Over the past decade the free and open-source cross-platform desktop planetarium program Stellarium has gained not only most of the computational accuracy requirements for today’s amateur astronomers, but also unique capabilities for specialized applications in cultural astronomy research and astronomical outreach. A 3D rendering module can put virtual reconstructions of human-made monuments in their surrounding landscape under the day and night skies of their respective epochs, so that the user can investigate and experience the potential connection of architecture, landscape, light and shadow, and the sky. It also played a key role in an exhibition about Stonehenge in Austria.

Exchangeable “skycultures” allow the presentation of constellation patterns and mythological figures of non-Western cultures. Stellarium’s multi-language support allows community-driven translation of the whole program, which predestines its use in education also in minority languages.

Stellarium is developed by a very small core team, but is open to external contributions.

In the spin-orbit resonances, we assume that the orbit of the secondary asteroid around the primary is invariant, which is a reasonable assumption at first glance. Owing to the irregularity of asteroids’ geometry and their effect on the mutual orbit, this assumption should be revised. Therefore, we focus on a binary asteroid with a spherical primary and a secondary with an irregular shape. When the shape of a secondary asteroid is not a sphere, the gravitational interaction is important, and we should consider the interaction of orbit and spin. We generate fast Lyapunov indicator (FLI) maps for both spin-orbit resonance and spin-orbit coupling problems and investigate the effect of orbit alternation on the structure of phase space.

The evolution of galaxies at Cosmic Noon (1 < z < 3) passed through a dust-obscured phase, during which most stars formed and black holes in galactic nuclei started to shine, which cannot be seen in the optical and UV, but it needs rest frame mid-to-far IR spectroscopy to be unveiled. At these frequencies, dust extinction is minimal and a variety of atomic and molecular transitions, tracing most astrophysical domains, occur. The Space Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA), currently under evaluation for the 5th Medium Size ESA Cosmic Vision Mission, fully redesigned with its 2.5-m mirror cooled down to T < 8K will perform such observations. SPICA will provide for the first time a 3-dimensional spectroscopic view of the hidden side of star formation and black hole accretion in all environments, from voids to cluster cores over 90% of cosmic time. Here we outline what SPICA will do in galaxy evolution studies.

The sunspot cycle is quite variable in duration and amplitude, yet in the long term, it seems to return to solar minimum on schedule, as if guided by a clock with an average period of close to 11.05 years for the sunspot number cycle and 22.1 years for the magnetic cycle. This paper provides a brief review of the sunspot number cycle since 1750, discusses some of the processes controlling the solar dynamo, and provides clues that may add to our understanding of what controls the cadence of the solar clock.

Ultra-massive (⩾M⊙) oxygen/neon (ONe) core white dwarfs (WDs) are the result of the evolution of isolated progenitor stars with masses above 6−M⊙. It is expected that hydrogen-rich (DA) ultra-massive WDs harbor crystallized cores at the typical temperatures of the ZZ Ceti instability strip. These stars offer a unique opportunity to study the processes of crystallization and to infer their core chemical composition. We present a study of the evolution and asteroseismology of ultra-massive DA WDs. We found that all pulsating WDs known to date with M⩾1.1M⊙ should have more than 80% of their mass crystallized, if a ONe-core is assumed. Finally, we present a complete asteroseismological analysis to the well known ZZ Ceti BPM 37093 and a preliminary analysis to GD 518 and SDSS J0840+5222.

We have studied the probabilistic evolution of four candidates for young pairs of trans-Neptunian objects: 2003 QL91 – 2015 VA173, 1999 HV11 – 2015 VF172, 2002 CY154 – 2005 EW318 and 2013 SD101 – 2015 VY170 over 10 Myr in the past. All pairs belong to cold Classical Kuiper Belt objects. We concluded that the age of the considered pairs exceeds 10 Myr.

We have conducted a multi-wavelength survey of distant (1.3 < z < 2.6) luminous quasars host galaxies using the Keck integral field spectrograph (IFS) OSIRIS and laser guide star adaptive optics (LGS-AO) system, ALMA, HST and VLA. Studying distant quasar host galaxies is essential for understanding the role of active galactic nuclei (AGN) feedback on the interstellar medium (ISM), and its capability of regulating the growth of massive galaxies and their supermassive black holes (SMBH). The combination of LGS-AO and OSIRIS affords the necessary spatial resolution and contrast to disentangle the bright quasar emission from that of its faint host galaxy. We resolve the nebular emission lines, [OIII], [NII],, and [SII] at a sub-kiloparsec resolution to study the distribution, kinematics, and dynamics of the warm-ionized ISM in each quasar host galaxy. The goal of the survey was to search for ionized outflows and relate their spatial extent and energetics to the star-forming properties of the host galaxy. Combining ALMA and OSIRIS, we directly test whether outflows detected with OSIRIS are affecting the molecular ISM. We find that several mechanisms are responsible for driving the outflows within our systems, including radiation pressure in low and high column density environments as well as adiabatic and isothermal shocks driven by the quasar. From line ratio diagnostics, we obtain resolved measurements of the photoionization mechanisms and the gas-phase metallicity. We find that the quasars are responsible for photoionizing the majority of the ISM with metalicities lower than that of gas photoionized by AGN in the low redshift systems. We are now obtaining detailed observations of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of these systems with the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI). The gas in the CGM may play an essential role in the evolution of these galaxies.

