The business meeting of Commission 26 was held on Friday, 7 August 2009, and consisted mainly of scientific talks. At the end, incoming President J. A. Docobo gave a video presentation with his thoughts regarding future activities of Commission 26, including the comments of members of the OC. He also announced a December 2009 workshop and discussed potential meetings in the coming years.

We performed a deep Hi and Hα mapping of M31 and M33 in order to get accurate kinematical data of those two galaxies and also to make a comparison between the Hi and Hα kinematics. The Hi data were obtained with the DRAO interferometer and the Hα data with the Fabry-Perot system of the Observatoire du mont Mégantic using an EMCCD as a detector. These data will give us the best possible datasets to derive accurate rotation curves and mass models for those two Local Group spirals and provide some new data for the Hii regions studies of these galaxies. While the Hi observations are of low resolution (~1 arcmin), the high resolution of the Hα data (~1 arcsec) should allow us to get much more details in the central regions, allowing at the same time a much better determination of the kinematical parameters. Hence, the inner part of the rotation curve, so inportant to constraint properly the mass models, will be determined more accurately.

Thanks to the unprecedented combination of high spatial resolution (0″.2) and high temporal cadence (33 s) spectropolarimetric measurements, the IMaX magnetograph aboard the Sunrise balloon-borne telescope is revealing new insights about the plasma dynamics of the all-pervasive small-scale flux concentrations in the quiet Sun. We present the result of a case study concerning the appearance of a bipole, with a size of about 4″ and a flux content of 5 × 1017 Mx, with strong signal of horizontal fields during the emergence. We analyze the data set using the SIR inversion code and obtain indications about the three-dimensional shape of the bipole and its evolution with time.

High resolution NIR spectroscopy offers an excellent complement to the expanding dataset of transit and secondary eclipse observations of exo-planets with Spitzer that have provided the bulk of our understanding of the atmospheres and internal structure of these objects. High-resolution data can quantify the vertical temperature structure by isolating specific spectral lines formed at various depths. The presence of an opaque absorbing layer can also be inferred - and its pressure level determined quantitatively - via its effect on spectral line intensities.

We have analyzed data for a single secondary eclipse of the bright transiting exo-planet host star HD189733 at L-band wavelengths (3–4 μm) using the NIRSPEC instrument on Keck-II. We utilize a sophisticated first-order telluric absorption modeling technique that, combined with a calibration star, has already been proven to remove the effects of varying atmospheric transmittance and allow us to reach unprecedented S/N. We are conducting validation of the final data reduction products and developing high-resolution atmospheric models for comparison, but we have already been able to rule out emission from methane as reported by Swain et al. (2010). We present preliminary results and discuss future plans for analysis and observations.

We report results of a study of true temporal variations in Io's sodium cloud before and after eclipse by Jupiter. The eclipse geometry is important because there is a hypothesis that the atmosphere partially condenses when the satellite enters the Jupiter's shadow, preventing sodium from being released to the cloud in the hours immediately after the reappearance. The challenge lies in disentangling true variations in sodium content from the changing strength of resonant scattering due Io's changing Doppler shift in the solar sodium absorption line. We undertook some observing runs at Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) at La Palma Canary Island with the high resolution spectrograph SARG in order to observe Io entering into Jupiter's shadow and coming out from it. The particular configuration chosen for the observations allowed us to observe Io far enough from Jupiter and to disentangle line-of-sight effects looking perpendicularly at the sodium cloud. We will present results which took advantage of a very careful reduction strategy. We remove the dependence from γ-factor, which is the fraction of solar light available for resonant scattering, in order to remove the dependence on the radial velocity of Io with respect to the Sun.

This work has been supported by NSF's Planetary Astronomy Program, INAF/TNG and the Department of Astronomy and Cisas of University of Padova, through a contract by the Italian Space Agency ASI.

After briefly reviewing the theory behind the radiative line-driven winds of OB stars, I examine the processes that can generate structure in them; these include both intrinsic instabilities, and surface perturbations such as pulsation and rotation. I then delve into wind channeling and confinement by magnetic fields as a mechanism for forming longer-lived circumstellar structures. With a narrative that largely follows the historical progression of the field, I introduce the key insights and results that link the first detection of a magnetosphere, over three decades ago, to the recent direct measurement of magnetic braking in a number of active OB stars.

