In traditional transit timing variations (TTVs) analysis of multi-planetary systems, the individual TTVs are first derived from transit fitting and later modelled using n-body dynamic simulations to constrain planetary masses. We show that fitting simultaneously the transit light curves with the system dynamics (photo-dynamical model) increases the precision of the TTV measurements and helps constrain the system architecture. We exemplify the advantages of applying this photo-dynamical model to a multi-planetary system found in K2 data very close to 3:2 mean motion resonance, K2-19. In this case the period of the larger TTV variations (libration period) is much longer (>1.5 years) than the duration of the K2 observations (80 days). However, our method allows to detect the short period TTVs produced by the orbital conjunctions between the planets that in turn permits to uniquely characterise the system. Therefore, our method can be used to constrain the masses of near-resonant systems even when the full libration curve is not observed.

We examine integrated luminosity relations between the IR continuum and the CO rotational ladder observed for local (ultra) luminous infra-red galaxies ((U)LIRGs, LIR ≥ 1011 M⊙) and normal star forming galaxies in the context of radiation pressure regulated star formation proposed by Andrews & Thompson (2011). This can account for the normalization and linear slopes of the luminosity relations (log LIR = α log L'CO + β) of both low- and high-J CO lines observed for normal galaxies. Super-linear slopes occur for galaxy samples with significantly different dense gas fractions. Local (U)LIRGs are observed to have sub-linear high-J (Jup > 6) slopes or, equivalently, increasing LCOhigh-J/LIR with LIR. In the extreme ISM conditions of local (U)LIRGs, the high-J CO lines no longer trace individual hot spots of star formation (which gave rise to the linear slopes for normal galaxies) but a more widespread warm and dense gas phase mechanically heated by powerful supernovae-driven turbulence and shocks.

The compact radio and near-infrared (NIR) source Sagittarius A* has been observed in the context of two NIR triggered global VLT and VLBA campaigns at 43 GHz (7 mm) on May 16-18 2012 and October 4 2014. While on October 4 2014 Sgr A* remained in a quiescent state, a NIR flare on May 17 2012 is accompanied by an increase in flux density of 0.22 Jy at 7 mm delayed by 4.5±0.5 h. Additionally, Sgr A* seems to develop a weak secondary radio off-core component of 0.02 Jy at a position angle of 140° and an angular distance of 1.5 mas shortly before the peak of the flare. This spatial extension and the time delay are in the range of expected values for events casually connected by adiabatic expansion.

Understanding the properties of dwarf galaxies is important not only to put them in their proper cosmological context, but also to understand the formation and evolution of the most common type of galaxies. Dwarf galaxies are divided into two main classes, dwarf irregulars (dIrrs) and dwarf spheroidals (dSphs), which differ from each other mainly because the former are gas-rich objects currently forming stars, while the latter are gas-deficient with no on-going star formation. Transition types (dT) are thought to represent dIs in the process of losing their gas, and can therefore shed light into the possible process of dwarf irregulars (dIrrs) becoming gas-deficient, passively evolving galaxies. Here we present preliminary results from our wide-area VLT/FORS2 MXU spectroscopic survey of the Phoenix dT, from which we obtained line-of-sight velocities and metallicities from the nIR Ca II triplet lines for a large sample of individual Red Giant Branch stars.

The main purpose of Commission 14 is to foster interactions between the astronomical community and those conducting research on atoms, molecules, and solid state particles to provide data vital to reducing and analysing astronomical observations and performing theoretical investigations.

Solar flare X-ray loop top sources (LTSs) are known since early observations from Skylab.They are always present accompanying long duration events (LDE), but their nature remains unclear. One of the main unknowns is spatial structure of LTSs. Observations indicate that LTSs are large and diffuse, but several authors suggested that there is present a fine, internal structure within them which should be resolved even using present space instrumentation.We present an example for the solar flare well observed by SDO/AIA and RHESSI. The LTS was dynamic with an episode of splitting into two sources. We performed detailed analysis of X-ray sources morphology using restored RHESSI images. Moreover, we conducted a number of simulations taking into account various possible spatial distributions of X-ray emission. We have found that in case of the flare investigated RHESSI should be capable to detect the fine structure if present. However it is not visible on the restored images. Some of our simulations suggest that we can also miss large, diffuse sources in the X-ray observations which may eventually lead to misinterpretation of the observed X-ray features.