The profile of the differential rotation together with the sign of the alpha-effect determine the dynamo wave direction. In early models of the solar dynamo the dynamo wave often leads to a poleward migration of the activity belts. Flux transport by the meridional flow or the effect of the surface shear layer are possible solutions. In a model including the corona, we show that various migrations can be obtained by varying the properties of the corona. A new dynamo of Babcock-Leighton type also leads to the correct equatorward migration by the non-linear relation between flux density and rise time of the flux.

This paper summarizes my thoughts, given in an invited review at the IAU symposium 341 “Challenges in Panchromatical Galaxy Modelling with Next Generation Facilities”, about how machine learning methods can help us solve some of the big data problems associated with current and upcoming large galaxy surveys.

Both observational and theoretical evidence point at outflows originating from accretion disks as fundamental ingredients of active galactic nuclei (AGN). These outflows can have more than one component, for example an unbound supersonic wind and a failed wind (FW). The latter is a prediction of the simulations of radiation-driven disk outflows which show that the former is accompanied by an inner failed component, where the flow struggles to escape from the strong gravitational pull of the supermassive black hole. This FW component could provide a physical framework to interpret various phenomenological components of AGN. Here we briefly discuss a few of them: the broad line region, the X-ray obscurer, and the X-ray corona.

Reionization represents an important epoch in the history in the Universe, when the first stars and galaxies gradually ionize the neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM). Understanding the nature of the ionizing sources, the associated ionization of the IGM, and its impact on subsequent structure formation and galaxy evolution by means of radiative feedback effects, represent key outstanding questions in current astrophysics. High-redshift galaxy observations and simulations have significantly extended our knowledge on the nature of high-redshift galaxies. However, essential properties such as the escape fraction of ionizing photons from galaxies into the IGM and their dependency on galactic properties remain essentially unknown, but determine significantly the distribution and time evolution of the ionized regions during reionization. Analyzing this ionization topology by means of the neutral hydrogen sensitive 21cm signal with radio interferometers such as SKA offers a complementary and unique opportunity to determine the nature of these first galaxies. I will show results from a self-consistent semi-numerical model of galaxy evolution and reionization, and discuss the potential of inferring galactic properties with the 21cm signal as well as the impact of reionization on the high-redshift galaxy population and its evolution.

Increasing evidences suggest that the building blocks of Ca-Al-rich inclusions (CAIs) could have formed with the Sun, during the collapse of the parent cloud. However, determination of the relative age of CAIs relies on the homogeneous distribution of their short-lived radionuclide 26Al that is used as a chronometer. Some CAIs show evidence of 26Al/27 Al variation that is independent of decay.

We investigate the dynamical and chemical evolution of refractories from the collapsing cloud to their transport in the protoplanetary disk focusing to the predicted isotopic anomalies resulting from 26Al heterogeneities.

The interplay between the thermal properties of the dust, the isotopic zoning in the cloud and disk dynamics produce aggregates that resemble chondrites. An abrupt raise of 26Al close the center of the cloud followed by a plateau throughout the cloud best matches the observations. As a consequence, the 26Al -chronometer retains validity from the formation of canonical CAIs onward.

The growth of the Internet has facilitated the easy availability of resources for teaching astronomy and doing astronomy outreach. This overview concentrates on resources that are free or open access. Basic teaching materials like textbooks and lab activities can be found, along with higher level items such as concept inventories and interactive instructional tools. There is also a small but growing research literature on astronomy instruction to be found online. Astronomers engaged in outreach can have access to large image collections, tools for doing citizen science, and planetarium apps. These resources are of enormous value to both novice and seasoned instructors, and anyone conveying the excitement of astronomy to a public audience.

We present a new experimental setup called AROMA (The Aromatic Research of Organics with Molecular Analyzer) based on the use of laser mass spectrometry techniques. We demonstrate the potential of AROMA for the analysis of meteoritic samples and cosmic dust analogues. Tens of peaks are identified in the mass spectra with notable discrepancies across the different samples. These discrepancies provide clues on the chemical history of each sample and are not a bias of our analysis. A double bound-equivalent (DBE) method is applied to sort the detected carbonaceous molecules into families of compounds. It reveals in addition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the presence of other populations such as mixed aromatic-aliphatic species and carbon clusters.

