I review the major surveys of high redshift galaxies observed using integral field spectroscopy techniques in the visible and in the infrared. The comparison of various samples has to be done with care since they have different properties linked to their parent samples, their selection criteria and the methods used to study them. I present the various kinematic types of galaxies that are identified within these samples (rotators, mergers, etc.) and summarize the discussions on the mass assembly processes at various redshifts deduced from these classifications: at intermediate redshift (z ~ 0.6) merger may be the main mass assembly process whereas the role of cold gas accretion along cosmic web filaments may increase with redshift. The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation is also discussed. This relation seems to be already in place 3 Gyr after the Big-Bang and is then evolving until the present day. This evolution is interpreted as an increase of the stellar mass content of dark matter haloes of a given mass. The discovery of positive abundance gradients in MASSIV and LSD/AMAZE samples is highlighted. At z ~ 3 this discovery might be linked to cold gas accretion along cosmic filaments toward the centre whereas at lower redshift (z ~ 1.3), this may be mainly due to accretion of gas from outer reservoirs toward the centre via tidal tails due to interactions.

At present, hydrodynamical simulations in computational star formation are either carried out with Eulerian mesh-based approaches or with the Lagrangian smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) technique. Both methods differ in their strengths and weaknesses, as well as in their error properties. It would be highly desirable to find an intermediate discretization scheme that combines the accuracy advantage of mesh-based methods with the automatic adaptivity and Galilean invariance of SPH. Here we briefly describe the novel AREPO code which achieves these goals based on a moving unstructured mesh defined by the Voronoi tessellation of a set of discrete points. The mesh is used to solve the hyperbolic conservation laws of ideal hydrodynamics with a finite volume approach, based on a second-order unsplit Godunov scheme with an exact Riemann solver. A particularly powerful feature is that the mesh-generating points can in principle be moved arbitrarily. If they are given the velocity of the local flow, an accurate Lagrangian formulation of continuum hydrodynamics is obtained that features a very low numerical diffusivity and is free of mesh distortion problems. If the points are kept fixed, the scheme is equivalent to a Eulerian code on a structured mesh. The new AREPO code appears especially well suited for problems such as gravitational fragmentation or compressible turbulence.

Blazars are radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) dominated by relativistic jets seen at small angles to the line-of-sight. They exhibit dramatic flux variations across the electromagnetic spectrum. The fastest variations are observed in the X-ray and γ-ray bands on time-scales of hours or even minutes. Currently, a substantial part of the blazar literature has been based on the study of these temporal variations through the use of structure function (SF) analysis, the results of which are believed to put great constrains on the jet-physics.

The SF is often invoked in the framework of shot-noise models to determine the temporal properties of individual shots within the jet as well as their geometrical sizes. We argue, that for blazar variability studies, the SF-results are sometimes erroneously interpreted leading to misconceptions about the actual source properties. Based on extensive simulations we caution that spurious breaks will appear in the SFs of almost all light-curves, even though these light-curves may contain no intrinsic characteristic time-scale.

Finally, it is also commonly thought that SFs are immune to the sampling problems, such as data-gaps, which affects the estimators of the underlying power spectra density function such as the periodogram. However, we show that SFs are also troubled by gaps which can induce artefacts.

Starspots are being observed with many different techniques but not always with coherent results. In particular not if model-dependent data analysis must be employed, e.g. through two-dimensional spot modelling of one-dimensional photometric light curves. I review the zoo of currently available physical spot parameters, i.e. their size, temperature and variability time scales, and also compare results from different techniques. Most of the current values come from Doppler imaging and multi-color photometry. I also list a few cases where starspot detections turned out to be very different to the solar analog.

Radial velocity, microlensing and transit surveys have revealed the existence of a large population of low-mass planets in our Galaxy, the so-called ‘Super-Earths’ and ‘Neptunes’. The understanding of these objects would greatly benefit from the detection of a few of them transiting bright nearby stars, making possible their thorough characterization with high signal-to-noise follow-up measurements. Our HARPS Doppler survey has now detected dozens of low-mass planets in close orbit around bright nearby stars, and it is highly probable that a few of them do transit their host star. In this context, we have set up an ambitious Spitzer program devoted to the search for the transits of the short period low-mass planets detected by HARPS. We present here this program and some of its first results.

