Very strong evidence suggests that Sagittarius A*, a compact radio source at the center of the Milky Way, marks the position of a super massive black hole. The proximity of Sgr A* in combination with its mass makes its apparent event horizon the largest of any black hole candidate in the universe and presents us with a unique opportunity to observe strong-field GR effects. Recent millimeter very long baseline interferometric observations of Sgr A* have demonstrated the existence of structures on scales comparable to the Schwarzschild radius. These observations already provide strong evidence in support of the existence of an event horizon. (Sub)Millimeter VLBI observations in the near future will combine the angular resolution necessary to identify the overall morphology of quiescent emission, such as an accretion disk or outflow, with a fine enough time resolution to detect possible periodicity in the variable component of emission. In the next few years, it may be possible to identify the spin of the black hole in Sgr A*, either by detecting the periodic signature of hot spots at the innermost stable circular orbit or parameter estimation in models of the quiescent emission. Longer term, a (sub)millimeter VLBI “Event Horizon Telescope” will be able to produce images of the Galactic center emission to the see the silhouette predicted by general relativistic lensing. These techniques are also applicable to the black hole in M87, where black hole spin may be key to understanding the jet-launching region.

Whereas the identification of existing or potential observatory sites was an important part of the report for the first three years of existence of Commission 50, during the period 1976-78 the emphasis has been mostly on establishing recommendations for the protection of observing conditions.

Mass loss can affect the evolution of binaries in various ways, during different stages of the evolution.

1. For massive stars stellar wind mass loss will change the masses of the components during their main sequence evolution.

2. During the Roche lobe overflow phase (or tidal interaction phase) matter can leave the system.

3. For low mass stars matter can leave the system during the mass exchange phase and can be stored in envelopes, disks or rings.

4. Sufficiently massive stars(>8-15M0) undergo at the end of their life a supernova explosion, where most of the matter is blown away and a compact object, a neutron star or a black hole can be left.

5. For intermediate stars one of the components can evolve into a degenerate He or CO dwarf; a reverse mass transfer can dump matter on this degenerate dwarf. If the conditions are favorable the white dwarf can explode with loss of matter, and a neutron star can be the result.

6. The chemical abundances in the outer layers change.

Luminous extragalactic masers are traditionally referred to as the ‘megamasers’. Those produced by water molecules are associated with accretion disks, radio jets, or outflows in the nuclear regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN). The majority of OH maser sources are instead driven by intense star formation in ultra-luminous infrared galaxies, although in a few cases the OH maser emission traces rotating (toroidal or disk) structures around the nuclear engines of AGN. Thus, detailed maser studies provide a fundamental contribution to our knowledge of the main nuclear components of AGN, constitute unique tools to measure geometric distances of host galaxies, and have a great impact on probing the, so far, paradigmatic Unified Model of AGN.

The magnetic field vectors derived from the Hanle effect measured in prominences during the ascending phase and maximum of Cycle 21 have been plotted on the corresponding synoptic maps of Meudon Observatory (e.g., Figure 2). Most of these measurements have been performed in a single line, He I D3. Our previous analysis of 2-line measurements have already proven that prominence magnetic fields have Inverse polarity (Bommier et al. 1994) and remain close to the horizontal plane (Bommier et al. 1986, 1994). We also found earlier that the field component along the filament axis shows a remarkable large scale pattern, especially at high latitudes (Leroy et al. 1983). Given the geometry of horizontal Inverse field, we reinvestigate this large scale organization through our complete set of observations (296 prominences). These new maps fully confirm and extend to medium latitudes the law of reversal of the axial field from one prominence band to the adjacent ones (see Figure 2). This behavior, together with the Inverse polarity pattern, gives a picture consistent with a North-South global field distorted by the differential rotation (see Figure 3).

The present status of our knowledge concerning the production of gamma-ray lines and continuum during the impulsive phase of solar flares is reviewed. Our data in this field is based solely on the OSO-7 observations made in 1972, August 4 and August 7. The experimental data will be reviewed. These observations along with theoretical work of Ramaty and Lingenfelter (1973a, b) and the charged secondary observations of the Chicago group (Anglin et al., 1973) lead to the investigation of different hypothetical models to explain the production of neutral and charged secondaries in the solar atmosphere. At the present time it is not possible to rule out the preflare and postflare accumulation models if all the data is considered. We will discuss the outstanding experimental questions to be answered in future investigations.