We report progresses of a joint project on searching for extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars based on LAMOST survey and Subaru follow-up observation. Follow-up high-resolution snapshot spectra have been obtained for 70 objects, resulting in 42 EMP stars. A number of chemically interesting objects have already been identified, including (1) Two UMP (ultra metal-poor) stars with [Fe/H] ~ −4.0. One of them is the second UMP turnoff star with Li detection. (2) A super Li-rich (A(Li) ~ 3.1) EMP giant. This is the most metal-poor and extreme example of Li enhancement in giants known to date, and will shed light on Li production during the evolution of red giants. (3) A few EMP stars showing extreme overabundance in heavy elements. Detailed abundances of these extreme objects and statistics obtained by the large sample of EMP stars will provide important constraints on the Galactic halo formation.

We present preliminary results from MUSE on the Lyα luminosity function in the Hubble Deep Field South (HDFS). Using a large homogeneous sample of LAEs selected through blind spectroscopy, we utilise the unprecedented detection power of MUSE to study the progenitors of L* galaxies back to when the Universe was just ~2 Gyr old. We present these results in the context of the current literature, and highlight the importance of the forthcoming Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) study with MUSE, which will increase the size of our sample by a factor of ~ 10.

Relying on a separable modal expansion of the bispectrum, the implementation of a fast estimator for the full bispectrum of a 3d particle distribution is presented. The computational cost of accurate bispectrum estimation is negligible relative to simulation evolution, so the bispectrum can be used as a standard diagnostic whenever the power spectrum is evaluated. As an application, the time evolution of gravitational and primordial dark matter bispectra was measured in a large suite of N-body simulations. The bispectrum shape changes characteristically when the cosmic web becomes dominated by filaments and halos, therefore providing a quantitative probe of 3d structure formation. Our measured bispectra are determined by ∼ 50 coefficients, which can be used as fitting formulae in the nonlinear regime and for non-Gaussian initial conditions. We also compare the measured bispectra with predictions from the Effective Field Theory of Large Scale Structures (EFTofLSS).

An essential quantity required to understand the physics of the early Universe is the primordial scalar potential and its statistics. We present an inexpensive all-sky reconstruction of the potential from CMB temperature data as well as an extension including polarization data. Once explicitly having the potential, its statistics and underlying physics can be directly obtained avoiding expensive CMB analyses.

In a galaxy, chemical enrichment takes place in an inhomogeneous fashion, and the Galactic Halo is one of the places where the inhomogeneous effects are imprinted and can be constrained from observations. I show this using my chemodynamical simulations of Milky Way type galaxies. The scatter in the elemental abundances originate from radial migration, merging/accretion of satellite galaxies, local variation of star formation and chemical enrichment, and intrinsic variation of nucleosynthesis yields. In the simulated galaxies, there is no strong age-metallicity relation. This means that the most metal-poor stars are not always the oldest stars, and can be formed in chemically unevolved clouds at later times. The long-lifetime sources of chemical enrichment such as asymptotic giant branch stars or neutron star mergers can contribute at low metallicities. The intrinsic variation of yields are important in the early Universe or metal-poor systems such as in the Galactic halo. The carbon enhancement of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars can be best explained by faint supernovae, the low [α/Fe] ratios in some EMP stars naturally arise from low-mass (~ 13 - 15M⊙) supernovae, and finally, the [α/Fe] knee in dwarf spheroidal galaxies can be produced by subclasses of Type Ia supernovae such as SN 2002cx-like objects and sub-Chandrasekhar mass explosions.

We observed the Galactic centre (GC) region with the partially upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) using a wideband system in frequency ranges of 300– 500 MHz with 16 antennas. Preliminary results are presented here. Sgr-A* is clearly detected down to 450 MHz. Sgr-A West slowly disappears at lower frequencies across the band. By taking cross-cuts across the known major-axis of Sgr-A*, we measure its total flux density across the band to be 0.4 Jy consistent with what is expected from earlier results. It clearly indicates lack of absorption from Sgr-A West. Its spectral index is consistent with its higher frequency value of +0.3.

We report the results of new survey of star-forming regions in the outer Galaxy at Galactocentric radius of more than 13.5 kpc, where the environment is significantly different from that in the solar neighborhood.

We present results of analysis of the spectra collected with Polish instrument RESIK flown on CORONAS-F satellite. RESIK was the bent crystal spectrometer, measuring spectra in the spectral range 3.3 - 6.1 Å with a high cadence during flares. The emission lines as well as the continuum observed by RESIK are formed in hotter (T > 3 MK) plasmas of active regions and flares. RESIK observed various types of flares: from X-ray class B and C up to strongest flares of X-class, for both, short and long duration events. The analysis of absolute and relative spectral intensities of the lines and continuum observed for 33 events allowed for determining the plasma elemental composition with subsequent detailed study of time changes of the temperature structure of the sources described in terms of the differential emission measure (DEM). As an example we present the typical DEM evolutionary patterns for the C1.9 flare (SOL2002-12-26T08:35) and discuss its thermodynamics.