Doppler imaging of early-type magnetic stars is the most advanced method to interpret their line profile variations. DI allows us to study directly a complex interplay between chemical spots, magnetic fields, and the mass loss. Here we outline the general principles of the surface mapping of stars, discuss adaption of this technique to early-type stars and present several recent examples of the abundance and magnetic mapping performed for rapidly rotating early-B stars. In particular, we present the first Doppler images for the very fast rotating He-rich star HR 7355 and a reconstruction of magnetic field for the well-known Bp star σ Ori E. We also present new magnetic maps for the He-strong star HD 37776, which possesses one of the most complex magnetic field topologies among the upper main sequence stars.

The review contains the most recent data on near-Earth objects such as their sizes and densities, rotation and shapes, taxonomy and mineralogy, optical properties and structure of their surfaces, binary systems among the NEOs and internal structure of asteroids and comets constituted the NEO population.

The understanding of fossil fields origin, topology, and stability is one of the corner stones of the stellar magnetism theory. On one hand, since they survive on secular time scales, they may modify the structure and the evolution of their host stars. On the other hand, they must have a complex stable structure since it has been demonstrated that the simplest purely poloidal or toroidal fields are unstable on dynamical time scales. In this context, the only stable stellar configurations found today are those resulting from numerical simulations by Braithwaite and collaborators who studied the evolution of an initial stochastic magnetic field, which relaxes with a selective decay of magnetic helicity and energy, on mixed stable configurations (poloidal and toroidal) that seem to be in equilibrium and then diffuse. In this talk, we report the semi-analytical investigation of such an equilibrium field in the axisymmetric case. We use variational methods, which describe selective decay of magnetic helicity and energy during MHD relaxation, and we identify a supplementary invariant due to the stable stratification of stellar radiation zones. This leads to states that generalize force-free Taylor's relaxation states studied in plasma laboratory experiments that become non force-free in the stellar case. Moreover, astrophysical applications are presented and the stability of obtained configurations is studied.

A business meeting of the IAU Commission 35 was held during the GA in Rio on Friday, August 7, 2009, with a few members of the Commission in attendance. Special care will be taken to have more members attending the BM at the next GA in Bejing in 2012. The points discussed during the BM are summarized below and are posted on the C35 website http://iau-c35.stsci.edu.

Solar prominences can be viewed as pre-eruptive states of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Eruptive prominences are the phenomena most related to CMEs observed in the lower layers of the solar atmosphere. We have made a comprehensive statistical study on the CMEs associated with prominence eruptions. We have examined the distribution of CMEs speed and acceleration for prominence eruptions associated CMEs. We also examine the speed-acceleration correlation for these events and there is no correlation between speed and acceleration. The mean angular width is almost similar to normal CMEs. The number variation during solar cycle of prominence activities is similar to the sunspot cycle.

Solving radiative transfer problems with ray casting methods is compared with the commonly used ‘Flux Limited Diffusion’ approximation. Whereas ray casting produces solutions that converge to the exact one as the number of rays is increased, flux-limited-diffusion is fundamentally a ‘look-alike’ method, which produces solutions that are reminiscent of the correct solution but which cannot be made to converge to it.

The discussion on winds and magnetic fields of active OB stars was carried out by S. Owoki, G. Wade, M. Cantiello, O. Kochukhov, M. Smith, C. Neiner, T. Rivinius, H. Henrichs and R. Townsend. The topics were the ability to detect small and large scale magnetic fields in massive stars and the need to consider limits on photometric variability of the star surface brightness.

Magnetic fields of cool stars can be directly investigated through the study of the Zeeman effect on photospheric spectral lines using several approaches. With spectroscopic measurement in unpolarised light, the total magnetic flux averaged over the stellar disc can be derived but very little information on the field geometry is available. Spectropolarimetry provides a complementary information on the large-scale magnetic topology. With Zeeman-Doppler Imaging (ZDI), this information can be retrieved to produce a map of the vector magnetic field at the surface of the star, and in particular to assess the relative importance of the poloidal and toroidal components as well as the degree of axisymmetry of the field distribution.

The development of high-performance spectropolarimeters associated with multi-lines techniques and ZDI allows us to explore magnetic topologies throughout the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram, on stars spanning a wide range of mass, age and rotation period. These observations bring novel constraints on magnetic field generation by dynamo effect in cool stars. In particular, the study of solar twins brings new insight on the impact of rotation on the solar dynamo, whereas the detection of strong and stable dipolar magnetic fields on fully convective stars questions the precise role of the tachocline in this process.