We present the highlights from our recent study of 22 local (z < 0.025) type-1 LINERs from the Palomar Survey, on the basis of optical long-slit spectroscopic observations taken with TWIN/CAHA, ALFOSC/NOT and HST/STIS. Our goals were threefold: (a) explore the AGN-nature of these LINERs by studying the broad (BLR-originated) Hαλ 6563 component; (b) derive a reliable interpretation for the multiple narrow components of emission lines by studying their kinematics and ionisation mechanism (via standard BPTs); (c) probe the neutral gas in the nuclei of these LINERs for the first time. Hence, kinematics and fluxes of a set of emission lines, from Hβ λ4861 to [SII]λλ 716,6731, and the NaDλλ5890,5896 doublet in absorption have been modelled and measured, after the subtraction of the underlying light from the stellar component.

The new version of the White Dwarf Evolution Code (Bischoff-Kim & Montgomery 2018) overcomes limitations of earlier versions by utilizing MESA modules for the equations of state and opacities, now allowing regions of the model with a mix of helium, carbon, and oxygen. This single improvement allows us to almost exactly replicate models output by other stellar evolution codes. Armed with this new capability, we use as a star to fit, a hydrogen atmosphere white dwarf model from the La Plata group (using the LPCODE). We present results of fitting different subsets of periods for that model. This allows us some validation of our fitting methods, knowing exactly what properties we should be recovering in our best fit model.

Based on our modern 4D-var data assimilation pipeline Solar Predict we present in this short proceeding paper our prediction for the next solar cycle 25. As requested by the Solar Cycle 25 panel call issued on January 2019 by NOAA/SWPC and NASA, we predict the timing of next minimum and maximum as well as their amplitude. Our results are the following: the minimum should have occured within the first semester of year 2019. The maximum should occur in year 2024.4 ± 6 months, with a value of the sunspot number equal to 92±10. This is in agreement with the NOAA/NASA consensus published in April 2019. Note that our prediction errors are based on 1-σ measure and do not consider all the systematics, so they are likely underestimated. We will update our prediction and error analysis regularly as more data becomes available and we improve our prediction pipeline.

LSST and Euclid must address the daunting challenge of analyzing the unprecedented volumes of imaging and spectroscopic data that these next-generation instruments will generate. A promising approach to overcoming this challenge involves rapid, automatic image processing using appropriately trained Deep Learning (DL) algorithms. However, reliable application of DL requires large, accurately labeled samples of training data. Galaxy Zoo Express (GZX) is a recent experiment that simulated using Bayesian inference to dynamically aggregate binary responses provided by citizen scientists via the Zooniverse crowd-sourcing platform in real time. The GZX approach enables collaboration between human and machine classifiers and provides rapidly generated, reliably labeled datasets, thereby enabling online training of accurate machine classifiers. We present selected results from GZX and show how the Bayesian aggregation engine it uses can be extended to efficiently provide object-localization and bounding-box annotations of two-dimensional data with quantified reliability. DL algorithms that are trained using these annotations will facilitate numerous panchromatic data modeling tasks including morphological classification and substructure detection in direct imaging, as well as decontamination and emission line identification for slitless spectroscopy. Effectively combining the speed of modern computational analyses with the human capacity to extrapolate from few examples will be critical if the potential of forthcoming large-scale surveys is to be realized.

The objective of this paper is to carry out periodic orbital propagation and bifurcations detection around asteroid 433 Eros. Specifically, we propose to exploit a frequency-domain method, the harmonic balance method, as an efficient alternative to the usual time integration. The stability and bifurcations of the periodic orbits are also assessed thanks to the Floquet exponents. Numerous periodic orbits are found with various periods and shapes. Different bifurcations, including period doubling, tangent, real saddle and Neimark-Sacker bifurcations, are encountered during the continuation process. Resonance phenomena are highlighted as well.

We present an empirical model built on a high-resolution N-body dark matter simulation. We assume a redshift-independent star-formation efficiency for each halo to convert the accretion rate into a star-formation rate. Our model is calibrated using the z = 4 UV luminosity function (UVLF) and successfully predicts the observed UVLF at z = 5 – 10. We present predictions at z = 5 – 10 for UV luminosity and stellar mass functions, JWST number counts, the stellar-to-halo mass relation and star-formation histories. We combine this model with bleeding-edge reionization constraints (from z > 7 quasars, z ∼ 7 Ly α line-profiles, the updated Planck τ) to find new perspectives on the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). We find MUV < − 13.5 galaxies need an average fesc = 0.22 ± 0.05 to drive reionization and a highly compressed timeline: the IGM neutral fraction is [0.9, 0.5, 0.1] at z = [8.4 ± 0.2, 7.0 ± 0.2, 6.3 ± 0.2]. Inspired by the newly assembled sample of Lyman Continuum leakers that unanimously displays higher-than-average star-formation surface density (sigma), we fit a model tying fesc to sigma. Since sigma grows by > 2.5 dex over z = 0 – 8, our model explains the humble values of fesc at low-z. We find, strikingly, that < 5% of galaxies with MUV < − 18 account for > 80% of the reionization budget. We predict leakers like COLA1 (z = 6.6, MUV = − 21.5) become common towards the EoR and that the protagonists of reionization are not hiding across the faint-end of the luminosity function but are already known to us.