The astronomical detection of molecular anions has prompted our study of their chemical reactions with atomic species that are abundant in the interstellar medium. We have recently explored the chemistry of a variety of Cx Ny− anions with hydrogen atoms and determined their reaction rate constants and products using the flowing afterglow-selected ion flow tube technique. Computational studies allow characterization of the structures of reactants and products, as well as the energetics along the reaction pathway. For anions containing one or two nitrogen atoms, reactions with hydrogen atoms are facile, and proceed primarily by associative detachment. In contrast, anions containing three nitrogen atoms are unreactive with hydrogen atoms due to reaction barriers and unfavorable thermodynamics.

Following the report of solar-like oscillations in the G0 V star η Boo (Kjeldsen et al. 1995), a first attempt to model the observed frequencies was made by Christensen-Dalsgaard et al. (1995). This attempt succeeded in reproducing the observed frequency separations Δv and δv02, although there remained a difference of ∼ 10 μHz between observed and computed frequencies. In those models, the near-surface region of the star was treated rather crudely: convection was described by means of a local mixing-length theory neglecting turbulent pressure, and the oscillations were assumed to be adiabatic. These approximations are likely to affect both Δv and absolute frequencies.

We review current observations of binary star populations with particular attention to what insight these populations can give us into the problem of how binary stars form. Significant progress has been made in the past few years, revealing variations as a function of site, primary star mass, and binary star separations. The variations in the binary star population with type of star formation site in comparison with the field, suggests that ∼30% of the field binaries formed in loose T associations and ∼70% formed in the dense progenitors of open clusters. Variations with mass and separation on the whole are well matched by the predictions of fragmentation followed by competitive accretion. However, there remains much work to be done on both the observational and theoretical end before a complete picture of binary star formation can be developed.

Each of four WR binaries has been observed in the 0.1 −5 keV range on four consecutive days for a total of ∼ 104 sec with the IPC on the Einstein Observatory. One of the stars is the well-known WN5 + 06 binary V444 Cyg; the other three have suspected compact companions; all have periods close to four days.

Neither HD 197406 (WN7) nor HD 96548 (WN8) was detected; hence Lx (0.5–3.0 keV) ≲ 1032 erg s−1, which is on the low side, even for 0-stars. EZ CMa (WN5) and V444 Cyg are moderately strong, variable X-ray sources with Lx (0.5–3.0 keV) ≃ 1033 erg s−1, kT ≃ 0.5 keV and NH ≃ 1022 cm−2. These values suggest that the X-ray flux arises in the outer part of the wind. The variable component may be produced by collision of two winds.

There is no evidence of harder X-rays coming from accretion onto a compact star. Nevertheless, the presence of a collapsar is not excluded at hv ≲ 5 keV, where absorption in the WR wind would likely reduce the X-ray flux to a level which is masked by the flux coming from the hot stellar wind.

The main features of the electric field theory are outlined. The theory should be considered as a first approximation. The validity of the approximations and assumptions introduced is discussed.

Some model experiments on the theory are described. It is impossible to construct an entirely true model of nature in the laboratory. The similarities and differences between nature and model are discussed.

The mechanism of the model seems to be described very well by the theory. Some experimental results, which because of the complicated phenomena cannot be predicted by the theory, are compared with observations in nature. As far as we can see at present, the agreement between nature and model is astonishingly good.

A review of the most recent developments in polarization studies of Be stars is presented. New polarization techniques for high-resolution spectropolarimetry and for near infrared polarimetry are described and a wide range of new observations are discussed. These include broadband, intermediate-band and multichannel observations of the continuum polarization of Be stars in the wavelenght interval 0.3–2.2 microns, high resolution (0.5 Å) line profile polarimetry of a few stars and surveys of many stars for the purposes of statistical analyses. The physical significance of the observational material is discussed in the light of recent theoretical models. Emphasis is placed on the physical and geometrical parameters of Be star envelopes which polarimetry helps to determine.

Observational v sin i line-width measurements for OBA stars are summarized, and the relationship of these measurements to ve sin i, the true projected equatorial rotation velocity, reviewed. In general, ve sin i ≥ v sin i for Be Stars, while ve sin i ≤ v sin i for O-type stars. The implications are that (i) it is probable that Be Stars are closer to their critical rotation velocities than is generally supposed (rendering plausible a range of new physical mechanisms for the Be phenomenon); and (ii) some non-rotational macroscopic line broadening (‘turbulence’) occurs in the atmospheres of O stars (and BA supergiants). Physical interpretations of this ‘turbulence’ are considered.

