M dwarfs constitute more than 70% of the stars in the solar neighborhood. They are cooler and smaller than Sun-like stars and have less-massive disks which suggests that planets around these stars are more likely to be Neptune-size or smaller. The transit depths and transit times of planets around M stars are large and well-matched to the Kepler temporal resolution. As a result, M stars have been of particular interest for searching for planets in both radial velocity and transit photometry surveys. We have recently started a project on searching for possible planet-hosting M stars in the publicly available data from Kepler space telescope. We have used four criteria, namely, the magnitude, proper motion, H-Ks and J-H colors, and searched for M stars in Q0 and Q1 data sets. We have been able to find 108 M stars among which 54 had not been previously identified among Kepler's targets. We discuss the details of our selection process and present the results.

We review the present results on the study of the propagation of relativistic collimated outflows characteristics of active galaxies and active stars. Magnetic fields, namely their azimuthal components, gives rise to current driven instabilities whose nonlinear development can actually be connected to the complex morphologies observed in astrophysical jets.

We studied 16 sunspots with different sizes and shapes using the observations with the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope. The ratio of G-band and CaII H images reveal rich structures both within the umbra and penumbra of most spots. The striking features are the compact blob at the foot point of the umbra side of the penumbral fibrils with disk center-limb side asymmetry. In this paper, we present properties of these features using the spectropolarimetry and images in G-band, CaII and blue filters. We discuss the results using the contemporary models of the sunspots.

Jet formation MHD simulations are presented considering a variety of model setups. The first approach investigates the interrelation between the disk magnetisation profile and jet collimation. Our results suggest (and quantify) that outflows launched from a very concentrated region at the inner disk tend to be weakly collimated. In the second approach, jet formation is investigated from a magnetic field configuration consisting of a stellar dipole superposed by a strong disk field. We find that the central dipole considerably de-collimates the disk wind. In addition, reconnection flares are launched in the interaction region of disk and stellar magnetic field, subsequently changing the outflow mass flux by factors of two. The time interval between flare ejection is about 1000 Keplerian periods - surprisingly similar to the observed time lag between jet knots. The third approach considers radiative pressure effects on jet collimation - an environment which is interesting mainly for outflows from massive young stars (but also for relativistic jets). Finally we present relativistic MHD simulations of jet formation from accretion disks extenting the previous non-relativistic approaches.

We outline recent progress in understanding the accretion of plasma to rotating magnetized stars obtained from global axisymmetric (2D) and 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations in three main areas: (1.) Formation of jets from disk accretion onto rotating magnetized stars: From simulations where the viscosity and magnetic diffusivity within the disk are described by alpha models, we find long-lasting conical outflows/jets from the disk/magnetosphere boundary in both the case where the star is slowly rotating and where it is rapidly rotating (the “propeller regime”). Most of the mass flux in the outflows is in a hollow cone but inside this cone there is a low-density high-velocity magnetically dominated flow along the open polar field lines of the star. The outflows occur under conditions where the poloidal magnetic flux of the star is bunched up by the accretion disk near the disk/magnetosphere boundary. Recent simulations show that the conical outflows become well-collimated for axial distances of ≲ 20 times the inner disk radius. Exploratory 3D simulations show that conical winds are axisymmetric about the rotational axis (of the star and the disk), even when the dipole field of the star is significantly misaligned. (2.) Formation of intrinsically one-sided jets from disk accretion to rotating magnetized stars: There is strong observational evidence for an asymmetry between the approaching and receding jets from a number of young stars. We discuss the first MHD simulations of the formation asymmetric or one-sided jets arising from disk accretion to a rotating star with an asymmetric (dipole plus quadrupole) magnetic field. (3.) Global axisymmetric and 3D simulations of the magnetorotational instability (MRI) in disk accretion onto magnetized stars: In the axisymmetric simulations we observe cases where there is episodic or quasi-periodic burst of accretion similar to that observed in one X ray source. In 3D MHD simulations of accretion onto stars with tilted dipole fields using our Godunov-type code based on the “cubed sphere” grid we find that the density distribution is much less smooth than in the case of the laminar accretion flow described by α–viscosity. Instead, large turbulent cells dominate the flows and are strongly elongated in the azimuthal direction.

We present the preliminary result of our spectroscopic observations covering a period over more than ten years, from 1999 up to 2010. We analyze line profile variations of several lines before the shell phase and during the shell phase. The measured radial velocity, equivalent width and line intensity variations are presented.

