I briefly highlight the salient properties of modified-inertiaformulations of MOND, contrasting them with those ofmodified-gravity formulations, which describe practically alltheories propounded to date. Future data (e.g. the establishmentof the Pioneer anomaly as a new physics phenomenon) may prefer oneof these broad classes of theories over the other. I also outlinesome possible starting ideas for modified inertia.


Carbonaceous grains represent a major component of cosmic dust. The review will summarizenew results in laboratory investigations of carbonaceous dust components. Thenanometer-sized carbon particles are supposed to represent a blend of differentlystructured carbon including graphitic, diamond-like, fullerene-like and chain-likecomponents on a subnanometer or nanometer scale. Recent models used to explain thestructure of gas-phase condensed carbon nano-particles are discussed. Possible formationpathways of carbonaceous grains from molecular components and clusters and the role ofpolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and fullerenes are disclosed.

In this study, we are doing R&D for directional dark matter search with nuclear emulsion. First of all, higher resolution nuclear emulsion with fine silver halide crystals was developed in the production facility of emulsion at Nagoya university, and we confirmed that it can detect the expected nuclear recoil tracks. The readout of submicron tracks was required the new technology. We developed the expansion technique, and could readout the signal by shape analysis with optical microscopy. The two dimensional angular resolution is 36 degrees at the original track length of range from 150 nm to 200 nm with optical microscopy. Finally we demonstrated by using recoiled nuclei induced by 14.8 MeV neutron, and confirmed the technique. Moreover, we developed the X-ray microscope system with SPring-8 as final check with higher resolution of selected candidate tracks with optical microscopy. The angular resolution was improved from 31 degree with optical microscopy to 17 degree with X-ray microscopy at the track length of range from 150 nm to 250 nm. We are developing the practical system and planning for start of the test running with prototype detector.

As images and spectra from ISO and Spitzer have provided increasingly higher–fidelityrepresentations of the mid–infrared (MIR) and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH)emission from galaxies and galactic and extra–galactic regions, more systematic effortshave been devoted to establishing whether the emission in this wavelength region can beused as a reliable star formation rate indicator. This has also been in response to theextensive surveys of distant galaxies that have accumulated during the cold phase of theSpitzer Space Telescope. Results so far have been somewhat contradictory, reflecting thecomplex nature of the PAHs and of the mid–infrared–emitting dust in general. The two mainproblems faced when attempting to define a star formation rate indicator based on themid–infrared emission from galaxies and star–forming regions are: (1) the strongdependence of the PAH emission on metallicity; (2) the heating of the PAH dust by evolvedstellar populations unrelated to the current star formation. I review the status of thefield, with a specific focus on these two problems, and will try to quantify the impact ofeach on calibrations of the mid–infrared emission as a star formation rate indicator.

Astrometry as a technique has so far proved of limited utility when employed as either a follow-up tool or to independently search for planetary mass companions orbiting nearby stars. However, this is bound to change during the next decade. In this review, I start by summarizing past and present efforts to detect planets via milli-arcsecond astrometry. Next, I provide an overview of the variety of technical, statistical, and astrophysical challenges that must be met by future ground-based and space-borne efforts in order to achieve the required degree of astrometric measurement precision. Then, I discuss the planet-finding capabilities of future astrometric observatories aiming at micro-arcsecond precision, with a particular focus on their ability to fully describe multiple-component systems. I conclude by putting astrometry in context, illustrating its potential for important contributions to planetary science, as a complement to other indirect and direct methods for the detection and characterization of planetary systems.

Phase masks have numerous applications in astronomical optics, in particular related to two themes: coronagraphy for detection and analysis of extrasolar planets or circumstellar disks, and wavefront analysis for extremely precise adaptive optics systems or cophasing of segmented mirrors. I review some of the literature concerning phase masks and attempt to bridge the gap between two instrumental systems in which they are often found: the Mach-Zehnder interferometer and the coronagraph.