The USNO-A1.0 catalog was generated from the U. S. Naval Observatory's digitization of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey I O and E survey plates for fields with central declination δ ≥ −30°, and from the European Southern Observatory R and Science Research Council J survey plates for fields with central δ ≤ –35° using the Precision Measuring Machine (PMM) located at the Flagstaff Station. It lists positions (α and δ in J2000) and brightnesses (red and blue magnitudes on the parent plate system) for all objects. A flag indicates if the entry also exists in GSC1.1.

We have studied the absorption bands around 14 μm in the spectra of 11 carbon stars with mass-loss rates ranging from 10−8 to 10−4 M⊙ yr−1, based on data obtained with the Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS) on board the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). All stars clearly show a C2H2 absorption band peaking at 13.7 μm, while the contribution from HCN molecules is small in this wavelength region. A simple plane-parallel LTE model with two layers at different temperatures is used to derive the C2H2 abundances in the outer photosphere and in the circumstellar envelope. We find that (1) the column density of the hot-layer, placed at about 3R* with a temperature of 1400 K is roughly the same for all stars regardless of the mass-loss rate, and (2) the contribution of cool molecules in the circumstellar envelope increases with the dust mass-loss rate, (3) the abundance of C2H2 in the two layers is about the same, i.e. no obvious depletion of C2H2 molecules seems to occur in the circumstellar envelope.

An asymmetry of optical emission lines that appeared in Sept. 1988 is interpreted as evidence of dust condensation within the metal-rich ejecta of SN 1987A. A quantitative analysis of this spectroscopic effect is given and shown to be compatible with the photometric record. Moreover, observational and theoretical estimates of the bolometric light curve come into agreement when the far-IR excess is interpreted as thermal emission by grains in the ejecta. A grain population comprising small silicate grains with an admixture of graphite or amorphous carbon particles is suggested by the data. The relevance of this discovery to suggestions that supernovae are major sources of interstellar dust is briefly discussed.

Strong, kilo-Gauss, magnetic fields are required to explain a range of observational properties in young, accreting pre-main sequence (PMS) systems. We review the techniques used to detect magnetic fields in PMS stars. Key results from a long running campaign aimed at characterising the large scale magnetic fields in accreting T Tauri stars are presented. Maps of surface magnetic flux in these systems can be used to build 3-D models exploring the role of magnetic fields and the efficiency with which magnetic fields can channel accretion from circumstellar disks on to young stars. Long-term variability in T Tauri star magnetic fields strongly point to a dynamo origin of the magnetic fields. Studies are underway to quantify how changes in magnetic fields affect their accretion properties. We also present the first results from a new programme that investigates the evolution of magnetic fields in intermediate mass (1.5–3M⊙) pre-main sequence stars as they evolve from being convective T Tauri stars to fully radiative Herbig AeBe stars.

Convection is one of the most intricate processes studied in stellar astrophysics and has challenged both theorists and observers since the beginnings of astrophysics. But during the last two decades observational data of unprecedented resolution and accuracy have been collected in solar and stellar research which permit a new look at the field. An enormous increase of computer speed now permits solving more complete model equations with more accurate numerical approximations. Modelling and theoretical understanding of convection, however, are lagging behind observational progress and are still wanting.

As a background to the contributions to this session on convection, I first provide an overview on its basic physics and its observational evidence. I point out why astrophysicists have a general interest in improvements of our understanding of stellar convection and then focus on convection in A-stars with their unique combination of convection zones. I summarise how this richness of different manifestations can arise in A-stars, such as convection zones near the surface and in the core, several on top of each other, or some of them depleted by diffusion processes, suppressed by or even creating magnetic fields, suspected to create a chromosphere in some of them, or influenced by binaries, to name just a few. In the last part I will present a few recent results on modelling of convection in A-stars.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

Red giants offer a good opportunity to study the interplay of magnetic fields and stellar evolution. Using the spectro-polarimeter NARVAL of the Telescope Bernard Lyot (TBL), Pic du Midi, France and the LSD technique we began a survey of magnetic fields in single G-K-M giants. Early results include 6 MF-detections with fast rotating giants, and for the first time a magnetic field was detected directly in an evolved M-giant: EK Boo. Our results could be explained in the terms of α–ω dynamo operating in these giants.

