NEO research is a great challenge just now - for science, for exploration and for planetary defence. Therefore NEO discoveries, astrometric follow-up, orbit computations as well as physical studies are of high interest both to science community and humankind.

The KLENOT Project of the Klet Observatory, South Bohemia, Czech Republic pursued the confirmation, early follow-up, long-arc follow-up and recovery of Near Earth Objects since 2002. Tens of thousands astrometric measurements helped to make inventory of NEOs as well as to understand the NEO population. It ranked among the world most prolific professional NEO follow-up programmes during its first phase from 2002 to 2008. The fundamental improvement of the 1.06-m KLENOT Telescope was started in autumn 2008. The new computer controlled paralactic mount was built to substantially increase telescope-time efficiency, the number of observations, their accuracy and limiting magnitude.

The testing observations of the KLENOT Telescope Next Generation (NG) were started in October 2011. The new more efficient CCD camera FLI ProLine 230 was installed in summer 2013. The original Klet Software Package has been continually upgraded over the past two decades of operation. Along with huge hardware changes we have decided for essential changes in software and the whole KLENOT work-flow. Using the current higher computing power available, enhancing and updating our databases and astrometry program, the core of our software package, will prove highly beneficial. Moreover, the UCAC4 as the more precise astrometric star catalog was implemented. The modernized KLENOT System was put into full operation in September 2013. This step opens new possibilities for the KLENOT Project, the long-term European Contribution to Monitoring and Cataloging Near Earth Objects.

KLENOT Project Goals are confirmatory observations of newly discovered fainter NEO candidates, early follow-up of newly discovered NEOs, long-arc follow-up astrometry of NEOs in need of further data. The higher priority is given to Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) and Virtual Impactors (VIs), recoveries of NEOs in the second opposition and also follow-up astrometry of radar or mission targets, special follow-up requests and follow-up astrometry of other unusual objects (comets, bright TNOs) including analysis of cometary features of suspected bodies, and also search for new asteroids, especially NEOs as well as other objects showing unusual motion.

The KLENOT Telescope is located at the Klet Observatory, South Bohemia, Czech Republic (Central Europe), at geographical position: latitude 14° 17' 17” E, longitude 48° 51' 48”N, elevation 1068 meters above sea level, in a rather dark site in the middle of the Protected Landscape Area Blanský les. Average number of clear nights per year about 120. Our IAU/MPC code is 246

KLENOT Project Advantages:

• • full observing time is dedicated to the KLENOT team

• • quick changes in an observing plan possible, even during an observing night

• • long-term NEO activities at Klet (since 1992)

• • experienced observers/measurers visually validate each moving object candidate

• • real-time processing of targeted objects

KLENOT Next Generation Telescope technical data (since 2013):

• • new computer controlled paralactic mount

• • 1.06-m f/3 main mirror (Zeiss)

• • four lenses primary focus corrector

• • 1.06-m f/2.7 optical system

• • CCD camera FLI ProLine PL230

• • chip e2v 2048 × 2048 pixels, pixel size 15 microns, Peltier cooling

• • FOV 37 × 37 arcminutes, image scale 1.1 arcseconds per pixel

• • limiting magnitude mV=21.5 mag. for 120-sec exposure time

KLENOT Project First Phase Results(2002-2008)

total of 52,658 astrometric measurements of 5,867 bodies, it contains:

• • 13,342 astrometric measurements of 1,369 NEAs (MPC,NEODys)

• • confirmation and astrometry of 623 NEAs from NEOCP (MPECs)

• • recoveries of 4 comets and 16 NEAs (including 196P/Tichý)

• • astrometry of 157 Virtual Impactors (CLOMON, SENTRY)

• • detection of cometary features of 34 bodies (IAUCs)

• • discovery of splitting of comet C/2004 S1 (Van Ness)

• • independent discovery of 4 fragments of comet 73P/S-W 3

• • asteroid discoveries - 750 bodies

• • 3 NEOs - Apollo 2002 LK, Aten 2003 UT55, Apollo 2006 XR4, 1 JFA 2004 RT109

The first KLENOT Project Next Generation Results (since 2011)

total of 10,054 astrometric measurements of 1,298 bodies, it contains:

• • 2,211 astrometric measurements of 263 NEAs(MPC,NEODys)

• • confirmation and astrometry of 143 NEAs from NEOCP (MPECs)

• • astrometry of 18 Virtual Impactors (CLOMON, SENTRY)

• • detection of cometary features of 5 bodies (IAUCs)

Polarimetry is routinely used to characterise the surfaces of bodies in our solar system. In the near future, polarisation measurements of the starlight reflected by exoplanets will become a common and powerful tool to constrain the atmospheres and the surface properties of other worlds.

If extra-terrestial life has similar signatures as the life we know, then astronomical observations of planet Earth represent a benchmark to eventually probe bio-signatures also on other planets. In fact, linear polarisation spectra of Earthshine (the sunlight that has been first reflected by Earth and then reflected back to Earth by the Moon), allow us to detect the presence of oxygen, ozone, and water in the atmosphere of our planet. Surface properties such as fractional contributions of clouds and ocean, as well as vegetation can be inferred. Ultimately, Earthshine observations provide strong observational constraints on model predictions for Earth-like exoplanets.

In this contribution, we review the most recent observations of Earthshine by polarimetry. We highlight some advances in the interpretation and modelling of whole Earth polarisation, which will be of paramount importance to interpret possible bio-signatures of Earth-like planets in the habitable zone of nearby stars in the future.