I provide a pedagogic review of adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) radiation hydrodynamics (RHD) methods and codes used in simulations of star formation, at a level suitable for researchers who are not computational experts. I begin with a brief overview of the types of RHD processes that are most important to star formation, and then I formally introduce the equations of RHD and the approximations one uses to render them computationally tractable. I discuss strategies for solving these approximate equations on adaptive grids, with particular emphasis on identifying the main advantages and disadvantages of various approximations and numerical approaches. Finally, I conclude by discussing areas ripe for improvement.

Active regions (ARs), involved in the Halloween events during October-November 2003, were the source of unusual activity during the following solar rotation. The flares on 18-20 November 2003 that occur in the AR NOAA10501 were accompanied by coronal mass ejections associated to some particularly geoeffective magnetic clouds.

Our analysis of the magnetic flux and helicity injection revealed that a new emerging bipole and consequent shearing motions continuously energized the region during its disk passage. The stored energy was eventually released through the interaction of the various systems of magnetic loops by several magnetic reconnection events. Active events on November 18 (filament eruptions and CMEs) were originated by shearing motions along a section of the filament channel that injected magnetic helicity with sign opposite to that of the AR. Two homologous flares, that occurred on November 20, were apparently triggered by different mechanisms as inferred from the flare ribbons evolution (filament eruption and CMEs). We studied in detail the behaviour of two North-South oriented filaments on November 20 2003. They merged and split following a process suggestive of ‘sling-shot’ reconnection between two coronal flux ropes. We successfully tested this scenario in a 3D MHD simulation that is presented in this paper.

Jets are found in a variety of astrophysical sources. In all the cases the jet propagates with a supersonic velocity through the external medium, which can be inhomogeneous, and inhomogeneities could penetrate into the jet. The interaction of the jet material with an obstacle produces a bow-like shock within the jet in which particles can be accelerated up to relativistic energies and emit high-energy photons. In this work, we explore the active galactic nuclei scenario, focusing on the dynamical and radiative consequences of the interaction at different jet heights. We find that the produced high-energy emission could be detectable by the current γ-ray telescopes. In general, the jet-clump interactions are a possible mechanism to produce (steady or flaring) high-energy emission in many astrophysical sources in which jets are present.

Records of the solar magnetic field extend back for millennia, and its surface properties have been observed for centuries, while helioseismology has recently revealed the Sun's internal rotation and the presence of a tachocline. Dynamo theory has developed to explain these observations, first with idealized models based on mean-field electrodynamics and, more recently, by direct numerical simulation, notably with the ASH code at Boulder. These results, which suggest that cyclic activity relies on the presence of the tachocline, and that its modulation is chaotic (rather than stochastic), will be critically reviewed. Similar theoretical approaches have been followed in order to explain the magnetic properties of other main-sequence stars, whose fields can be mapped by Zeeman-Doppler imaging. Of particular interest is the behaviour of fully convective, low-mass stars, which lack any tachocline but are nevertheless extremely active.

In this talk, I review the different MHD processes, which take place in massive star interiors. First, I describe MHD instabilities, which act on magnetic fields in stellar radiation zones, and the dynamo action in massive stars that give strong indications in favor of a fossil origin of the fields observed at the surface of these stars. Then, I discuss the study of MHD turbulent relaxation processes, which are now examined in stellar interiors, to describe initial conditions for fossil magnetic fields. Finally, I focus on the state of the art of the modeling of the interaction between differential rotation, fossil magnetic field, meridional circulation, and turbulence.

The evolution of prolonged and unusually long solar cycles such as 23rd, 20th, and especially 4th is considered. Why the length of the 4th cycle was exceptionally large or really composed of two short cycles? Are the prolonged solar minima can be considered as precursor of low activity of the next cycles? Resolving these puzzles seems to be very important for dynamo theories trying to explain the solar long-term variations. We propose a possible model of the butterfly diagram during unusually long and prolonged cycles, based on (i) the Gnevyshev idea of sunspot distribution over the latitudes, and (ii) the phase differences of the northern and southern hemispheric activities.

We present the first applications of a new time-dependent multi-zone jet radiation transfer code to the study the multiwavelength emission of the TeV Blazar Mrk 421. The code couples Fokker-Planck and Monte Carlo methods. For the first time all light travel time effects are fully considered as well as proper self-consistent treatment of Compton cooling, which depends on them. The first tests focus on the March 2001 observations of Mrk 421, still one of the best datasets available for phenomenology and X-ray/TeV data coverage. We summarize the results of scenarios of variability induced by injection of relativistic electrons in a blob encountering a shock, and with different combinations with a second component, either co-spatial or independent from the active region.

