We measure the flux values in the 4 Spitzer-IRAC bands, of a sample of 78 isolated luminous HII regions in the grand design galaxy M100. We estimate the near-IR luminosities and compare them with the Hα-luminosities from the Knapen HII-region catalogue. We find a strong, and expected positive correlation between the total IR luminosity and the Hα luminosity, but no significant correlation between the luminosity and the IR temperature of the regions.

We study radio emission from pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) considering the observed spatial structure. We assume spherical symmetry of the PWN, and model the evolution of the magnetic field and the particle energy distribution. We do not consider the synchrotron cooling of particles but consider the adiabatic cooling, because we are mostly interested in the radio emission from PWNe. The model is applied to the Crab Nebula and succeeds to reproduce the observed spatially integrated spectrum in radio with a single power-law injection. In our previous work (a one-zone model), in contrast, the integrated spectrum of the Crab Nebula is reproduced by a broken power-law injection of particles. However, the spatial structure in radio is inconsistent with observations and we need a radial velocity profile which is very different from the model by Kennel & Coroniti. Further studies of the spatial structure of PWNe are important to understand the origin of the radio emission from young PWNe.

We report on the progress of our five-year program for astrometric monitoring of magnetars using high-resolution NIR observations using the laser guide star adaptive optics (LGS-AO) supported NIRC2 camera on the 10-meter Keck telescope. We have measured the proper motion of two of the youngest magnetars, SGR 1806–20 and SGR 1900+14, which have counterparts with K ~21 mag, and have placed a preliminary upper limit on the motion of the young AXP 1E 1841–045. The precision of the proper motion measurement is at the milliarcsecond per year level. Our proper motion measurements now provide evidence to link SGR 1806–20 and SGR 1900+14 with neighboring young star clusters. At the distances of these magnetars, their proper motion corresponds to transverse space velocities of 350 ± 100 km s−1 and 130 ± 30 km s−1 respectively. The upper limit on the proper motion of AXP 1E 1841–045 is 160 km s−1. With the sample of proper motions available, we conclude that the kinematics of the magnetar family are not distinct from that of pulsars.

We investigate the optical variability of 7658 quasars from SDSS Stripe 82. Taking advantage of a larger sample and relatively more data points for each quasar, we estimate variability amplitudes and divide the sample into small bins of redshift, rest-frame wavelength, black hole mass, Eddington ratio, and bolometric luminosity, respectively, to investigate the relationships between variability and these parameters. An anti-correlation between variability and rest-frame wavelength is found. The variability amplitude of radio-quiet quasars shows almost no cosmological evolution, but that of radio-loud ones may weakly anti-correlate with redshift. In addition, variability increases as either luminosity or Eddington ratio decreases. However, the relationship between variability and black hole mass is uncertain; it is negative when the influence of Eddington ratio is excluded, but positive when the influence of luminosity is excluded. The intrinsic distribution of variability amplitudes for radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars are different. Both radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars exhibit a bluer-when-brighter chromatism. Assuming that quasar variability is caused by variations of accretion rate, the Shakura–Sunyaev disk model can reproduce the tendencies of observed correlations between variability and rest-frame wavelength, luminosity as well as Eddington ratio, supporting that changes of accretion rate play an important role in producing the observed optical variability. However, the predicted positive correlation between variability and black hole mass seems to be inconsistent with the observed negative correlation between them in small bins of Eddington ratio, which suggests that other physical mechanisms may still need to be considered in modifying the simple accretion disk model.

It was once widely believed that planets formed peacefully in situ in their proto-planetary disks and subsequently remain in place. Instead, growing evidence suggests that many giant planets undergo dynamical rearrangement that results in planets migrating inward in the disk, far from their birthplaces. However, it remains debated whether this migration is caused by smooth planet-disk interactions or violent multi-body interactions. Both classes of model can produce Jupiter-mass planets orbiting within 0.1 AU of their host stars, also known as hot Jupiters. In the latter class of model, another planet or star in the system perturbs the Jupiter onto a highly eccentric orbit, which tidal dissipation subsequently shrinks and circularizes during close passages to the star. We assess the prevalence of smooth vs. violent migration through two studies. First, motivated by the predictions of Socrates et al. (2012), we search for super-eccentric hot Jupiter progenitors by using the “photoeccentric effect” to measure the eccentricities of Kepler giant planet candidates from their transit light curves. We find a significant lack of super- eccentric proto-hot Jupiters compared to the number expected, allowing us to place an upper limit on the fraction of hot Jupiters created by stellar binaries. Second, if both planet-disk and multi-body interactions commonly cause giant planet migration, physical properties of the proto-planetary environment may determine which is triggered. We identify three trends in which giant planets orbiting metal rich stars show signatures of planet-planet interactions: (1) gas giants orbiting within 1 AU of metal-rich stars have a range of eccentricities, whereas those orbiting metal- poor stars are restricted to lower eccentricities; (2) metal-rich stars host most eccentric proto-hot Jupiters undergoing tidal circularization; and (3) the pile-up of short-period giant planets, missing in the Kepler sample, is a feature of metal-rich stars and is largely recovered for giants orbiting metal-rich Kepler host stars. These two studies suggest that both disk migration and planet-planet interactions may be widespread, with the latter occurring primarily in metal-rich planetary systems where multiple giant planets can form. Funded by NSF-GRFP DGE-1144152.