A laboratory plasma experiment has been constructed to simulate the eruption of arched magnetic flux ropes (AMFRs e.g., coronal loops, solar prominences) in an ambient magnetized plasma. The laboratory AMFR is produced using an annular hot LaB6 cathode and an annular anode in a vacuum chamber which has additional electrodes to produce the ambient magnetized plasma. Two laser beams strike movable carbon targets placed behind the annular electrodes to generate controlled plasma flows from the AMFR footpoints that drives the AMFR eruption. The experiment operates with a 0.5 Hz repetition rate and is highly reproducible. Thus, time evolution of the AMFR is recorded in three-dimensions with high spatio-temporal resolutions using movable diagnostic probes. Experimental results demonstrate outward expansion of the AMFR, release of its plasma to the background, and excitation of fast magnetosonic waves during the eruption.

Overdensity of dust with respect to the gas in the planet forming regions is a crucial prerequisite to form larger bodies and eventually planets. We use a state-of-the-art code to simulate dust evolution processes in gas-rich circumstellar discs, including the viscous gas evolution. We find significant deviations of the radial distribution of dust from that of the gas as early as 1-2Myr. These deviations are closely related to the efficiency of grain growth. Apparent discrepancies between dust and gas distributions are suggested by the current millimetre interferometer observations, and ALMA will allow us tointerpret any such discrepancies in the context of dust evolution.

Two-dimensional emission line images of the HH30 jet were recently used (De Colle et al. 2010) to recover the three-dimensional structure of the jet by applying standard tomographic technique (“Tikhonov regularization techniques”). In this paper I show that it is possible to determine the ejection history of the HH30 jet by directly comparing the outcome of numerical simulations with the results of the tomographic inversion. In particular, it is shown that the HH30 jet electron density map is best reproduced by assuming a velocity variation at the base of the jet with a large scale periodicity (with a period of ~3 yrs) added to small scales velocity variation (with periods ≲months).

One of the first stages of planet formation is the growth of small planetesimals and their accumulation into large planetesimals and planetary embryos. This early stage occurs much before the dispersal of most of the gas from the protoplanetary disk. Due to their different aerodynamic properties, planetesimals of different sizes/shapes experience different drag forces from the gas at these stage. Such differential forces produce a wind-shearing effect between close by, different size planetesimals. For any two planetesimals, a wind-shearing radius can be considered, at which the differential acceleration due to the wind becomes greater than the mutual gravitational pull between the planetesimals. We find that the wind-shearing radius could be much smaller than the gravitational shearing radius by the Sun (the Hill radius), i.e. during the gas-phase of the disk wind-shearing could play a more important role than tidal perturbations by the Sun. Here we study the wind-shearing radii for planetesimal pairs of different sizes and compare it with gravitational shearing (drag force vs. gravitational tidal forces). We then discuss the role of wind-shearing for the stability and survival of binary planetesimals, and provide stability criteria for binary planetesimals embedded in a gaseous disk.

Microwave emissions from sunspots are circularly polarized in the sense of rotation (right or left) determined by the polarity (north or south) of coronal magnetic fields. However, they may convert into unpolarized emissions under certain conditions of magnetic field and electron density in the corona, and this phenomenon of depolarization could be used to derive those parameters. We propose another diagnostic use of microwave depolarization based on the fact that an observed depolarization strip actually represents the coronal magnetic polarity inversion line (PIL) at the heights of effective mode coupling, and its location itself carries information on the distribution of magnetic polarity in the corona. To demonstrate this diagnostic utility we generate a set of magnetic field models for a complex active region with the observed line-of-sight magnetic fields but varying current density distribution and compare them with the 4.9 GHz polarization map obtained with the Very Large Array (VLA). The field extrapolation predicts very different locations of the depolarization strip in the corona depending on the amount of electric currents assumed to exist in the photosphere. Such high sensitivity of microwave depolarization to the coronal magnetic field can therefore be useful for validating electric current density maps inferred from vector magnetic fields observed in the photosphere.

The physical interpretation of spectro-interferometric data is strongly model dependent. On one hand, models involving elaborate radiative transfer solvers are in general too time consuming to perform an automatic fitting procedure and derive astrophysical quantities and their related errors. On the other hand, using simple geometrical models does not give sufficient insights into the physics of the object. We developed a numerical tool optimised for mid-infrared (mid-IR) interferometry, the Fast Ray-tracing Algorithm for Circumstellar Structures (FRACS). Thanks to the short computing time required by FRACS, best-fit parameters and uncertainties for several physical quantities were obtained, such as inner dust radius, relative flux contribution of the central source and of the dusty CSE, dust temperature profile, disc inclination.