Deep spectroscopic redshift surveys have become an important tool for observational cosmology, supported by a new generation of wide field multi-object spectrographs. They bring high redshift accuracy and a wealth of spectral features necessary for precision astrophysics and have led to the outstanding progress in our understanding of the different phases of galaxy evolution. The measurement of the evolution of volume quantities like the luminosity and mass functions or the correlation function, has enabled a deep insight into galaxy evolution since redshifts z ≃ 7. The redshift distribution N(z,m) is a basic property but is still difficult to be reproduced by models. We have now a global perspective on the history of star formation with a peak at z = 1−2 but the decline in SFRD at higher redshifts is still to be confirmed. The evolution of the stellar mass density with a fast growth in red passive galaxies between z = 2 and z = 1 is well established. The contribution to galaxy mass assembly of key physical processes like merging or cold accretion is now well documented. However, the pioneer measurements at the high redshift end z > > 1 remain to be consolidated with robust sample selection and statistical accuracy from large spectroscopic redshift surveys, a challenge for the years to come.

In this paper, we review the radiative hydrodynamics methods based upon Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics(SPH). There are already various implementations so far, which can be categorized into three types: moment equation solvers, Monte Carlo methods, and ray-tracing schemes. These codes have been applied to various astrophysical problems including dynamics of dense proto-stellar cores, photoionization feedback of massive stars on molecular clouds, radiative feedback in the early universe, etc. Among these different methods, we focus on the ray-tracing schemes. We also describe one particular ray-tracing code RSPH in some details.

WASP-12 is a 2 Gyr old solar type star, hosting WASP-12b, one of the most irradiated transiting planets currently known. We observed WASP-12 in the UV with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on HST. The light curves we obtained in the three covered UV wavelength ranges, all of which contain many photospheric absorption lines, imply effective radii of 2.69±0.24 RJ, 2.18±0.18 RJ, and 2.66±0.22 RJ, suggesting that the planet is surrounded by an absorbing cloud which overfills the Roche lobe. We clearly detected enhanced transit depths at the wavelengths of the MgII h&k resonance lines. Spectropolarimetric analysis of the host star was also performed. We found no global magnetic field, but there were hints of atmospheric pollution, which might be connected to the very unusual activity of the host star.

Recent studies have demonstrated the benefits of using electrodynamic tethers (EDT) for the exploration of the inner region of the Jovian system. Intense planetary magnetic field and reasonable environmental plasma density make the electrodynamic interaction of the conductive tether with the plasmasphere strong. The interaction is responsible for a Lorentz force that can be conveniently used for propellantless maneuvers and extraction of electrical power for on board use. Jupiter and the four Galilean Moons represent an exceptional gravitational environment for the study of the orbital dynamics of an EDT. The dynamics of such a system was analyzed using a 3-body model, consisting of the planet plus one of its moons (Io in this work) and the EDT itself. New and interesting features appear, like for example the possibility to place the tether in equilibrium with respect to a frame co-rotating with the moon at points that do not coincide with the classical Lagrangian points for non-null electrodynamic forces.

We review recent insights into the dynamics of the solar convection zone obtained from global numerical simulations, focusing on two recent developments in particular. The first is quasi-cyclic magnetic activity in a long-duration dynamo simulation. Although mean fields comprise only a few percent of the total magnetic energy they exhibit remarkable order, with multiple polarity reversals and systematic variability on time scales of 6-15 years. The second development concerns the maintenance of the meridional circulation. Recent high-resolution simulations have captured the subtle nonlinear dynamical balances with more fidelity than previous, more laminar models, yielding more coherent circulation patterns. These patterns are dominated by a single cell in each hemisphere, with poleward and equatorward flow in the upper and lower convection zone respectively. We briefly address the implications of and future of these modeling efforts.

The business meeting was attended by 23 members of the Commission. The meeting started at 16:00 a short report of the activities during the triennium 2006-2009. The focus of the activities was the sharing of expertise between spectroscopic techniques in various areas of astronomical research. In particular, the progress in instrumentation, detectors, data reduction, data analysis and archiving. The second activity was the analysis of to IAU meeting proposals followed by recommendations for improvements and eventually support. The sponsored symposia included Sponsoring symposia The Ages of Stars and The Disk Galaxy Evolution in the Cosmological Context. The Commission was also disseminating information about the Commission activities and relevant meetings to the Commission members. In this respect the Commission web page is playing a crucial role.

Magnetic diffusion is a key ingredient in mean-field dynamo models but neither observations nor theory are able to produce reliable values. Numerical simulations provide an alternative way to determine the turbulent electromotive force. Cross helicity allows us to determine the turbulent magnetic diffusion coefficient in simulations of stellar magnetoconvection.