The assumption of an equilibrium (Maxwellian) distribution of electron energies cannot explain observed high intensities of the Si XIId satellite lines relative to the Si XIII allowed lines during the flares. However, the presence of n-distribution with a higher and narrower shape than the Maxwellian one is able to explain this behavior. We calculated the ionization equilibrium for the non-thermal n-distributions using the latest atomic data for each element up to the proton number of 30. Significant changes in the shape and maxima of the ion abundance peak occur and can strongly influence the temperature diagnostics.

One of the most successful method in quantifying the structures in the Cosmic Web is the Minkowski Functionals. In 3D, there are four minkowski Functionals: Area, Volume, Integrated Mean Curvature and the Integrated Gaussian Curvature. For defining the Minkowski Functionals one should define a surface. We have developed a method based on Marching cube 33 algorithm to generate a surface from a discrete data sets. Next we calculate the Minkowski Functionals and Shapefinder from the triangulated polyhedral surface. Applying this methodology to different data sets , we obtain interesting results related to geometry, morphology and topology of the large scale structure

M105 in the Leo I Group is a textbook example of a standard elliptical galaxy. It is only one of the few elliptical galaxies for which we can study their stellar halos using the resolved stars. It is an ideal target to study the structure and composition of stellar halos in elliptical galaxies. We present photometry and metallicity of the resolved stars in the inner and outer regions of M105. These provide strong evidence that there are two distinct stellar halos in this galaxy, a metal-poor (blue) halo and a metal-rich (red) halo. Then we compare them with those in other early-type galaxies and use the dual halo mode formation scenario to describe how massive galaxies formed.

Massive black holes (MBHs) are nowadays recognized as integral parts of galaxy evolution. Both the approximate proportionality between MBH and galaxy mass, and the expected importance of feedback from active MBHs in regulating star formation in their host galaxies point to a strong interplay between MBHs and galaxies. MBHs must form in the first galaxies and be fed by gas in these galaxies, with continuous or intermittent inflows that, at times, can be larger than the Eddington rate. Feedback from supernovae and from the MBHs themselves modulates the growth of the first MBHs. While current observational data only probe the most massive and luminous MBHs, the tip of the iceberg, we will soon be able to test theoretical models of MBH evolution on more “normal” MBHs: the MBHs that are indeed relevant in building the population that we observe in local galaxies, including our own Milky Way.

The Monχey project will provide a large and homogeneous set of stellar yields for the low- and intermediate- mass stars and has applications particularly to galactic chemical evolution modelling. We describe our detailed grid of stellar evolutionary models and corresponding nucleosynthetic yields for stars of initial mass 0.8 M⊙ up to the limit for core collapse supernova (CC-SN) ≈ 10 M⊙. Our study covers a broad range of metallicities, ranging from the first, primordial stars (Z = 0) to those of super-solar metallicity (Z = 0.04). The models are evolved from the zero-age main-sequence until the end of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and the nucleosynthesis calculations include all elements from H to Bi. A major innovation of our work is the first complete grid of heavy element nucleosynthetic predictions for primordial AGB stars as well as the inclusion of extra-mixing processes (in this case thermohaline) during the red giant branch. We provide a broad overview of our results with implications for galactic chemical evolution as well as highlight interesting results such as heavy element production in dredge-out events of super-AGB stars. We briefly introduce our forthcoming web-based database which provides the evolutionary tracks, structural properties, internal/surface nucleosynthetic compositions and stellar yields. Our web interface includes user- driven plotting capabilities with output available in a range of formats. Our nucleosynthetic results will be available for further use in post processing calculations for dust production yields.

Current star-forming galaxies (SFGs) with CO measurements at z ~ 2 suffer from a bias toward high star formation rates (SFR) and high stellar masses (M*). It is yet essential to extend the CO measurements to the more numerous z ~ 2 SFGs with LIR < L⋆ = 4× 1011 L⊙ and M* < 2.5× 1010 M⊙. We have achieved CO, stars, and dust measurements in 8 such sub-L⋆ SFGs with the help of gravitational lensing. Combined with CO-detected galaxies from the literature, we find that the LIR, L′CO(1−0) data are best-fitted with a single relation that favours a universal star formation. This picture emerges because of the enlarged star formation efficiency spread of the current z>1 SFGs sample. We show that this spread is mostly triggered by the combination of redshift, specific SFR, and M*. Finally, we find evidence for a non-universal dust-to-gas ratio (DGR) with a clear trend for a lower DGR mean in z>1 SFGs by a factor of 2 with respect to local galaxies and high-redshift sub-mm galaxies at fixed about solar metallicity.

In its prime state, DATA is a Latin word meaning “[things] given”, a plural noun derived from the verb “To Give”. Its singular form is DATUM. Modern conversation equates DATA with “Information”, while modern philosophies on information management are getting entwined with parallel philosophies on knowledge management. In some ways that is a positive development, and is greatly assisted by Open Access and Internet policies, but in others it is more detrimental, by threatening to blur the essential distinction between objectivity and subjectivity in our science. We examine that essential distinction from the view-points of observers, authors (and publishers), and database managers, and suggest where, when and how the distinctiveness of their fundamental contributions to the communication and validation of research results should be respected and upheld.

Two-armed grand-design spirals may form if the shape of its dark matter halo changes abruptly enough. The feasibility of such a mechanism is tested in realistic simulations. The interplay of such externally-driven spirals and self-induced transient spirals is then studied. Subhaloes are also found to lead to transient grand-design spiral structures when they impact the disk.

