Today, the motion of spacecraft is still described by the classical Newtonian equations of motion plus some relativistic corrections. This approach might become cumbersome due to the increasing precision required. We use the Relativistic Motion Integrator (RMI) approach to numerically integrate the native relativistic equations of motion for a spacecraft. The principle of RMI is presented. We compare the results obtained with the RMI method with those from the usual Newton plus correction approach for the orbit of the BepiColombo (around Mercury) and Mars-NEXT (around Mars) orbiters. Finally, we present a numerical study of RMI and we show that the RMI approach is relevant to study the orbit of spacecraft.

Polarimetry of the BL Lac object OJ 287 has been carried out over the last decade in optical bands with the 1.2-m telescope of Mt. Abu Observatory, operated by Physical Research Laboratory, India. OJ 287 underwent several polarization outbursts during this period.

Observational data concerning the long-term history of cyclic solar activity as recorded in sunspot and isotopic data are discussed in the context of solar dynamo theory. In particular, a simple dynamo model based on differential rotation and the mirror asymmetry of convection with random fluctuations of dynamo governing parameters is shown to reproduce some basic features of the solar magnetic activity evolution.

We present the deepest colour-magnitude diagram (CMD) of M32 to date, obtained from deep (F435W, F555W) photometry of HST ACS/HRC images. Due to the high resolution of our images, the small photometric errors, and the completeness level of our data we obtain the most detailed resolved photometric study of M32 to date. The CMD of M32 displays a wide colour distribution of red giant branch stars, mainly due to a metallicity spread, a strong red clump and bright asymptotic giant branch stars. The detection of a “blue plume” in M32 indicates the presence of a very young stellar population. There is not a noticeable presence of blue horizontal branch stars, suggesting that an old population with [Fe/H] < −1.5 does not significantly contribute to the light or mass of M32 in our observed fields.

Abundance anomalies observed in globular cluster stars indicate pollution with material processed by hydrogen burning. Two main sources have been suggested: asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and massive stars rotating near the break-up limit (spin stars). We discuss the idea that massive binaries may provide an interesting alternative source of processed material. We discuss observational evidence for mass shedding from interacting binaries. In contrast to the fast, radiatively driven winds of massive stars, this material is typically ejected with low velocity. We expect that it remains inside the potential well of a globular cluster and becomes available for the formation or pollution of a second generation of stars. We estimate that the amount of processed low-velocity material that can be ejected by massive binaries is larger than the contribution of the two previously suggested sources combined.

Analysis of CCD observations of Phoebe, the 9th satellite of Saturn (visual magnitude of about 16.5), with a mirror astrograph ZA-320M at Pulkovo Observatory in Saint-Petersburg are presented. Photometric observations are performed both in the integral band of the telescope and in bands BVR of the Johnson system. Reference catalogues USNO-A2.0 (for R - filter and integral observations) and Ticho-2 (for V and B - filters) were used. Rotational light-curve data for Phoebe taken over a short time span (2 - 8 hours) for several nights are presented. Numerical investigation of the evolution of Phoebe's rotational dynamics is carried out. The probability of Phoebe's capture in resonant states that are distinct from 1:1 is estimated.

One of the most urgent tasks facing society today is to make science more attractive to the younger generation and to foster the continuous improvement of the knowledge and skills. These objectives assume ever greater importance because, firstly, young people are opting less and less for scientific studies, secondly, we need to establish new starting points for them in order that they could better understand and improve our changing world. To achieve these aims, it is necessary to expand innovation in secondary education. In this paper, a few suggestions, which can help assess and prioritize the usefulness of astronomy-related material for improving the educational process, are presented.

Here we summarize the discussion that took place after the presentation of papers discussing measurement of abundances from emission lines in H II regions. A cosmological test using 4He is harder than those using the other light elements due to the small dynamic range over which He/H varies for cosmologically interesting parameters. A precision of much better than 1% is needed. This precision challenges both observations and theory. Several of the major uncertainties were identified and methods of improving the accuracy were described.

