Stellar coronae, like the interstellar medium, are multi-phase media. Physical conditions in different parts of the corona allow material to exist in thermal equilibrium either as a tenuous X-ray plasma at temperatures of several million degrees, or in a denser form at temperatures low enough for hydrogen to recombine.

We report on a survey of $^7$Li and $^6$Li isotopic abundances in metal-poor halo stars. The spectra of the 24 stars observed with VLT/UVES are of exceptionally high quality: $S/N>400$ and resolving power $R \simeq 120 000$. The $^7$Li abundances on our H$\alpha$$T_{\rm eff}$-scale show very small intrinsic scatter and a pronounced [Fe/H]-dependence. The resulting estimated primordial $^7$Li abundance is about 0.5 dex lower than predicted from Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the baryon density inferred by the cosmic microwave background. Nine of the stars yield a positive detection (${>}2\sigma$) of $^6$Li, which suggests the existence of a $^6$Li plateau for halo stars. The most interesting result is the presence of $^6$Li in the very metal-poor ([Fe/H]$=-2.74$) dwarf LP815-43 at the level of $^6$Li/$^7$Li${\simeq}\, 0.05\pm0.02$. According to models for stellar Li depletion due to diffusion or rotationally-induced mixing, a 0.5 dex $^7$Li depletion would require an unrealistic high initial $^6$Li abundance ($\log ^6{\rm Li} \ge 2.0$). Simultaneously, the observed high $^6$Li abundance at such low [Fe/H] can not be reconciled with existing models for Galactic cosmic ray spallation and $\alpha$-fusion reactions. This opens up exciting prospects of pre-Galactic $^6$Li production, possibly due to cosmological cosmic rays or late-decaying massive particles such as the gravitino or neutralino in the Big Bang.

We have carried out a search for 18-cm OH megamaser (OHM) emission with the Green Bank Telescope. The targeted galaxies comprise a sample of 121 ULIRGs at 0.09<z<1.5, making this is the first large, systematic search for OHMs at z>0.25. Nine new detections of OHMs are reported, all at redshifts z<0.25. For the remainder of the galaxies, observations constrain the upper limit on OH emission; this rules out OHMs of moderate brightness (LOH>103 L⊙) for 26% of the sample, and extremely bright OHM emission (LOH>104 L⊙) for 73% of the sample. Losses from RFI result in the OHM detection fraction being significantly lower than expected for galaxies with LIR>1012 L⊙. The new OHM detections are used to calculate an updated OH luminosity function, with Φ∝ LOH−0.66; this slope is in agreement with previous results. Non-detections of OHMs in the COSMOS field constrain the predicted sky density of OHMs; the results are consistent with a galaxy merger rate evolving as (1+z)m, where m≤6.

A numerical simulation with ENLIL+Cone model was carried out to study the propagation of the shock driven by the 2005 May 13 CME. We then conducted a statistical analysis on a subset of similar events, where a decameter-hectometric (DH) type II radio burst and a counterpart kilometric type II have been observed to be associated with each CME (DHkm CME). The simulation results show that fast CME-driven shocks experienced a rapid deceleration as they propagated through the corona and then kept a nearly constant speed traveling out into the heliosphere. Two improved methods are proposed to predict the fast CME-driven shock arrival time, which give the prediction errors of 3.43 and 6.83 hrs, respectively.

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), the next-generation optical imaging survey sited at Cerro Pachon in Chile, will provide hundreds of detections for a sample of more than ten million quasars with redshifts up to about seven. The LSST design, with an 8.4m (6.7m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 sq. deg. field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera, will allow about 10,000 sq. deg. of sky to be covered twice per night, every three to four nights on average, with typical 5-sigma depth for point sources of r=24.5 (AB). With about 1000 observations in ugrizy bands over a 10-year period, these data will enable a deep stack reaching r=27.5 (about 5 magnitudes deeper than SDSS) and faint time-domain astronomy. The measured properties of newly discovered and known astrometric and photometric transients will be publicly reported within 60 sec after closing the shutter. In addition to a brief introduction to LSST, I review optical quasar selection techniques, with emphasis on methods based on colors, variability properties, and astrometric behavior.

Sunspots are of basic interest in the study of the Sun. Their relevance ranges from them being an activity indicator of magnetic fields to being the place where coronal mass ejections and flares erupt. They are therefore also an important ingredient of space weather. Their formation, however, is still an unresolved problem in solar physics. Observations utilize just 2D surface information near the spot, but it is debatable how to infer deep structures and properties from local helioseismology. For a long time, it was believed that flux tubes rising from the bottom of the convection zone are the origin of the bipolar sunspot structure seen on the solar surface. However, this theory has been challenged, in particular recently by new surface observation, helioseismic inversions, and numerical models of convective dynamos. In this article we discuss another theoretical approach to the formation of sunspots: the negative effective magnetic pressure instability. This is a large-scale instability, in which the total (kinetic plus magnetic) turbulent pressure can be suppressed in the presence of a weak large-scale magnetic field, leading to a converging downflow, which eventually concentrates the magnetic field within it. Numerical simulations of forced stratified turbulence have been able to produce strong super-equipartition flux concentrations, similar to sunspots at the solar surface. In this framework, sunspots would only form close to the surface due to the instability constraints on stratification and rotation. Additionally, we present some ideas from local helioseismology, where we plan to use the Hankel analysis to study the pre-emergence phase of a sunspot and to constrain its deep structure and formation mechanism.