Magnetic helicity (H) is an ideal magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) invariant that quantifies the twist and linkage of magnetic field lines. In magnetofluids with low resistivity, H decays much less than the energy, and it is almost conserved during times shorter than the global diffusion timescale. The extended solar corona (i.e., the heliosphere) is one of the physical scenarios where H is expected to be conserved. The amount of H injected through the photospheric level can be reorganized in the corona, and finally ejected in flux ropes to the interplanetary medium. Thus, coronal mass ejections can appear as magnetic clouds (MCs), which are huge twisted flux tubes that transport large amounts of H through the solar wind. The content of H depends on the global configuration of the structure, then, one of the main difficulties to estimate it from single spacecraft in situ observations (one point - multiple times) is that a single spacecraft can only observe a linear (one dimensional) cut of the MC global structure. Another serious difficulty is the intrinsic mixing between its spatial shape and its time evolution that occurs during the observation period. However, using some simple assumptions supported by observations, the global shape of some MCs can be unveiled, and the associated H and magnetic fluxes (F) can be estimated. Different methods to quantify H and F from the analysis of in situ observations in MCs are presented in this review. Some of these methods consider a MC in expansion and going through possible magnetic reconnections with its environment. We conclude that H seems to be a ‘robust’ MHD quantity in MCs, in the sense that variations of H for a given MC deduced using different methods, are typically lower than changes of H when a different cloud is considered. Quantification of H and F lets us constrain models of coronal formation and ejection of flux ropes to the interplanetary medium, as well as of the dynamical evolution of MCs in the solar wind.

Stationary axisymmetric magnetic fields are expelled from outer horizons of black holes as they become extremal. Extreme black holes exhibit Meissner effect also within exact Einstein–Maxwell theory and in string theories in higher dimensions. Since maximally rotating black holes are expected to be astrophysically most important, the expulsion of the magnetic flux from their horizons represents a potential threat to an electromagnetic mechanism launching the jets at the account of black-hole rotation.

We show the utility of the Systematic Ranging technique by analyzing the orbit determination of asteroid 2004 FU$_{162}$, which passed approximately 6400 km from the surface of the Earth on March 31, 2004. The limited observations introduce strong nonlinearities that must be accounted for when estimating the actual encounter distance.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

By observing the transits of exoplanets, one may determine many fundamental system parameters. I review current techniques and results for the parameters that can be measured with the greatest precision, specifically, the transit times, the planetary mass and radius, and the projected spin-orbit angle.

There is overwhelming evidence that the Milky Way has formed its stars at a relatively constant rate throughout the Hubble time. This implies that its stock of cold gas was not in place since the beginning but it has been acquired slowly through gas accretion. The gas accretion must have been at low metallicity in order to reconcile the metallicities observed in the disc with the predictions of chemical evolution models. But how does this gas accretion take place? I review the current evidence of gas accretion into the Milky Way and similar galaxies through the infall of cold gas clouds and satellites. The conclusion from these studies is that the infalling gas at high column densities observed in HI emission is a least one order of magnitude below the value required to sustain star formation, thus accretion must come from a different channel. The likely reservoir for gas accretion is the cosmological corona of virial-temperature gas in which every galaxy must be embedded. At the interface between the disc and the corona the cold high-metallicity disc gas and the hot coronal medium must mix efficiently and this mixing causes the cooling and accretion of the lower corona. I show how this mechanism reproduces the kinematics of the neutral extraplanar gas in the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies and the ionised high-velocity clouds observed in HST spectra. I conclude with the speculation that the loss in efficiency of the disc-corona interaction is the ultimate cause for the evolution of disc galaxies towards the red sequence.

Sample return missions offer opportunities to learn things about other objects in our Solar System (and beyond) that cannot be determined by observations using in situ spacecraft. This is largely because the returned samples can be studied in terrestrial laboratories where the analyses are not limited by the constraints - power, mass, time, precision, etc. - imposed by normal spacecraft operations. In addition, the returned samples serve as a scientific resource that is available far into the future; the study of the samples can continue long after the original spacecraft mission is finished. This means the samples can be continually revisited as both our scientific understanding and analytical techniques improve with time.

These advantages come with some additional difficulties, however. In particular, sample return missions must deal with the additional difficulties of proximity operations near the objects they are to sample, and they must be capable of successfully making a round trip between the Earth and the sampled object. Such missions therefore need to take special precautions against unique hazards and be designed to successfully complete relatively extended mission durations.

Despite these difficulties, several recent missions have managed to successfully complete sample returns from a number of Solar System objects. These include the Stardust mission (samples from Comet 81P/Wild 2), the Hayabusa mission (samples from asteroid 25143 Itokawa), and the Genesis mission (samples of solar wind). This paper will review the advantages and difficulties of sample return missions in general and will summarize some key findings of the recent Stardust and Hayabusa missions.

