We present a comparison of previous simulations of the interaction of the Galactic disc with the Milky Way (MW) satellites using superbox-10 with new simulations performed with gadget-2 and ChaNGa. The robust performance of gadget-2 motivates us to employ more recent versions of gadget to identify the satellite debris in the MW halo, disc and bulge.

The observed polarization of radio pulsars involves several peculiar effects, such as comparable amount of orthogonal polarization modes (OPMs) which often bear the same handedness of circular polarisation V. In the average profiles of B1913+16 and B1933+16, orthogonal jumps of polarization angle (PA) are observed to occur at the maximum V, instead of V = 0. High levels of V are also observed in core components (eg. in B1237+25), where they are accompanied by strong distortions of PA from the rotating vector model. In weakly polarized emission, PA jumps by 45° are observed in B1919+21 and B0823+26. It is shown that all these peculiarities can be interpreted in a model which assumes coherent addition of waves in natural propagation modes.

The Coronal Solar Magnetism Observatory (CoSMO) is a proposed new facility led by the High Altitude Observatory and a consortium of partners to measure magnetic field and plasma properties in a large (one degree) field of view extending down to the inner parts of the solar corona. CoSMO is intended as a research facility that will advance the understanding and prediction of space weather. The instrumentation elements of CoSMO are: a white-light coronagraph (KCor), already operational at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO); the Chromosphere and Prominence Magnetometer (ChroMag), due for deployment to MLSO next year; and the CoSMO Large Coronagraph (LC) which has completed Preliminary Design Review.

W49 A is a star-forming region (SFR) found in the constellation of Aquila. It contains 3 active regions: W49 North (W49 N), W49 South West (W49 SW) and W49 South (W49 S). We present preliminary results from two epochs (e-)MERLIN observations of all ground-state OH masers towards the star-forming region (SFR) complex W49 A. The first epoch of observations was done in full-polarization mode with MERLIN in 2005 while the second epoch was obtained only in dual circular polarization during the test observations of the upgraded e-MERLIN in 2013. The overall maser spatial distributions in both epochs are in good agreement. We found several new high velocity maser features up to +34 km s−1 and −28 km s−1. The magnetic field strengths are between 1.1 to 10.8 mG. All three sources show evidence of magnetic field reversal.

We have used the Coronagraphic and Heliospheric Imaging data from Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) to observe a prominence which is erupted on June 7th 2011. This prominence is subjected to the morphological evolution of MRT instability from the lower solar corona upto the inter-planetary space. The unstable structures are converted into the bunch of localized plasma spikes due to the turbulent mixing, and propagate in the inter-planetary space upto 1 A.U.

In 2014 we conducted a survey for 6.7 GHz methanol masers with the Arecibo Telescope toward far infrared sources selected from the Hi-GAL catalog of massive cores. We found a number of sources with weak 6.7 GHz methanol masers, possibly indicating regions in early stages of star formation. Here we describe the results of follow-up observations that were conducted with the Very Large Array in New Mexico to characterize this new population of “weak” 6.7 GHz methanol masers.

The age-dependent activity of a star dictates the extent of its planetary impact. We study the interaction of the stellar wind produced by Solar-like stars with the magnetosphere of Earth-like planets using three dimensional (3D) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. The numerical simulations reveal important features of star-planet interaction e.g. bow-shock, magnetopause, magnetotail, etc. Interesting phenomena such as particle injection into the planetary atmosphere as well as atmospheric mass loss are also observed which are instrumental in determining the atmospheric retention by the planet.

We show how to capture the behaviour of the phase-space distribution function (DF) of a Galactic disc stellar population at a resonance. This is done by averaging the Hamiltonian over fast angle variables and re-expressing the DF in terms of a new set of canonical actions and angles variables valid in the resonant region. We then assign to the resonant DF the time average along the orbits of the axisymmetric DF expressed in the new set of actions and angles. This boils down to phase-mixing the DF in terms of the new angles, such that the DF for trapped orbits only depends on the new set of actions. This opens the way to quantitatively fitting the effects of the bar and spirals to Gaia data in terms of distribution functions in action space.

The space weather forecast can be conditionally divided into three components: 1) The forecast of recurrent slowly varying events which are associated with the topology of a large-scale magnetic field; 2) Evaluation of fluxes of ultraviolet and extreme radiation; 3) Detecting and determining the parameters of eruptions and CME. All three components can be observed and evaluated by ground-based telescopes. In this article we describe the telescopes of the space weather service in Kislovodsk Mountain Astronomical Station. Telescope-magnetograph STOP for the forecast of recurrent events and patrol telescopes-spectrographs for detecting CME and estimating hard radiation fluxes.

We evaluated ambipolar diffusion velocity in a magnetar. Previous studies concerning ambipolar diffusion ignored the presence of the crust, although a magnetar has both core and crust. We considered both core and crust and examined the influence of the crust in this study. We found that the crustal magnetic field can accelerate the ambipolar diffusion in its core.