I discuss feeding and feedback processes observed in the inner few hundred parsecs of nearby active galaxies using integral field spectroscopy at spatial resolutions of a few to tens of parsecs. Signatures of feedback include outflows from the nucleus with velocities ranging from 200 to 1000 km s−1, with mass outflow rates between 0.5 and a few M⊙ yr−1. Signatures of feeding include the observation of gas inflows along nuclear spirals and filaments, with velocities ranging from 50 to 100 km s−1 and mass flow rates from 0.1 to ∼1 M⊙ yr−1. These rates are 2–3 orders of magnitude larger than the mass accretion rate to the supermassive black hole (SMBH). These inflows can thus lead, during less than one activity cycle, to the accumulation of enough gas in the inner few hundred parsecs, to trigger the formation of new stars, leading to the growth of the galaxy bulge. Young to intermediate age stars have indeed been found in circumnuclear rings around a number of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). In particular, one of these rings, with radius of ≈ 100 pc is observed in the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068, and is associated to an off-centered molecular ring, very similar to that observed in the Milky Way (MW). On the basis of an evolutionary scenario in which gas falling into the nuclear region triggers star formation followed by the triggering of nuclear activity, we speculate that, in the case of the MW, molecular gas has already accumulated within the inner ≈ 100 pc to trigger the formation of new stars, as supported by the presence of blue stars close to the galactic center. A possible increase in the star-formation rate in the nuclear region will then be followed, probably tens of millions of years later, by the triggering of nuclear activity in Sgr A*.

The two Pan-STARRS telescopes, located on Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii, are 1.8-meter diameter telescopes equipped with 1.4 Gigapixel cameras that deliver 7 square degree fields-of-view. The first of these telescopes, Pan-STARRS1, is conducting a search for Near Earth Objects, and is currently the leading discoverer of Near Earth Objects. The second telescope, Pan-STARRS2, is nearing the end of its commissioning, and is becoming more productive.

Pan-STARRS has become the leading survey for Near Earth Objects, responsible for approximately half of the NEO discoveries to date in 2015. Pan-STARRS is also the leading discoverer of new comets.

Ranked near the top of the long list of exciting discoveries made with NASA's Kepler photometer is the detection of transiting circumbinary planets. In just over a year the number of such planets went from zero to seven, including a multi-planet system with one of the planets in the habitable zone (Kepler-47). We are quickly learning to better detect and characterize these planets, including the recognition of their transit timing and duration variation “smoking gun” signature. Even with only a handful of such planets, some exciting trends are emerging.

This review summarizes our current knowledge about the interstellar matter between about 1.7 and 10 pc(a) from IRS16/SGR A∗, a region which now commonly is referred to as the circum-nuclear disk (CND). I will discuss first the spatial distribution of the neutral and partially ionized, interstellar matter, then its physical parameters and excitation and, finally its dynamics. For other recent reviews of the subject I refer to the articles by Güsten (1987), Genzel (1987), Genzel and Townes (1987) and Jaffe (1987).

In the Introduction we recall the mass loss history of a progenitor of a planetary nebula (PN). Then we concentrate on the status of knowledge of fast winds in central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPN) : the detection and statistics, the observed edge velocities, relationships of the edge velocities with other stellar or nebular parameters. We then summarize the methods used to derive the mass loss rates associated to the fast winds, and review the determinations of the “observed” mass loss rates. The comparison with predictions from the radiation driven theory (RDT) is then discussed as well as possible lines for future improvements.

The first long wavelength radio astronomical observations from above the ionosphere were performed in the early 1960's using very short antennas on both sounding rockets and satellites. Although these exploratory measurements were sometimes troubled by perturbations arising in the local plasma enivronment and by spacecraft interference, they did develop the fundamental information and techniques on which to build more sophisticated low frequency radio astronomical systems. The first spacecraft designed specifically and exclusively for radio astronomical studies, Radio Astronomy Explorer 1, was launched on July 4, 1968. It carries two gravity-gradient stabilized, 229-m, travelling-wave V-antennas, a 37-m dipole antenna, and a number of radiometer systems to provide measurements over the 0.2 to 9.2 MHz frequency range (λ = 33 to 1500 m) with a time resolution of 0.5 sec and an absolute accuracy of about 25%. Although the observations may seem crude in some cases, when compared with those of ground-based telescopes, the RAE has afforded substantial improvement over the capabilities of the early flight experiments. Through the study of solar radio bursts down to 0.2 MHz, we are getting new information on the density, plasma velocity, and dynamics of coronal streamers out to distances of greater than 50 R⊙. From galactic continuum background maps at frequencies around 4 MHz, we are getting new information on the distribution of the ionized component of the interstellar medium. Cosmic noise background spectra measured down to ~ 0.5 MHz are providing new estimates of the interstellar flux of cosmic rays, of magnetic fields in the galactic halo, and of the nature of radiation from distant extragalactic radio sources.

A second RAE spacecraft is now being constructed for launch into a lunar orbit. This satellite will permit radio astronomical measurements at frequencies down to 30 kHz (λ = 10 km), will facilitate the use of the moon as an occulting disk for source position measurements, and will provide new information on the cislunar noise environment required to assess the feasibility of future lunar radio observatories. Studies are in progress on the feasibility and application of orbiting radio interferometers (baselines up to 5 km) and large orbiting filled-aperture telescopes (diameter ~ 1 km).