We derive the mean velocity components at various Galactocentric radii from 8 to 14 kpc using about 40,000 red clump stars observed in the LAMOST survey. We find that the vertical bulk motion for younger red clump stars are significantly larger than that for the older red clump stars. This is likely the kinematical feature of the Galactic warp around its line-of-node, which is located close to the Galactic anti-center region. It is evident that the warp are mainly contributed by the younger stars rather than the older stars. The age variation in the vertical kinematics favors a formation scenario where the Galactic warp is originated from infalling misaligned gas.

We have initiated an extensive program of molecular analysis of extraterrestrial organic matter isolated from a broad range of meteorites (spanning multiple classes, groups, and petrologic types), including recent molecular spectroscopic analyses of the organic matter in the Comet 81P/Wild 2 samples. The results of these analyses clearly reveal the signature of multiple reaction pathways that transformed extraterrestrial organic matter away from its primitive roots. The most significant molecular transformation occurred in the post-accretionary phase of the parent body. However, each of the various chemical transformation trajectories point unambiguously back to a common primitive origin. Applying a wide range of spectroscopic techniques we find that the primitive organic precursor is striking in its chemical complexity exhibiting a broad array of oxygen- and nitrogen-bearing functional groups. The π-bonded carbon exists as predominately highly substituted single ring aromatics, there exists no evidence for abundant, large, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). We find that the molecular structure of primitive extraterrestrial organics is consistent with synthesis from small reactive molecules, e. g. formaldehyde, whose random condensation and subsequent rearrangement chemistry at low temperatures leads to a highly cross-linked macromolecule.

Millimeter wave observations of emission from the CO molecule have become, over the past eight years, the dominant method for determining the physical properties of dense interstellar clouds, composed primarily of molecular hydrogen and for exploring the structure and kinematics of the galactic disk. In this paper we briefly review the CO survey results in the literature (Section 2) and then present new results (Section 3-7) of an extensive 13CO and 12CO survey of the galactic distribution, size, mass and age of molecular clouds. The interpretation of this survey leads to a new picture of the interstellar medium dominated by very massive stable long-lived clouds which we refer to as Giant Molecular Clouds. We find that Giant Molecular Clouds (GMC's) with M = 105–3 × 106M⊙ are a major constituent of the galactic disk, the dominant component of the interstellar medium in the galaxy interior to the sun and the most massive objects in the galaxy. We find that the interstellar medium and star formation are dominated by massive gravitationally bound clouds in which stars and associations are forming but at a very low rate in comparison to the free fall time. The galactic distribution of the molecules as traced by CO emission is interpreted as the distribution of GMC's. As the most massive objects in the galaxy they are also basic to the dynamics of the disk.

Starspots, just as Sunspots, are among the most obvious tracers and signatures of stellar surface magnetic activity. Emphasized already several decades ago as the origin for the rotationally modulated brightness of cool late-type stars, it is just now that we start to trace individual surface features in great enough detail to understand their magnetic behavior and interaction. Starspots also became the most important “noise” for detecting extra-solar planets and could possibly be decisive when it comes to detect another Earth. Since this is not a review, and because indirect imaging techniques are covered in other papers in this volume, I focus in this paper on some specific detections of starspots and introduce four new facilities particularly suited for starspot research in the near future.

The original sunspot observations by Samuel Heinrich Schwabe of 1825–1867 were digitized and a first subset of spots was measured. In this initial project, we determined more than 14 000 sunspot positions and areas comprising about 11% of the total amount of spots available from that period. The resulting butterfly diagram has a typical appearance, but with evident north-south asymmetries.

The transition from the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) to the final white dwarf (WD) stage is arguably the least understood phase in the evolution of single low- and intermediate-mass stars (0.8 ≲ MZAMS/M⊙ ≲ 8…10). Here we briefly review the progress in the last 50 years of the modeling of stars during the post-AGB phase. We show that although the main features, like the extreme mass dependency of post-AGB timescales were already present in the earliest post-AGB models, the quantitative values of the computed post-AGB timescales changed every time new physics was included in the modeling of post-AGB stars and their progenitors. Then we discuss the predictions and uncertainties of the latest available models regarding the evolutionary timescales of post-AGB stars.

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is currently by far the most ambitious proposed ground-based optical survey. With initial funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories, and private sponsors, the design and development efforts are well underway at many institutions, including top universities and national laboratories. Solar System mapping is one of the four key scientific design drivers, with emphasis on efficient Near-Earth Object (NEO) and Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) detection, orbit determination, and characterization. The LSST system will be sited at Cerro Pachon in northern Chile. In a continuous observing campaign of pairs of 15 s exposures of its 3,200 megapixel camera, LSST will cover the entire available sky every three nights in two photometric bands to a depth of V=25 per visit (two exposures), with exquisitely accurate astrometry and photometry. Over the proposed survey lifetime of 10 years, each sky location would be visited about 1000 times, with the total exposure time of 8 hours distributed over several broad photometric bandpasses. The baseline design satisfies strong constraints on the cadence of observations mandated by PHAs such as closely spaced pairs of observations to link different detections and short exposures to avoid trailing losses. Due to frequent repeat visits LSST will effectively provide its own follow-up to derive orbits for detected moving objects.