The nonlinear saturation of the magnetorotational instability (MRI) is best studied through numerical MHD simulations. Recent results of simulations that adopt the local shearing box approximation, and fully global models that follow the entire disk, are described. Outstanding issues remain, such as a first-principles understanding of the dynamo processes that control saturation with no net magnetic flux. Important directions for future work include a better understanding of basic plasma processes, such as reconnection, dissipation, and particle acceleration, in the MHD turbulence driven by the MRI.

ϵ Eridani hosts one known inner planet and an outer Kuiper belt analog. Further, Spitzer/IRS measurements indicate that warm dust is present at distances as close as a few AU from the star. Its origin is puzzling, since an “asteroid belt” that could produce this dust would be unstable because of the inner planet. We tested a hypothesis that the observed warm dust is generated by collisions in the outer belt and is transported inward by P-R drag and strong stellar winds. With numerical simulation we investigated how the dust streams from the outer ring into the inner system, and calculated the thermal emission of the dust. We show that the observed warm dust can indeed stem from the outer belt. Our models reproduce the shape and magnitude of the observed SED from mid-IR to sub-mm wavelengths, as well as the Spitzer/MIPS radial brightness profiles.

With the aim to model jets produced by conical wire arrays on the MAGPIE generator, and to strengthen the link between laboratory and astrophysical jets, we performed three-dimensional magneto-hydro-dynamic numerical simulations using the code GORGON and successfully reproduced the experiments. We found that a minimum resolution of ~100 μm is required to retrieve the unstable character of the jet. Moreover, arrays with less wires produce more unstable jets with stronger magnetic fields around them.

We investigate the combined effects of thermal conduction, compressive viscosity and optically thin radiative losses on the period ratio, P1/2P2, (P1 is the period of the fundamental mode and P2 is the period of its first harmonic) of a slow mode propagating one dimensionally. We obtain the dispersion relation and solve it to study the influence of non-ideal effects on the period ratio. The dependence of period ratio on thermal conductivity, compressive viscosity and radiative losses has been shown graphically. It is found that the effect of thermal conduction on the period ratio is negligible while compressive viscosity and radiation have sufficient effects for small loops and large loops respectively.

Recently it has become apparent that proto-stellar-like outflow activity extends to the brown dwarf (BD) mass regime. While the presence of accretion appears to be the common ingredient in all objects known to drive jets fundamental questions remain unanswered. The more prominent being the exact mechanism by which jets are launched, and whether this mechanism remains universal among such a diversity of sources and scales. To address these questions we have been investigating outflow activity in a sample of protostellar objects that differ considerably in mass and mass accretion rate. Central to this is our study of brown dwarf jets. To date Classical T Tauri stars (CTTS) have offered us the best touchstone for decoding the launching mechanism. Here we shall summarise what is understood so far of BD jets and the important constraints observations can place on models. We will focus on the comparison between jets driven by objects with central mass <0.1M⊙ and those driven by CTTSs. In particular we wish to understand how the the ratio of the mass outflow to accretion rate compares to what has been measured for CTTSs.

FS CMa type stars are a recently described group of objects with the B[e] phenomenon that exhibit strong emission-line spectra and strong IR excesses. In this paper we report the first attempt for a detailed modeling of IRAS 00470+6429, for which we have the best set of observations. Our modeling is based on two key assumptions: the star has a main-sequence luminosity for its spectral type (B2) and that the circumstellar (CS) envelope is bimodal, composed of a slowly outflowing disk-like wind and a fast polar wind. Both outflows are assumed to be purely radial. We adopt a novel approach to describe the dust formation site in the wind that employs timescale arguments for grain condensation and a self-consistent solution for the dust destruction surface. With the above assumptions we were able to reproduce satisfactorily many observational properties of IRAS 00470+6429, including the HI line profiles and the overall shape of the spectral energy distribution.

In this study, we present the results from 3D simulations in which a side-streaming motion pushes the post-bow shock into direct contact with the jet beam. This is a possible mechanism for modeling well collimated molecular jets as an atomic/ionic flow which entrains molecules initially present only in the surrounding environment.

Most solar eruptions occur above strong photospheric magnetic polarity inversion lines (PILs). What overlays a PIL is unknown, however, and this has led to a debate over the existence of sheared magnetic arcades vs. helical magnetic flux ropes. We argue that this debate may be of little meaning: numerous small-scale magnetic reconnections, constantly triggered in the PIL area, can lead to effective transformation of mutual to self magnetic helicity (i.e. twist and writhe) that, ultimately, may force the magnetic structure above PILs to erupt to be relieved from its excess helicity. This is preliminary report of work currently in progress.