We summarize a long-term monitoring of 11 periodic 6.7 GHz methanol masers and a search for new periodic sources. Observations were carried out with the Torun 32 m telescope. Periods of observed sources range from 29 to 658 days and the data consist of more than 10 observed cycles for most of the masers. Inspection of archival data resulted in identification of 3 new periodic sources while 2 new periodic objects were found in observations started in 2014.

The High-Energy Particle Detector (HEPD) will measure electrons, protons and light nuclei fluxes, in low Earth orbit. This detector consists of a high precision silicon tracker, a versatile trigger system, a range-calorimeter and an anti-coincidence system. It is one of the instruments on board the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES). HEPD can detect multi-MeV particles trapped within the geomagnetic field. When operated at large latitudes HEPD can also detect un-trapped solar particles and low energy cosmic rays. A detailed description of the HEPD will be given.

In the recent years it has been generally accepted that seismic parameters add an important observational constraint for the study of stellar populations and galaxy evolution. Padova-Trieste (PARSEC) evolutionary tracks are widely used to characterise stellar objects and stellar populations. Stellar models at the base of these studies suffer from uncertainties and, more important, degeneracy among different input parameters: stellar mass, chemical composition, central chemical mixing, age, etc. Adding seismic properties to the classic parameters for stars at different evolutionary states, from the H main-sequence to the asymptotic giant branch, is a powerful tool to calibrate physical processes in stellar models, and hence to improve our interpretation of Galactic and extra-Galactic observations.

In this study the onset of stress-free Boussinesq thermal convection in rotating spherical shells with aspect ratio η = rinner/router = 0.9, Prandtl numbers Pr ∈ [10−4, 10−1], and Taylor numbers Ta ∈ [104, 1012] is considered. We focus on the form of the convective cell pattern that develops, and on its time scales, since this may have observational consequences for thermonuclear burning and the development of burst oscillations in the exploding oceans of accreting neutron stars (Watts (2012)).

By considering the physical properties of Sun-like G stars and their exoplanets, present study examines whether presence of planets near the host stars enhances their stellar activity. In order to attain this goal, chromospheric RHK index data-a proxy for the magnetic activity-for the stars with and without planets is considered. With the reasonable constraints on the exoplanetary data, we obtained a power law decay relationship between the magnetic activity of host stars and their ages, for stars with and without planets. Both these results strongly suggest that there is no difference in magnetic activity of the sun-like stars with and without presence of planets. In order to confirm this result, further we also examine an association between the host stars RHK index that have exoplanets and their respective exoplanetary masses. We find that magnitude of RHK (hence magnetic activity) of the host stars is independent of presence of planetary mass in its vicinity.

Both direct observations and reconstructions from various datasets, suggest that conditions were radically different during the Maunder Minimum (MM) than during the space era. Using an MHD model, we develop a set of feasible solutions to infer the properties of the solar wind during this interval. Additionally, we use these results to drive a global magnetospheric model. Finally, using the 2008/2009 solar minimum as an upper limit for MM conditions, we use results from the International Reference Ionosphere (ILI) model to speculate on the state of the ionosphere. The results describe interplanetary, magnetospheric, and ionospheric conditions that were substantially different than today. For example: (1) the solar wind density and magnetic field strength were an order of magnitude lower; (2) the Earth’s magnetopause and shock standoff distances were a factor of two larger; and (3) the maximum electron density in the ionosphere was substantially lower.

We investigate here the effect of the selection function on the metallicity distribution function (MDF) as well as on the vertical metallicity gradient by studying similar lines-of-sight using four different spectroscopic surveys (APOGEE, LAMOST, RAVE and Gaia-ESO) which have different targeting strategies and therefore different selection functions. We create mock fields for each survey using two stellar population synthesis models, GALAXIA and TRILEGAL. The effects of the selection function are studied in detail by applying the selection function to the two models and comparing the MDF as well as vertical metallicity gradients of the selected sources with that of the underlying sample. We find a negligible selection function effect on the MDF as well as on the vertical metallicity gradients for APOGEE, RAVE and LAMOST, and estimate a mean vertical metallicity gradient of -0.241±0.028 dex kpc−1.

We present radio continuum and water maser observations toward the high-mass star-forming region IRAS 23151+5912 from the VLA and VLBA archive, respectively. We detected a continuum source, which seems to be a hypercompact HII region. In addition, a water maser group about 4″ south from the continuum source was detected. We present preliminary results of the analysis of three observations epochs of the water masers, which are tracing an arc-like structure. However, its kinematics is quite complex, since while one section of the structure seems to be moving away from one center, another section seems to be approaching.

International LOFAR stations, equipped with powerful backends, can be used as individual telescopes, and provide data sets complementary to those obtained with the LOFAR Core. Such “local mode” observations are particularly adapted to monitoring observations, where the advantage of having a high observing cadence (one observation per week) outweighs the reduced sensitivity of a single station when compared to the full array. With such observations, it is possible to monitor the temporal evolution of the pulsars’ behaviour via its dispersion, scattering, intensity, and profile shape. We present recent studies performed in the LOFAR low band (10-90 MHz).