The Zeldovich approximation (ZA) predicts the formation of a web of singularities. While these singularities may only exist in the most formal interpretation of the ZA, they provide a powerful tool for the analysis of initial conditions. We present a novel method to find the skeleton of the resulting cosmic web based on singularities in the primordial deformation tensor and its higher order derivatives. We show that the A3 lines predict the formation of filaments in a two-dimensional model. We continue with applications of the adhesion model to visualise structures in the local (z < 0.03) universe.

Recent Herschel and Planck observations of submillimeter dust emission revealed the omnipresence of filamentary structures in the interstellar medium (ISM). The ubiquity of filaments in quiescent clouds as well as in star-forming regions indicates that the formation of filamentary structures is a natural product of the physics at play in the magnetized turbulent cold ISM. An analysis of more than 270 filaments observed with Herschel in 8 regions of the Gould Belt, shows that interstellar filaments are characterized by a narrow distribution of central width sharply peaked at ~0.1 pc, while they span a wide column density range. Molecular line observations of a sample of these filaments show evidence of an increase in the velocity dispersion of dense filaments with column density, suggesting an evolution in mass per unit length due to accretion of surrounding material onto these star-forming filaments. The analyses of Planck dust polarization observations show that both the mean magnetic field and its fluctuations along the filaments are different from those of their surrounding clouds. This points to a coupling between the matter and the $\vec{B}$-field in the filament formation process. These observational results, derived from dust and gas tracers in total and polarized intensity, set strong constraints on our understanding of the formation and evolution of filaments in the ISM. They provide important clues on the initial conditions of the star formation process along interstellar filaments.

The Planck satellite has mapped the polarized microwave sky (from 30 GHz to 353 GHz) with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution. This wealth of data yields the first complete map of polarized thermal emission from dust in our own Galaxy, shedding new light on the formation of dense cold structures within which new stars and planetary systems are born, under the combined effects of gravity, turbulence and magnetic fields. We present a statistical analysis of this polarized emission from nearby molecular clouds, with an emphasis on the evolution of the maximum polarization fraction observed as a function of column density, and on the anti-correlation between the polarization fraction and the local dispersion of polarization angles. To interpret this data, numerical simulations of anisotropic MHD turbulence underline the essential role played by the topology of the interstellar magnetic field, in particular its large-scale component. Indeed, the polarization of dust thermal emission at the scales observed by Planck is essentially related to the geometry of the magnetic field. Polarization fractions anti-correlate with column densities, which may be due to a succession of variously polarized structures on the line of sight. They also anti-correlate with the local dispersion of polarization angles. These features are well reproduced by MHD simulations of the diffuse ISM, with comparable correlation coefficients. As an extension to this work published in Planck Intermediate Results XX (A&A, 576, 105, 2015), the statistical properties of the random component of the interstellar magnetic field are explored using a toy model of the turbulent magnetized ISM based on fractional Brownian motion (fBm) fields. A least-squares analysis to retrieve the statistical properties of the interstellar magnetic field from Planck observations is pursued. Application of this method on the toy model shows good promise, and we are currently working towards its application on Planck data.

This report summarizes laboratory measurements of atomic wavelengths, energy levels, hyperfine and isotope structure, energy level lifetimes, and oscillator strengths. Theoretical calculations of lifetimes and oscillator strengths are also included. The bibliography is limited to species of astrophysical interest. Compilations of atomic data and internet databases are also included. Papers are listed in the bibliography in alphabetical order, with a reference number in the text.

We present a measurement of the spatial clustering of massive compact galaxies at 1 ≤ z ≤ 3 in CANDELS/3D-HST. We obtain the correlation length and characteristic DM halo masses for compact quiescent galaxies (cQGs) at z ~ 1.5 and compact starforming galaxies (cSFGs) at z ~ 2.5. By comparison with extended starforming galaxies (eSFGs), our result indicates that eSFGs are less possible to be the progenitors of cQGs at lower redshift. Our results indicates that cQGs at z ~ 1.5 could be the progenitors of local luminous ETGs and the descendants of cSFGs and SMGs at z > 2.

Close-in massive planets transfer angular momentum to their host stars and influence their rotation through the torques associated with the tides raised on the star by the planet. For a star hosting a hot Jupiter, the limit of distance below which tidal torques cannot be neglected grows from a ~0.04 to a ~0.07 AU as the mass of the planet grows from 0.5 to 4MJup.