The members of the Commission 36 Organizing Committee attending the IAU General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro met for a business session on August 7. Both members from the previous (2006–2009) and the new (2009–2012) Organizing Committee partook in the discussions. Past president John Landstreet described the work he had done over the past three years in terms of supporting proposed conferences on the topic. He has also spent significant amount of time establishing an updated mailing list of all >350 members of the commission, which is unfortunately not provided automatically by the IAU. Such a list is critical for a rapid dissemination of information to the commission members and for a correct and smooth running of elections of IAU officials. Everyone present thanked John effusively for all of his hard work over the past three years to stimulate a high level of activity within the discipline.

Radio spectra, observed during solar flares, are usually very complex (many bursts and fine structures). We have developed a new method to separate them into individual bursts and analyze them separately. The method is used in the analysis of the 0.8–2.0 GHz radio spectrum of the April 11, 2001 event, which was rich in drifting pulsating structures (DPSs). Using this method we showed that the complex radio spectrum consists of at least four DPSs separated with respect to their different frequency drifts (−115, −36, −23, and −11 MHz s−1). These DPSs indicate a presence of at least four plasmoids expected to be formed in a flaring current sheet. These plasmoids produce the radio emission on close frequencies giving thus a mixture of superimposed DPSs observed in the radio spectrum.

Understanding the different mechanisms of galaxy assembly at various cosmic epochs is a key issue for galaxy evolution and formation models. We present MASSIV (Mass Assembly Survey with SINFONI in VVDS) in this context, an on-going survey with VLT/SINFONI aiming to probe the kinematics and chemical abundances of a unique sample of 84 star-forming galaxies selected in the redshift range z ~ 1−2. This large sample, spanning a wide range of stellar masses, is unique at these high redshifts and statistically representative of the overall galaxy population. In this paper, we give an overview of the MASSIV survey and then focus on the spatially-resolved chemical properties of high-z galaxies and their implication on the process of galaxy assembly.

Convectively driven dynamos with rotation generating magnetic fields on scales large compared with the scale of the turbulent eddies are being reviewed. It is argued that such fields can be understood as the result of an α effect. Simulations in Cartesian domains show that such large-scale magnetic fields saturate on a time scale compatible with the resistive one, suggesting that the magnitude of the α effect is here still constrained by approximate magnetic helicity conservation. It is argued that, in the absence of shear and/or any other known large-scale dynamo effects, these simulations prove the existence of turbulent α2-type dynamos. Finally, recent results are discussed in the context of solar and stellar dynamos.

The origin of the far-infrared emission from the nearby radio galaxy M87 remains a matter of debate. Some studies find evidence of a far-infrared excess due to thermal dust emission, whereas others propose that the far-infrared emission can be explained by synchrotron emission without the need for an additional dust emission component. We observed M87 with PACS and SPIRE as part of the Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey (HeViCS). We compare the new Herschel data with a synchrotron model based on infrared, submm and radio data to investigate the origin of the far-infrared emission. We find that both the integrated SED and the Herschel surface brightness maps are adequately explained by synchrotron emission. At odds with previous claims, we find no evidence of a diffuse dust component in M87.

As most of the natural satellites of the Solar System, the Galilean moons are since a long time assumed to be tidally locked in a spin-orbit synchronous resonance. Thanks to the mission Galileo, we now dispose of enough gravity data to perform 3-dimensional theories of the rotation of these satellites, in particular to model the departure from the exact synchronous rotation. We here present such theories depending on the interior model we consider, in highlighting some observable output data. Inverting them will give us information on the internal structure of these bodies.

In this short review, we summarize our present understanding (and non-understanding) of exoplanet formation, structure and evolution, in the light of the most recent discoveries. Recent observations of transiting massive brown dwarfs seem to remarkably confirm the predicted theoretical mass-radius relationship in this domain. This mass-radius relationship provides, in some cases, a powerful diagnostic to distinguish planets from brown dwarfs of same mass, as for instance for Hat-P-20b. If confirmed, this latter observation shows that planet formation takes place up to at least 8 Jupiter masses. Conversely, observations of brown dwarfs down to a few Jupiter masses in young, low-extinction clusters strongly suggests an overlapping mass domain between (massive) planets and (low-mass) brown dwarfs, i.e. no mass edge between these two distinct (in terms of formation mechanism) populations. At last, the large fraction of heavy material inferred for many of the transiting planets confirms the core-accretion scenario as been the dominant one for planet formation.