Detailed modeling of LSST operations, incorporating real historical weather and seeing data from Cerro Pachon, shows that LSST using its baseline design cadence could find 90% of the PHAs with diameters larger than 250 m, and 75% of those greater than 140 m within ten years. However, by optimizing sky coverage, the ongoing simulations suggest that the LSST system, with its first light in 2013, can reach the Congressional mandate of cataloging 90% of PHAs larger than 140m by 2020. In addition to detecting, tracking, and determining orbits for these PHAs, LSST will also provide valuable data on their physical and chemical characteristics (accurate color and variability measurements), constraining PHA properties relevant for risk mitigation strategies. In order to fulfill the Congressional mandate, a survey with an etendue of at least several hundred m2deg2, and a sophisticated and robust data processing system is required. It is fortunate that the same hardware, software and cadence requirements are driven by science unrelated to NEOs: LSST reaches the threshold where different science drivers and different agencies (NSF, DOE and NASA) can work together to efficiently achieve seemingly disjoint, but deeply connected, goals.

The supergiant star Alpha Orionis (Betelgeuse) is the only star other than the Sun to be spatially resolved either through direct imaging or through reconstruction of interferometric observations. Centimeter-radio wavelength, infrared and ultraviolet images reveal a few bright hot spots in the photosphere and chromosphere that possess characteristics different from sunspots. Large photospheric spots on Betelgeuse appear to result from convective motions, consistent with radiative hydrodynamic modeling; the chromospheric hot spots may be produced by shock waves in the chromosphere excited by the convective motions or pulsation in the photosphere. Bright chromospheric spots that cluster around the pole of Betelgeuse could be a natural result of shock breakout in a rotating star.

Twenty - two Wolf-Rayet stars (12 of type WN and 10 of type UC) were observed in the years 1986-1990 with the VBLUW photometer of Walraven. Eight (WC and WN) objects appeared to be constant. Five of the in total 14 variable objects will be discussed in the present paper: UR46 (WN3 pec), WR50 (WC6+a), WR55 (WN8), WR86 (WC7) and WR123 (WN8).

Simultaneous spectroscopy is made for WR46 and WR50. These results will be also discussed in short.

Millimeter-wave (mm-wave) absorption profiles toward extragalactic sources consistently find just diffuse (occasionally perhaps translucent) neutral gas—low/moderate density and extinction—along even some very long, dark lines of sight. CO, often heavily fractionated and mimicking the appearance of dark gas in emission, occasionally absent in emission even when present in absorption, is not the dominant form of carbon in these regions (presumably it is C+) yet the abundances of many other molecules resemble those seen in TMC-1. Some species (OH, HCO+, C2H and C3H2) turn on with high abundances just when H2 does; others (HCN, HNC, CN) require slightly higher $N$(H2) and yet others (CS and other sulfur-bearing species,NH3 and H2CO) even higher $N$(H2). The systematics and implications of these recent discoveries are discussed here.

FUV photons (<13.6eV) from the central star create a region of warm (≈1000K) atomic and molecular gas around Planetary Nebulae (PN). This paper reviews theoretical and observational characteristics of such regions, commonly called photodissociation regions or PDRs. PDRs around PN differ in some aspects from those in other galactic objects and this is briefly discussed with an emphasis on time dependent effects. It is concluded that, in evolved PN (texp>103 yr), molecules will only survive inside dense clumps (>106 cm−3). H2 emission from such dense gas will show a thermal spectrum in the low v states. Finally, the physical conditions in the PDR associated with NGC 7027 are compared to those in other galactic and extragalactic PDRs

Atmospheric opacity severely attenuates millimeter and submillimeter signals. Fluctuations in refractive index limit the angular resolution of interferometers. Conventional phase calibration does not remove atmospheric phase fluctuations, but new techniques may.

In China, we will start to build a new spectroscopic survey telescope. It will be a meridian reflecting Schmidt telescope. The optical system is horizontal. The primary mirror is spherical and segmented. It faces towards the north. In its spherical center there is a plane mirror which is segmented too. The different shape of reflecting Schmidt plate is realized by active optics. The clear aperture is 4 m and f-ratio is 5. The angular field of view is 5 square degree, 4000 objects can be observed simultaneously by using optical fibre. The science goal is to make a 20000 square degrees spectroscopic survey, including ten million galaxies and stars, many variable objects and the identification of numerous objects found by radio, x-ray, IR and other survey in these sky areas.

This work presents an overview of the microwave observations of the Chinese Solar Broadband Radio Spectrometer at Huairou (SBRS/Huairou) during 1997-2011. The relationships between the microwave bursts and solar flares and the calibration of spectrometers are also studied.