Studying exoplanets with their parent stars is crucial to understand their population, formation and history. We review some of the key questions regarding their evolution with particular emphasis on giant gaseous exoplanets orbiting close to solar-type stars. For masses above that of Saturn, transiting exoplanets have large radii indicative of the presence of a massive hydrogen-helium envelope. Theoretical models show that this envelope progressively cools and contracts with a rate of energy loss inversely proportional to the planetary age. The combined measurement of planetary mass, radius and a constraint on the (stellar) age enables a global determination of the amount of heavy elements present in the planet interior. The comparison with stellar metallicity shows a correlation between the two, indicating that accretion played a crucial role in the formation of planets. The dynamical evolution of exoplanets also depends on the properties of the central star. We show that the lack of massive giant planets and brown dwarfs in close orbit around G-dwarfs and their presence around F-dwarfs are probably tied to the different properties of dissipation in the stellar interiors. Both the evolution and the composition of stars and planets are intimately linked.

Physical dust models which include a PAH component are quite successful in reproducingthe measured extinction vs. wavelength in the Milky Way, the infrared(IR) emission observed from Milky Way regions and other galaxies, and a number of otherobservational constraints. Many of the adopted PAH properties are necessarily highlyidealized.

The observed variations in the 7.7 μm/11.3 μm bandratio can be reproduced by varying the PAH ionization balance. Changing the spectrum ofthe starlight heating the PAHs affects the overall strength of the PAH emission (relativeto total IR), but has relatively little effect on the 7.7 μm/11.3μm band ratio.

The astrometric mission GAIA will provide a flux limited census ofquasi stellar objects to V=20 mag. This paper addresses the mainphysical and observational properties of the quasars, the existingsurveys and the relevant statistical distributions of the compilationcatalogue of Véron-Cetty & Véron. Then I consider thedetection and recognition with GAIA which should be based on themulticolour photometry complemented by hints on the parallaxes andproper motions. In the last section I discuss the possibility tomaterialize directly in the optical the quasi-inertial frame to thesub-μas accuracy. It is shown that that with a clean sample of lessthan 10 000 quasars the residual spin of the GAIA reference framecan be determined to 0.5 μas yr-1.

The wealth of information in the Gaia catalogue of exoplanets will constitute afundamental contribution to several hot topics of the astrophysics of planetary systems. Ibriefly review the potential impact of Gaia micro-arsec astrometry in several areas ofexoplanet science, discuss what key follow-up observations might be required as acomplement to Gaia data, and shed some light on the role of next generation astrometricfacilities in the arena of planetary systems.

We use the NASA Ames Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) infrared spectroscopicdatabase to model infared emission of PAHs following absorption of a UV photon. Wecalculate emission spectra resulting from the full cooling cascade for each species in thedatabase. Using a least squares approach, we can find out what PAH mixtures best reproducea few typical astronomical observations representing the different classes of UIR spectra.We find that we can reproduce the observed UIR spectra in the wavelength range 6–14μm, offering support for the hypothesis that the UIR bands are indeeddue to vibrational modes of PAHs and related molecular species. Spectral decompositions ofour best fit models confirm and reinforce several earlier results: (i)the 6.2 μm band requires a significant contribution ofnitrogen-substituted PAHs (PANHs); (ii) the reported components and theirvariations in the 7.7 μm band are indicative of changes in the sizedistribution of the contributing molecules; (iii) there is a significantcontribution of anions to the 7.7 μm band; (iv) the 11.2μm band is due to large, neutral and pure PAHs; (v)the 11.0 μm band is due to large PAH cations.

We present the first results obtained at CFHT with the TRIDENT infrared camera, dedicated to the detection of faint companions close to bright nearby stars. The camera's main feature is the acquisition of three simultaneous images in three wavelengths (simultaneous differential imaging) across the methane absorption bandhead at 1.6 μm, that enables a precise subtraction of the primary star PSF while keeping the companion signal. The main limitation is non-common path aberrations between the three optical paths that slightly decorrelate the PSFs. Two types of PSF calibrations are combined with the differential simultaneous imaging technique to further attenuate the PSF: reference star subtraction and instrument rotation to smooth aberrations. It is shown that a faint companion with a ΔH of 10 magnitudes would be detected at 0.5" from the primary.