An inelastic collision integral is used in a Boltzmann-type equation for a distribution of particles in Kepler orbits. A Fokker-Planck equation is found that leads to radial density clustering.

We report new, as yet unpublished HST/WFPC2 V, I photometry of 9 globular clusters in M31. These are part of a total sample of 19 clusters on M31 with well observed CMDs from HST. The clusters have the full range of horizontal branch morphologies from blue HB to red clump, but none are found with an extreme (blue only) horizontal branch. Plots of HB type vs [Fe/H] are similar to those of Galactic clusters, including a hint of second parameter clusters. Sixteen halo fields adjacent to the observed clusters included in our images have been analysed. The M31 halo metallicity distribution peaks at [Fe/H]=-0.7 dex with a tail toward low metallicity, resembling the halo of NGC 5128; metal-rich giants appear to be centrally concentrated.

We consider the effect of the solar cycle on g-mode parametric resonance, and hence on the limiting amplitude of the overstable solar g1(ℓ = 1) mode. We find no change in the expected limiting amplitude from that found by Dziembowski (1983), who ignored cycle variations.

The extremely powerful compact radio nucleus of NGC1275 is perhaps the most complex structure seen at milliarcsecond scales. Early attempts to determine its structure (Schilizzi et al. 1975) were unsuccessful, although it was evident that the structure consisted of several bright regions whose relative positions remained fixed while their intensities varied. Later observations and analysis (Pauliny-Toth et al. 1976; Preuss et al. 1979) confirmed this inference and revealed a slow expansion in a direction transverse to the primary axis of alignment.

We briefly review the main problems related to the computation of the evolution of intermediate-mass stars: the treatment of turbulent convection and the occurrence of blue loops during the core He-burning phase. It is shown that, in order to obtain more accurate and reliable stellar models for this class of stars, one has to consider all possible theoretical and observational constraints. These include observations of low-mass stars to constrain the treatment of envelope convection, and the analysis of the pulsational behaviour of Cepheid stars.

Planetary nebulae are formed by an interacting winds process where the remnant of the AGB wind is compressed and accelerated by a later-developed fast wind from the central star. One-dimensional dynamical models have successfully explained the multi-shell (bubble, shell, crown, haloes) structures and the kinematics of planetary nebulae. However, the origin of the diverse asymmetric morphology of planetary nebulae is still not understood. Recent observations in the visible, infrared, and the submillimeter have suggested that the AGB mass loss becomes aspherical in the very late stages, forming an expanding torus around the star. A fast, highly collimated wind then emerges in the polar directions and carves out a cavity in the AGB envelope to form a bipolar nebula. Newly discovered structures such as concentric arcs, 2-D rings, multiple lobes, and point-symmetric structures suggest that both the slow and fast winds may have temporal and directional variations, and precession can play a role in the shaping of planetary nebulae. In this paper, we review the latest observations of planetary nebulae and proto-planetary nebulae and discuss the various physical mechanisms (rotation, binary, magnetic field, etc) that could lead to the observed morphologies.

Large Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) are closely associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The significant correlation observed between SEP intensity and CME speed has been considered as the evidence for such a close connection. The recent finding that SEP events with preceding wide CMEs are likely to have higher intensities compared to those without was attributed to the interaction of the CME-driven shocks with the preceding CMEs or with their aftermath. It is also possible that the intensity of SEPs may also be affected by the properties of the solar source region. In this study, we found that the active region area has no relation with the SEP intensity and CME speed, thus supporting the importance of CME interaction. However, there is a significant correlation between flare size and the active region area, which probably reflects the spatial scale of the flare phenomenon as compared to that of the CME-driven shock.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

The observed properties of small-scale solar magnetic fields are reviewed. Most of the magnetic flux in the photosphere is in the form of strong fields of about 100–200 mT (1–2 kG), which have remarkably similar properties regardless of whether they occur in active or quiet regions. These fields are associated with strong atmospheric heating. Flux concentrations decay at a rate of about 107 Wb s-1, independent of the amount of flux in the decaying structure. The decay occurs by smaller flux fragments breaking loose from the larger ones, i.e. a transfer of magnetic flux from smaller to larger Fourier wave numbers, into the wave-number regime where ohmic diffusion becomes significant. This takes place in a time-scale much shorter than the length of the solar cycle.

The field amplification occurs mainly below the solar surface, since very little magnetic flux appears in diffuse form in the photosphere, and the life-time of the smallest flux elements is very short. The observations further suggest that most of the magnetic flux in quiet regions is supplied directly from below the solar surface rather than being the result of turbulent diffusion of active-region magnetic fields.