we introduce the motivation and goals of IAU Focus Meeting 8, “New Insights in Extragalactic Magnetic Fields”. We provide a background for the nine contributions included in these proceedings, as well as the online contributions. A recap of the meeting is provided in the form of audience feedback that was collected during the wrap-up session at the conclusion of FM8.

The standard picture for the origin of magnetic fields in astrophysical systems involves turbulent dynamo amplification of a weak seed field. Dynamos convert kinetic energy of motions to magnetic energy. While it is relatively easy for magnetic energy to grow, explaining the observed degree of coherence of cosmic magnetic fields generated by turbulent dynamos, remains challenging. We outline potential resolution of these challenges. Another intriguing possibility is that magnetic fields originated at some level from the early universe.

In order to investigate the effect of dust production on the molecular absorption, we model the dust continuum and the 7.5 and 13.7 μm acetylene absorption features in the Spitzer IRS spectra of 148 carbon stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Our preliminary investigation does not find a strong correlation between the dust-production rate and the column density of acetylene for the LMC sample. However, we will construct more models at high optical depths and probe a larger range of dust properties for more robust results.

We present radiative transfer modelling of the dust around U Ant, a well-studied detached-shell source. U Ant is among the >400 sources targeted by the Nearby Evolved Stars Survey (NESS; PI: P. Scicluna), and the procedure used to model this source will be applied to the rest of the AGB sample in NESS.

Blazar observations point toward the possible presence of magnetic fields over intergalactic scales of the order of up to ∼1 Mpc, with strengths of at least ∼10−16 G. Understanding the origin of these large-scale magnetic fields is a challenge for modern astrophysics. Here we discuss the cosmological scenario, focussing on the following questions: (i) How and when was this magnetic field generated? (ii) How does it evolve during the expansion of the universe? (iii) Are the amplitude and statistical properties of this field such that they can explain the strengths and correlation lengths of observed magnetic fields? We also discuss the possibility of observing primordial turbulence through direct detection of stochastic gravitational waves in the mHz range accessible to LISA.

We present preliminary results of a study aimed at identifying and characterizing the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars in the outer Galaxy using the color-color diagram (CCD) that combines the Spitzer Space Telescope and 2MASS photometry: Ks – [8.0] vs. Ks – [24]. Our initial study concentrates on a region in the outer Galactic plane around a galactic longitude l of 105°, where we identified 777 O-rich and 200 C-rich AGB star candidates.

Magnetic fields originate small-scale instabilities in the plasma of the intra-cluster medium, and may have a key role to understand particle acceleration mechanisms. Recent observations at low radio frequencies have revealed that synchrotron emission from galaxy clusters is more various and complicated than previously thought, and new types of radio sources have been observed. In the last decade, big steps forward have been done to constrain the magnetic field properties in clusters thanks to a combined approach of polarisation observations and numerical simulations that aim to reproduce Faraday Rotation measures of sources observed through the intra-cluster medium. In this contribution, I will review the results on magnetic fields reached in the last years, and I will discuss the assumptions that have been done so far in light of new results obtained from cosmological simulations. I will also discuss how the next generation of radio instruments, as the SKA, will help improving our knowledge of the magnetic field in the intra-cluster medium.

Asymptotic giant branch stars play an important role in enriching galaxies by s-process elements. Recent studies have shown that their role in producing s-process elements in the Galactic disc was underestimated and should be reconsidered. Based on high-resolution spectra we have determined abundances of neutron-capture elements in a sample of 310 stars located in the field and open clusters and investigated elemental enrichment patterns according to their age and mean galactocentric distances.

In these proceedings we discuss advances in the theory and observation of magnetic fields in the intergalactic medium and in the cosmic web. We make the point that, despite perhaps unsurmountable obstacles in simulating a small-scale dynamo, currently most cosmological magnetohydrodynamical simulations paint a similar picture of magnetic field amplification in the cosmos. However, observations of magnetic fields in the intergalactic medium turn out to be very difficult. As a case in point, we present recent work on Faraday rotation measurement in the direction of a giant galaxy with the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR). These observations demonstrate the currently unique capability of LOFAR to measure Faraday rotation at the high accuracy and angular resolution required to investigate the magnetisation of large-scale structure filaments of the cosmic web.

The determination of the star formation history is a key goal for understanding galaxies. In this regard, nearby galaxies in the Local Group offer us a complete suite of galactic environment that is perfect for studying the connection between stellar populations and galaxy evolution. In this paper, we present the star formation history of M31 using long period variable stars that are prime targets for studying the galaxy formation and evolution because of their evolutionary phase. In this method, at first, we convert the near-infrared K-band magnitude of evolved stars to mass and age and from this we reconstruct the star formation and evolution of the galaxy.