The ratio of DA to DB white dwarfs is temperature sensitive. No DBs are found between 45 000 K and 30 000 K, and this exclusion zone is known as the “DB gap”. A working hypothesis to explain the DB gap is proposed. Since the temperatures of the upper and the lower bounds of the DB gap coincide with the effective temperatures where the He II/III and He I/II convection zones show up respectively, convective mixing is suspected to be the cause of the appearance of DBs outside the DB gap. Inversely, chemical separation due to gravitational settling in the convectively stable atmosphere is suspected to be the cause of the presence of the DB gap. According to this scenario, the white dwarfs which will turn back to DBs after the DB gap phase are expected to have a superadiabatic layer which is nonetheless convectively stable due to chemical separation, when they are located near the lower bound of the DB gap. Such white dwarfs are expected to be pulsationally unstable.

Classical T Tauri stars are low mass young forming stars that are surrounded by a circumstellar accretion disc from which they gain mass. Despite this accretion and their own contraction that should both lead to their spin up, these stars seem to conserve instead an almost constant rotational period as long as the disc is maintained. Several scenarios have been proposed in the literature in order to explain this puzzling “disc-locking” situation: either deposition in the disc of the stellar angular momentum by the stellar magnetosphere or its ejection through winds, providing thereby an explanation of jets from Young Stellar Objects.

In this lecture, these various mechanisms will be critically detailed, from the physics of the star-disc interaction to the launching of self-confined jets (disc winds, stellar winds, X-winds, conical winds). It will be shown that no simple model can account alone for the whole bulk of observational data and that “disc locking” requires a combination of some of them.


We ask if Earth-like planets (terrestrial mass and habitable-zone orbit) can be detected in multi-planet systems, using astrometric and radial velocity observations. We report here the preliminary results of double-blind calculations designed to answer this question.


In this lecture I try to explain the basic dynamical processes atwork in a radiative zone of a rotating star. In particular, the notionof baroclinicity is thoroughtly discussed. Attention is speciallydirected to the case of circulations and the key role of angular momentumconservation is stressed. The specific part played by viscosity isalso explained. The old approach of Eddington and Sweet is reviewed andcriticized in the light of the seminal papers of Busse (1981) and Zahn (1992).Other examples taken in the recent literature are also presented;finally, I summarize the important points.

Strong gravitational lensing and stellar dynamics provide twocomplementary and orthogonal constraints on the density profiles ofgalaxies. Based on spherically symmetric, scale-free, mass models, itis shown that the combination of both techniques is powerful inbreaking the mass-sheet and mass-anisotropy degeneracies. Second, observational results are presented from the Lenses Structure & Dynamics(LSD) Survey and the Sloan Lens ACS (SLACS) Survey collaborations toillustrate this new methodology in constraining the dark and stellardensity profiles, and mass structure, of early-type galaxies toredshifts of unity.

The Sun has been known to rotate for more than 4 centuries, and evidence is also available through direct measurements, that almost all stars rotate. In this lecture, I will propose a review of the different physical processes associated to rotation that are expected to impact the evolution of stars. I will describe in detail the way these physical processes are introduced in 1D stellar evolution codes and how their introduction in the modelling has impacted our understanding of the internal structure, nucleosynthesis and global evolution of stars.

We present the results of comparing three different implementations of the microscopic diffusion process in the stellar evolution codes CESAM and CLES. For each of these implementations we computed models of 1.0, 1.2 and 1.3 M๏. We analyse the differences in their internal structure at three selected evolutionary stages, as well as the variations of helium abundance and depth of the stellar convective envelope. The origin of these differences and their effects on the seismic properties of the models are also considered.

Over the past forty years, investigations of radio recombinationlines have become an effective way of studying the interstellarmedium. The electron temperatures, densities, emission measures,kinematics parameters, elemental abundances and other physicalcharacteristics of emission processes in planetary nebulae,distributed ionized gas, stellar winds, the partially-ionizedinterstellar medium and external galaxies are determined with thelines of hydrogen, helium, carbon, etc. This astrophysicalphenomenon is unique because of the large (>1000) number ofpossible quantum transitions and because of the wide observablefrequency range (from ~150 GHz to ~10 MHz). In thisshort review the main results from recombination radio lineinvestigations are discussed. Special attention is given to theareas which have been given least attention in the literature suchas the radio recombination lines of very excited carbon atoms atthe extremely low-frequency (v < 30 MHz) end of the decameterwavelength range. This is important to stress in the 70-th jubileeof radio astronomy because cosmic radio emission was discovered byKarl Jansky at decameter wavelengths. Investigations of theextremely low-frequency radio recombination lines are also veryinteresting for the prospective LOFAR system.