We studied the scaling properties of a sample of 65 ETGs at 1 < z < 2 with spectroscopic confirmation of their redshift and spectral type. The sample collects proprietary (Longhetti et al. 2007) and archival HST data and it is composed of 30 ETGs with HST-NICMOS observations (see Saracco et al. 2009) and of 35 ETGs from the GOODS-South field covered by HST-ACS observations. The whole sample is covered also by ground-based optical and near-IR observations while complementary mid-IR data (Spitzer or AKARI) are available for 45 galaxies. The study of the Kormendy, the size-luminosity and the size-mass relations of these ETGs shows that a large fraction (~50%) of them follows the local relations. These ’normal’ ETGs are not smaller (denser) than their local counterparts with comparable stellar mass, luminosity and surface brightness and no size evolution is required for them. On the contrary, the remaining half of the sample is composed of very compact ETGs with sizes (densities) 2.5-3 (15-30) times smaller (higher) than the other ETGs and than local ETGs. Thus, not all the high-z ETGs are superdense and, consequently, only some of them must experience size evolution showing that the evolutionary path of ETGs at 0 < z < 2 is not univocal. We also find that the stellar population of normal ETGs formed at 1.5 < zform < 3 while it formed at 2 < zform < 9 in compact ETGs. This suggests that different histories of mass assembly must take place at high-z to produce both the normal and the superdense ETGs seen at 1 < z < 2 (Saracco et al. 2010).

A program is outlined, and first results described, in which fully three-dimensional, time dependent simulations of hydrodynamic turbulence are used as a basis for theoretical investigation of the physics of turbulence. The inadequacy of the treatment of turbulent convection as a diffusive process is indicated. A generalization to rotation and magnetohydrodynamics is indicated, as are connections to simulations of 3D stellar atmospheres.

The solar activity cycle is a manifestation of the hydromagnetic dynamo working inside our star. The detection of activity cycles in solar-like stars and the study of their properties allow us to put the solar dynamo in perspective, investigating how dynamo action depends on stellar parameters and stellar structure. Nevertheless, the lack of spatial resolution and the limited time extension of stellar data pose limitations to our understanding of stellar cycles and the possibility to constrain dynamo models. I briefly review some results obtained from disc-integrated proxies of stellar magnetic fields and discuss the new opportunities opened by space-borne photometry made available by MOST, CoRoT, Kepler, and GAIA, and by new ground-based spectroscopic or spectropolarimetric observations. Stellar cycles have a significant impact on the energetic output and circumstellar magnetic fields of late-type active stars which affects the interaction between stars and their planets. On the other hand, a close-in massive planet could affect the activity of its host star. Recent observations provide circumstantial evidence of such an interaction with possible consequences for stellar activity cycles.

Determining the kinematics of the dwarf Spheroidal galaxies (dSph) satellites of the Milky Way (MW) is crucial to estimate the mass of our galaxy, to understand its formation process and that of its satellites, to explain the origin of stellar streams in the MW's halo that seem to be related to these satellites, and to understand the role of tidal interactions in the evolution and star formation history of low mass galaxies and of the halo of our Galaxy. In what follows we briefly explain a ground-based astrometric project that will have an impact on these issues, and present some preliminary results.

A significant fraction of metal-poor stars have large over-abundances of carbon, and are called Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) stars. Most of CEMP stars also show excesses of heavy neutron-capture elements like Ba, indicating that their origin is the nucleosynthesis in AGB stars. Remaining CEMP stars that have Ba abundances as low as non-carbon-rich stars appear in the lowest metallicity range ([Fe/H]≲−2.5), and connections with the two most iron-deficient stars (so-called Hyper Metal-Poor stars) are suggested. Although the origins of the carbon-excesses in these objects have not been well identified, some objects suggest contributions of faint supernovae. Remaining problems on CEMP stars, such as the binary fraction, excess of r-process elements, are discussed.

