The presence or absence of dwarf galaxies with Mr' > -14 in low-density volumes correlates with dark matter halos and how they affect galaxy formation. We are conducting a redshifted Hα imaging survey for dwarf galaxies with Mr' > -13 in the heart of the well-defined voids FN2 and FN8 using the KPNO 4m Mayall telescope and Mosaic Imager. These data have furnished over 600 strong candidates in a four square degree area. Follow-up spectra finding none of these candidates to be within the void volumes will constrain the dwarf population there to be 2 to 8% of the cosmic mean. Conversely, finding even one Hα dwarf in the void heart will challenge several otherwise successful theories of large-scale structure formation.

We present high resolution molecular line observations of dusty AGN and starburst in nearby luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs), VV 114 (band 3/4/7) and NGC 1614 (band 3/6/7/9), with ALMA. Multi-frequency imaging from 4.8 GHz to 691 GHz of NGC 1614 allows us to study spatial properties of the radio-to-FIR continuum and multiple CO transitions, and we find the CO excitation up to Jupp = 6 can be explained by a single ISM model powered by nuclear starbursts. Our processing line imaging survey for VV 114 detected at least 30 molecular lines which show different chemical composition from region to region. Multi-molecule imaging helps us to diagnose the chemical differences of dusty ISM, while multi-transition imaging allows us to investigate gas physical conditions affected by nuclear activities directly.

We performed three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of idealized giant molecular cloud collisions including star formation and radiative transfer. We found that the characteristics of the colliding systems are similar to the observations of the Spitzer bubbles, suggesting these objects could be created in such interactions. A high velocity collision creates a top-heavy core mass distribution but is not strongly affected by radiation. At lower collision speeds, the HII regions have time to expand within the shock and promote the formation of massive cores.

Task Force 3 is focused on public outreach. A number of projects have been funded by the OAD in the past, and in this meeting, the opportunity was provided for both funded projects as well as other non-funded projects with similar objectives.Three projects were presented during the session which sparked discussion in this area.The following outlines the talks.

I describe the concept of a pulsar timing array and give broad overview of the construction of a pulsar timing array, methods for high-precision timing and noise characterization, and algorithms for gravitational wave detection and source characterization. I then provide an overview of worldwide pulsar timing programs and the scale and sensitivity of the pulsar timing array efforts, with particular attention to the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA). I discuss the most recent results from pulsar timing arrays, emphasizing the gravitational wave detection efforts in particular. Finally, I describe the anticipated future growth in participants, telescopes, pulsars, and sensitivity of the IPTA, highlighting the transformational advances that it will enable over the next decade.

The AMIGA project carries out a multiwavelength study of the largest catalogue of isolated galaxies from the Local Universe (CIG, Karachentseva 1973). Compared to any other sample —field galaxies included— and using highly strict isolation criteria (unperturbed for at least ~3 Gyr, Verdes-Montenegro et al. 2005), all the results show that these galaxies have the lowest values of the physical magnitudes expected to be enhanced by interactions. This strongly supports isolated galaxies as ideal laboratories for the study of galaxy formation and evolution. Despite CIG galaxies show the lowest HI integrated profile asymmetry level when compared to any other sample, some cases present up to 50% HI asymmetry (Espada et al. 2011b). We aim to shed light over the causes and sources of such asymmetries with our deep radiointerferometric and optical observations of CIG targets. Since major mergers are ruled out by the isolation criteria, in this work we are addressing whether minor mergers, internal processes or primordial gas accretion are responsible for such asymmetries.

We present the first measurement of the growth rate of structure at z=0.8. It has been obtained from the redshift-space distortions observed in the galaxy clustering pattern in the VIMOS Public Redshift survey (VIPERS) first data release. VIPERS is a large galaxy redshift survey probing the large-scale structure at 0.5 < z < 1.2 with an unprecedented accuracy. This measurement represents a new reference in the distant Universe, which has been poorly explored until now. We obtain σ8 = 0.47 ± 0.08 at z = 0.8 that is consistent with the predictions of standard cosmological models based on Einstein gravity. This measurement alone is however not accurate enough to allow the detection of possible deviations from standard gravity.

We present the first results from a survey of deep imaging of edge-on galaxies, with the goal of testing the growth-by-accretion of galaxies proposed by ΛCDM. The data were obtained with a new telescope at the Wise Observatory. Our images show previously unreported extensions of the disk, tidal distortions, and streams at the level of 27-28 mag arcsec−2.

In 2008, Granett et al. claimed a direct detection of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe (iSW) effect, through the stacking of CMB patches at the positions of identified superstructures. Additionally, the high amplitude of their measured signal was reported to be at odds with predictions from the standard model of cosmology. However, a closer inspection of these results prompts multiple questions, more specifically about the amplitude and significance of the expected signal. We propose here an original theoretical prediction of the iSW effect produced by such superstructures. We use simulations based on GR and the LTB metric to reproduce cosmic structures and predict their exact theoretical iSW effect on the CMB. The amplitudes predicted with this method are consistent with the signal measured when properly accounting the contribution of the non-negligible (and fortuitous) primordial CMB fluctuations to the total signal. It also highlights the tricky nature of stacking measurements and their interpretation.