The gender† dimension of science and technology has become one of the most important and debated issues worldwide, impacting society at every level. A variety of international initiatives on the subject have been undertaken, including the continued monitoring of the status of women in science by Unesco Institute for Statistics (UIS) or the annual reports “Education at a Glance” by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as well as field-related working groups and networking in order to collect data in a consistent manner. The majority of the international organizations have made clear statements about their discrimination policies (independently of their main field(s) of action), including the International Council for Science whose regulations are followed by the IAU. Gender equality at large is one of the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which clearly calls for action related to science, technology and gender.

We present a snapshot of our ongoing investigation of molecular clouds in Clump 2 located in the Galactic Bar region at a projected distance of ~400pc from the Galactic Center. We show that the analysis of the Clump 2 molecular clouds is complicated because of many fore- and background clouds in the line of sight. Of all clouds, IGGC 22 is the most interesting one, showing very high dust column densities, significant high-J CO emission, and, potentially harbors star formations as eluded to by the detection of [OIII] emission.

One of the main goals in cosmology is to understand how the Universe evolves, how it forms structures, why it expands, and what is the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Next decade large and expensive observational projects will bring information on the structure and the distribution of many millions of galaxies at different redshifts enabling us to make great progress in answering these questions. However, these data require a very special and complex set of analysis tools to extract the maximum valuable information. Statistical inference techniques are being developed, bridging the gaps between theory, simulations, and observations. In particular, we discuss the efforts to address the question: What is the underlying nonlinear matter distribution and dynamics at any cosmic time corresponding to a set of observed galaxies in redshift space?

An accurate reconstruction of the initial conditions encodes the full phase-space information at any later cosmic time (given a particular structure formation model and a set of cosmological parameters). We present advances to solve this problem in a self-consistent way with Big Data techniques of the Cosmic Web.

The assembly of the halo yields fundamental information on the formation and evolution of galaxies: this was quite exhaustively discussed at this very important symposium. I present a brief personal summary of the meeting, outlining those points that I found more exciting and suggestive. I also remarked a few areas that were possibly not enough expanded. I found this research field extremely interesting and I think there are great expectations for new developments in the next few years, thanks to the new large spectroscopic surveys and the ESA GAIA satellite.

We explore the possibility that a substantial fraction of the positrons observed to annihilate in the central region of our Galaxy come from the supermassive black hole Sgr A* that lies at the center. This idea was proposed by several authors, but the propagation of the emitted positrons into the bulge and beyond remained a serious problem for models of the origin of GC positrons.

We assume models of positron production with different energies. The propagation of positrons from their production site is followed in detail with Monte-Carlo simulations, taking into account the physical conditions of the propagation regions as well as various physical interactions. Using the known physics of positron annihilation in astrophysical environments, we calculate the properties of the annihilation emission (time evolution and spatial distribution) for the different models under consideration.

We present the results of these simulations and the conclusions/constraints that can be inferred from them.

This paper briefly reviews some advances and unsolved problems related to the formation of cosmic dust in the evolved environments of AGB stars and supernovae.

While one of the IAU's missions is to “serve as the internationally recognized authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and surface features on them” (†), the participation of the public in the naming of celestial objects has been a little-known, but decade-long tradition of the IAU.

We derived a revised expression for the tidal radius, which is a theoretical boundary of a satellite orbiting a host. Our expression properly takes into account possible rotation of the satellite. We verified our predictions against simulations and obtained satisfactory agreement.

We present an updated status of the EDGE project, which is a survey of 125 local galaxies in the 12CO(1−0) and 13CO(1−0) lines. We combine the molecular data of the EDGE survey with the stellar and ionized gas maps of the CALIFA survey to give a comprehensive view of the dependence of the star formation efficiency, or equivalently, the molecular gas depletion time, on various local environments, such as the stellar surface density, metallicity, and radius from the galaxy center. This study will provide insight into the parameters that drive the star formation efficiency in galaxies at z ~ 0.

Kepler observations show that starspots and superflares are present in A stars. An analysis of Kepler short-cadence data shows that the relative number of A/F flare stars is only a factor of four smaller than K/M flare stars, which can be explained as a selection effect. The average maximum flare amplitude does not depend much on spectral type, which is to be expected if the size of the active region scales in proportion to the stellar radius. The presence of starspots and superflares in A stars suggests that these stars have magnetic fields. However, X-ray observations show that A stars do not possess coronae. I therefore conclude that convection in the stellar envelope is a necessary condition for the formation of the corona. A magnetic field may be necessary to enable coronal heating.

The existence of black holes with masses of about one billion solar masses in quasars at redshifts z > 6 presents significant challenges to theories of the formation and growth of black holes and the black hole/galaxy co-evolution in the early Universe. Here we report a recent discovery of an ultra-luminous quasar at redshift z = 6.30, which has an observed optical and near-infrared luminosity a few times greater than those of previously known z > 6 quasars. With near-infrared spectroscopy, we obtain a black hole mass of about 12 billion solar masses, which is well consistent with the mass derived by assuming an Eddington-limited accretion. This ultra-luminous quasar with at z > 6 provides a unique laboratory to the study of the mass assembly and galaxy formation around the most massive black holes at cosmic dawn. It raises further challenges to the black hole/galaxy co-evolution in the epoch of cosmic reionization because the black hole needs to grow much faster than the host galaxy.