We would like to know how molecular clouds turn into stellar clusters, and with what efficiency massive stars form in those clusters, since massive stars are the main agents responsible for evolution of the interstellar medium of galaxies, and their subsequent star-formation history. The imprint of ‘precluster’ molecular cloud conditions can be observed, but only in the least evolved, most embedded clusters, necessarily at wavelengths that can penetrate more than 10 visual magnitudes of extinction. Mid-infrared photometric imaging, most recently and extensively from Spitzer, can be used to select young stellar objects in clustered star-formation environments in our Galaxy and nearby galaxies. Relatively sophisticated methods have been developed, but the fundamental principle remains the selection of sources that have excess infrared emission from circumstellar dust. By fitting radiative-transfer models to a source's spectral-energy distribution between ~1 and ~100μm, we constrain the circumstellar dust distribution and evolutionary state. We can explore many things with this protostellar distribution in mass/luminosity and time/evolutionary state. For example we do not see strong evidence for primordial mass segregation in initial studies. We find evidence of primordial hierarchical substructure, greater clustering at the youngest stages, and even imprints of the pre-stellar Jeans scale. We see correlation of the youngest sources with dense molecular clumps and constrain the timescales for chemical processing and dispersal of those clumps. We have only begun to mine the wealth of existing Spitzer, emerging Herschel and soon ALMA data.

In this communication, the effects of vibrations at high frequencies onto a freely falling two-body system in Schwarzschild spacetime are investigated. We present these effects for different kinds of reference motions, all of which are placed in regions of weak gravitation: circular orbits, radial free fall (with different initial velocities) and radial free fall with a small tangential velocity. The vibrations induce a change in the motion of the vibrating system, which is characterized by a radial deviation between the vibrating system and the reference motion of the non-vibrating system. For a circular orbit, we show that the maximal radial deviation increases linearly with the initial radius. For a radial free fall, the radial deviation after one oscillation decreases quadratically with respect to the initial radius.

We present the initial results of a multiwavelength study to detect AGN in several galaxy clusters at moderate redshifts (0.5 < z < 0.9). By using multiple epochs of HST data, we identify 10–15 optically variable galactic nuclei in each cluster. The variable and non-variable galaxies are compared with X-ray point sources.

We present the structure of the basic school curriculum in Brazil, that for a few years has included astronomy, and comment on the strategies that universities are adopting for preparing the teachers for the new curriculum.

We use about 1400 red giant branch stars observed in 19 Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs) to compare colours, metallicities, and RGB bump luminosities of stars assigned to first and second generations. We find subtle differences which we attribute to the different He content. In general these differences are visible only when we consider the extreme second generation stars, with the exception of NGC 2808. When using various indicators, the implied helium enhancements are similar, but the absolute calibration is still uncertain.

Over 10,000 early-type galaxies from the 6dF Galaxy Survey (6dFGS) (Jones, D. H. et al. (2009), Jones et al. (2004)) have been used to determine the Fundamental Plane at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. We find that a maximum likelihood fit to an explicit three-dimensional Gaussian model for the distribution of galaxies in size, surface brightness and velocity dispersion can precisely account for selection effects, censoring and observational errors, leading to precise and unbiased parameters for the Fundamental Plane and its intrinsic scatter.

In this work, we investigate the possible effects produced by soft X-rays (and secondary electrons) on Titan aerosol analogs in an attempt to simulate some prebiotic photochemistry. The experiments have been performed inside a high vacuum chamber coupled to the soft X-ray spectroscopy beamline at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source (LNLS). In-situ sample analysis were performed by a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The infrared spectra have presented several organic molecules, including nitriles and aromatic CN compounds. After the irradiation, the brownish-orange organic residue was analyzed ex-situ by gas chromatographic technique revealing the presence of adenine (C5H5N5), one of the constituents of the DNA molecule.