We present star formation rates and nebular abundances of 59 different star-forming regions in 16 nearby galaxies. The star-forming regions were selected to be bright in Hα and were observed with the SNIFS integral field spectrograph on the UH 2.2m telescope. The spectra span the wavelength range between 3200Å and 1μm. We find that the local star formation rates depend on the local abundances in that low SFRs show a dependence but high SFR appear insensitive to it.

By monitoring the arrival times from millisecond pulsars for years to decades, it is possible to search for, or place limits on, nanohertz frequency gravitational radiation. The most promising source of gravitational waves in this band is a stochastic background emitted from a population of supermassive black hole binaries. As these binaries are the direct product of of galaxy mergers and the properties of the SMBHs correlated strongly with their host galaxies, the gravitational wave emission of the binaries can be used to study how galaxies evolve. Here I discuss how pulsar timing can be used to search for gravitational waves, and how limits on the strength of the background are being used to challenge models of supermassive black hole formation and evolution.

The preparation for The International Year of Astronomy 2009 stirred our interest in preparing star parties in Mexico. The lunar eclipse of February 20th 2008 was the perfect event for the first massive observation in Mexico City that attracted over 25,000 people. To accompany this event there were additional attractions: a massive astronomical lecture, more than 100 telescopes were set up for people to watch the sky, exhibits of astronomical images, children hands-on projects, rock concert, dance performance, and chats with astronomers. Already in 2009 a collective program was organized to involve more than 30 sites in Mexico to hold star parties at the same time once a year. These star parties were more in the spirit of science fairs, that include lectures, astronomy exhibits, children projects, as well as concerts and other cultural displays. The scope of each one of them depended on the local support from volunteers and from the local authorities. After the International Year of Astronomy the group that organized these star parties decided to continue its activities. The main attraction in these fairs has been the opportunity to see the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn (if observable) through a telescope. For this program the presence of the amateur astronomers has been crucial. They have brought their instruments to the sites and have generously taught the public how to look through the telescopes and pointed out to the interesting features on the sky.

It is crucially important to observe dense cores in order to investigate the initial condition of star formation since protostars are formed via dynamical collapse of dense cores, inhering the physical properties from their natal dense cores. Here we present the results of ALMA Cycle 0 and Cycle 1 observations of dust continuum emission and molecular rotational lines toward a dense core, MC27 (aka L1521F), which is considered to be very close to the first protostellar core phase. We revealed the spatial/velocity structures of the core are very complex and and suggest that the star formation is highly dynamical.

A country-wide awareness campaign was conducted in India on the trail of Comet ISON, which built upon the networks created during IYA2009, thus maximising its reach.

In the base of our studies of star-forming processes are the data provided by panoramic spectroscopy of galaxies composing our SBS subsample. Observations with multi-pupil spectrographs are organized in a way to obtain the spectral range centered in permitted hydrogen Hα Balmer line, by capturing at least the forbidden doublets of nitrogen [NII]6548,6583 and sulfur [SII]6716,6731. The results obtained are the spatial distributions across the targets of emission intensities and derived properties from line parameters such as radial velocities, which give us the possibility to explore gas kinematics and physical characteristics of HII regions.

WMAP CMB polarization maps have been used to detect a low signal of Faraday Rotation (FR). If this detection is not interpreted as simple noise, it could be produced:

at the last scattering surface (LSS) (z=1100), being primordial,

at Reionization (z=10),

in the Milky Way.

The second interpretation is favoured here. In this case magnetic fields at Reionization with peak values of the order of 10-8 G should produce this observational FR.

The most likely sources of nanohertz gravitational waves (GWs) are supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the center of merging galaxies. A stochastic superposition of GWs from these sources is expected to produce a stochastic GW background that will leave a unique signature in the correlations of arrival times of pulses from a collection of radio pulsars. Using the 9-year data release from the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) collaboration, we perform the first analysis that places constraints on the amplitude and shape of the stochastic GW background. We find that the data favor a turn over in the GW strain spectrum for current models of SMBH merger rates. This result indicates that environmental factors, other than GWs from circular binaries, are influencing the GW spectrum. Furthermore, we map constraints on the spectral shape to constraints on various environmental factors that drive the binary to the GW-driven regime including the stellar mass density for stellar-scattering, mass accretion rate for circumbinary disk interaction, and orbital eccentricity for eccentric binaries.

The first IAU Office of Astronomy for Development Task Force 3 project on light pollution is described along with evaluations and recommendations for future projects.

Observed spectra of quasars provide a powerful tool to test the possible spatial and temporal variations of the fine-structure constant α = e2/ћc over the history of the Universe. It is demonstrated that high sensitivity to the variation of α can be obtained from a comparison of the spectra of quasars and laboratories. We reported a new constraint on the variation of the fine-structure constant based on the analysis of the optical spectra of the fine-structure transitions in [NeIII], [NeV], [OIII], [OI] and [SII] multiplets from 14 Seyfert 1.5 galaxies. The weighted mean value of the α-variation derived from our analysis over the redshift range 0.035 < z < 0.281 Δα/α= (4.50 ± 5.53) \times 10-5. This result presents strong limit improvements on the constraint on Δα/α compared to the published in the literature

We report about an ongoing study of the evolution of 24 S0s with UV-bright ring/arm-like structures observed with SWIFT-UVOT and interpreted via SPH simulations with chemo-photometric implementation.