We used UV-to-IR archival data to investigate the nature of the giant spiral galaxy, NGC 6872, 65 Mpc away. It belongs to the southern Pavo group and is interacting with a small lenticular galaxy, IC4970. GALEX UV images show a very large part of the galaxy not seen before, making it one of the largest spiral galaxies known, with a physical size greater than 150 kpc. The SED of 17 regions (10 kpc of diameter) across the two arms show a remarkable spatial distribution, as if they were mirror images with respect to their stellar population. However, the last 40 kpc of the northeastern arm are much bluer than any other region of the southwestern one. There is a strong spatial correlation between the NUV luminosity and the distance to the nucleus. The UV data supports the scenario of an interaction at 130 Myr which triggered star formation all over the disk of NGC 6872. The tip of the northeastern arm resembles a tidal dwarf galaxy in the process of formation.

We measured the spin-orbit misalignment for WASP-79b, a transiting hot Jupiter from the WASP survey. Using the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect during the transit event, we determined the sky-projected obliquity to be λ = −106+10−8○. This result indicates that the planet is in a nearly polar orbit.

Using an evolutionary population synthesis code, we modeled the global emission of X-ray binaries in late-type galaxies, its relations with other physical properties (i.e., optical luminosity, stellar mass, etc.) of the galaxies, and their evolution with redshift over the cosmic history, which may be investigated further by future high-resolution X-ray and optical observations.

Extragalactic giant HII regions (EGHRs) are sites of active, concentrated star formation, and thus provide excellent labs to analyze the starburst phenomenon. Although they have been known for a long time, ground-based observations cannot resolve the physical structures and stellar content of EGHRs. The high resolution and sensitivity of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) are ideal for detailed studies of EGHRs. We have searched the Hubble Legacy Archives (HLA) and found 17 nearby galaxies, within ∼15 Mpc, with Hα and continuum images; to determine the best methods for analyzing these data, we perform an in-depth analysis of the EGHRs in M51. M51 is a face-on spiral galaxy ∼8.4 Mpc away, with well-resolved multi-wavelength observations in the HLA. We sample the 25 most luminous HII regions in M51, many of which are bonafide EGHRs with an H-alpha luminosity > 1039 ergs s−1. We use the Hα image to study the distribution and physical structure of the gas in each HII region and determine its Hα luminosity and required ionizing flux. We use the continuum images to determine whether super stellar clusters (SSCs) are found in these HII regions, and use photometric measurements to determine the mass and age spread of the resolved stellar population. These are then compared with the interstellar structures. The results help us provide the groundwork for studying EGHRs in multiple galaxies and elucidate the starburst phenomenon by investigating questions such as: What role does environment play in the formation of EGHRs? How do EGHRs evolve? How does star formation proceed in an EGHR?

The X-ray dim isolated neutron stars (XDINSs) are peculiar pulsar-like objects, characterized by their very well Planck-like spectrum. In studying their spectral energy distributions, the optical/UV excess is a long standing problem. Recently, Kaplan et al. (2011) have measured the optical/UV excess for all seven sources, which is understandable in the resonant cyclotron scattering (RCS) model previously addressed. The RCS model calculations show that the RCS process can account for the observed optical/UV excess for most sources. The flat spectrum of RX J2143.0+0654 may due to contribution from bremsstrahlung emission of the electron system in addition to the RCS process.

IU Persei (IU Per) is an eclipsing semi detached (SD) binary with pulsating component (oscillating eclipsing Algol - oEA). Using our ground base photometry in Johnson's B and V filters and INTEGRAL/OMC (Optical Monitoring Camera) data in V filter we introduce the model of this system. We determined the (O - C) diagram behavior. Moreover, the short term variations of the light curve were detected. Whats more, we obtained residua, by comparison of observational and synthetic light curves (LC), of which the detailed period analysis enabled to characterize and localize their source, that can be explained as the pulsation activity of the primary component. The secondary, less massive component, is beyond the instability belt on H-R diagram and fulfills its Roche lobe. The accreting primary component pulsates in modes typical for the δ Scuti stars.

The key point of studying AXPs/SGRs (anomalous X-ray pulsars/soft gamma-ray repeaters) is relevant to the energy budget. Historically, rotation was thought to be the only free energy of pulsar until the discovery of accretion power in X-ray binaries. AXPs/SGRs could be magnetars if they are magnetism-powered, but would alternatively be quark-star/fallback-disk systems if more and more observations would hardly be understood in the magnetar scenario.

We use the code CIGALE (Code Investigating Galaxies Emission: Burgarella et al. 2005; Noll et al. 2009) which provides physical information about galaxies by fitting their UV (ultraviolet)-to-IR (infrared) spectral energy distribuition (SED). CIGALE is based on the use of a UV-optical stellar SED plus a dust IR-emitting component. We study a sample of 136 Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs) at z∼0.7 in the ECDF-S previously studied in Giovannoli et al. (2011). We focus on the way the empirical Dale & Helou (2002) templates reproduce the observed SEDs of the LIRGs. Fig. 1 shows the total infrared luminosity (LIR) provided by CIGALE using the 64 templates (x axis) and using 2 templates (y axis) representative of the whole sample. Despite the larger dispersion when only 1 or 2 Herschel data are available, the agreement between both values is good with Δ log LIR = 0.0013 ± 0.045 dex. We conclude that 2 IR SEDs can be used alone to determine the LIR of LIRGs at z∼0.7 in an SED-fitting procedure.

We use the super-Earth 55 Cnc e (Fischer et al. 2008) as a case-study to address an observable effect of tidal heating. This transiting short-period planet belongs to a compact multiple system with massive planets. We investigate whether planet-planet interactions can force the eccentricity of this planet to a level that would affect the eclipse depth observed with Spitzer.

We have analyzed the physical implications of Fermi observations of magnetars. Observationally, no significant detection is reported in Fermi observations of all magnetars. Then there are conflicts between outer gap model in the case of magnetars and Fermi observations. One possible explanation is that magnetars are wind braking instead of magnetic dipole braking. In the wind braking scenario, magnetars are neutron stars with strong multipole field. A strong dipole field is no longer required. A magnetism-powered pulsar wind nebula and a braking index smaller than three are the two predictions of wind braking of magnetars. Future deeper Fermi observations will help us make clear whether they are wind braking or magnetic dipole braking. It will also help us to distinguish between the magnetar model and the accretion model for AXPs and SGRs.

We show that the dispersion in the Schmidt-Kennicutt (SK) law in galaxies is affected significantly by the evolutionary stage of star forming molecular gas, using narrow band Paα imaging of Taffy I, an interacting pair of galaxies. Star forming regions in the system show very uniform ages except for the bridge region, and the SK law of regions at the same age show a exceptionally tight SK law.

CARMENES (Calar Alto high-Resolution search for M dwarfs with Exo-earths with Near-infrared and optical Echelle Spectrographs) will conduct a radial-velocity survey of ~ 300 M dwarfs with the 3.5m telescope at the Calar Alto Observatory. The CARMENES instrument is currently under construction; it consists of two independent échelle spectrographs, which together cover the wavelength range 0.55 – 1.7μm at a spectral resolution of R = 82,000. The spectrographs and the fiber input are designed with a goal of 1m/s radial velocity precision using simultaneous calibration with emission-line lamps.

In this work, by using the VLA archive data, we present the arcsecond scale structure and radio spectrum properties of six UHBLs, which were selected from Nieppola et al. 2006 , including all the UHBLs available with VLA archive data at L, C, X band. Our preliminary result shows that spectrum of UHBLs seems to be steeper than normal HBLs.

A full appreciation of the role played by gas metallicity (Z), star-formation rate (SFR), and stellar mass (M*) is fundamental to understanding how galaxies form and evolve. Using data from the SDSS–DR7 and the GAMA surveys we study the Fundamental Plane for star-forming galaxies. Our analysis allows us to confirm the existence of a Fundamental Plane, for which stellar mass = f(Z, SFR) in star-forming galaxies.

The kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (kHz QPOs) have been found in neutron star low mass X-ray binaries (NS-LMXBs), which present the millisecond timing phenomena close to the surface of the compact objects. We briefly summarize the following contents: (1). The correlations and distributions of twin kHz QPOs; (2). The relations of high-low frequency QPOs; (3). The QPO properties of NS Atoll and Z sources; (4). No clear direct correlations between NS spins and QPOs; (5). The mechanisms of kHz QPOs; (6). The implications of kHZ QPOs, e.g., NS mass and radius, disk thickness and magnetic field of Atoll and Z source.