We conduct a case study on a normal star-forming galaxy (z=0.05) observed by the SAMI Galaxy Survey and demonstrate the feasibility and potential of using large integral field spectroscopic surveys to investigate the prevalence of galactic-scale outflows in the local Universe. We perform spectral decomposition to separate the different kinematic components overlapping in the line-of-sight direction that causes the skewed line profiles in the integral field data. The three kinematic components present distinctly different line ratios and kinematic properties. We model the line ratios with the shock/photoionization code mappings iv and demonstrate that the different emission line properties are caused by major galactic outflows that introduce shock excitation in addition to photoionization. These results set a benchmark of the type of analysis that can be achieved by the SAMI Galaxy Survey on large numbers of galaxies.

Cygnus A, the nearest truly powerful radio galaxy, resides at the centre of a massive galaxy cluster. Chandra X-ray observations reveal its cocoon shocks, radio lobe cavities and an X-ray jet, which are discussed here. It is argued that X-ray emission from the outer regions of the cocoon shocks is nonthermal. The X-ray jets are best interpreted as synchrotron emission, suggesting that they, rather than the radio jets, are the path of energy flow from the nucleus to the hotspots. In that case, a model shows that the jet flow is non-relativistic and carries in excess of one solar mass per year.

The detection of intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) in globular clusters has been hotly debated, with different observational methods delivering different outcomes for the same object. In order to understand these discrepancies, we construct detailed mock integral field spectroscopy (IFU) observations of globular clusters, starting from realistic Monte Carlo cluster simulations. The output is a data cube of spectra in a given field-of-view that can be analyzed in the same manner as real observations and compared to other (resolved) kinematic measurement methods. We show that the main discrepancies arise because the luminosity-weighted IFU observations can be strongly biased by the presence of a few bright stars that introduce a scatter in velocity dispersion measurements of several km s−1. We show that this intrinsic scatter can prevent a sound assessment of the central kinematics, and therefore should be fully taken into account to correctly interpret the signature of an IMBH.

We present ETICS, a collisionless N-body code based on two kinds of series expansions of the Poisson equation, implemented for graphics processing units (GPUs). The code is publicly available and can be used as a standalone program or as a library (an AMUSE plugin is included). One of the two expansion methods available is the self-consistent field (SCF) method, which is a Fourier-like expansion of the density field in some basis set; the other is the multipole expansion (MEX) method, which is a Taylor-like expansion of the Green's function. MEX, which has been advocated in the past, has not gained as much popularity as SCF. Both are particle-field methods and optimized for collisionless galactic dynamics, but while SCF is a “pure” expansion, MEX is an expansion in just the angular part; thus, MEX is capable of capturing radial structure easily, while SCF needs a large number of radial terms.

Submillimetre-selected galaxies are the most luminous, heavily star-forming galaxies in the Universe. While this field has exploded observationally over the past decade and a half, theorists have struggled to develop a concordance model for their origin. Here, I review the major theoretical efforts in this field. I then present a newly developed model for the origin of this enigmatic population of galaxies.

Asteroid polarimetry has taken profit in recent years of a renewed interest triggered by exciting results from observing campaigns and theoretical studies. One of the most important applications of polarimetry to asteroid studies is the derivation of the geometric albedo and of the typical sizes of the particles forming the regolith layer covering the surface. Moreover, the serendipitous discovery of a new class of asteroids displaying unusual polarimetric properties, the so-called “Barbarians”, has been followed by increasing evidence that these objects can be extremely primitive and may be interpreted as remnants of the very first generation of solid bodies accreted in the inner Solar System. In addition, some results of asteroid polarimetry are going to be interpreted, for the first time, in terms of some “ground truth” evidence, made possible by in situ observations of the surface of the asteroid (4) Vesta by the Dawn space probe. Finally, some preliminary evidence suggests that spectro-polarimetry is going to become a major tool for the physical characterization of the small bodies of the solar system.

Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) has deployed a homogeneous telescope network of nine 1-meter telescopes to four locations in the northern and southern hemispheres, with a planned network size of twelve 1-meter telescopes at 6 locations. This network is very versatile and is designed to respond rapidly to target of opportunity events and also to perform long term monitoring of slowly changing astronomical phenomena. The global coverage of the network and the apertures of telescope available make LCOGT ideal for follow-up and characterization of Solar System objects (e.g. asteroids, Kuiper Belt Objects, comets, Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)) and additionally for the discovery of new objects.

We are using the LCOGT network to confirm newly detected NEO candidates produced by the major sky surveys such as Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) and PanSTARRS (PS1&2) and several hundred targets are now being followed per year. An increasing amount of time is being spent to obtain follow-up astrometry and photometry for radar-targeted objects and those on the Near-Earth Object Human Space Flight Accessible Targets Study (NHATS) or Asteroid Retrieval Mission (ARM) lists in order to improve the orbits, determine the light curves and rotation periods and improve the characterization. This will be extended to obtain more light curves of other NEOs which could be targets. Recent results have included the first period determinations for several of the Goldstone-targeted NEOs. We are in the process of building a NEO follow-up portal which will allow professionals, amateurs and Citizen Scientists to plan, schedule and analyze NEO imaging and spectroscopy observations and data using the LCOGT Network and to act as a co-ordination hub for the NEO follow-up efforts.

I discuss how the cosmographic approach to the determination of cosmological parameters can be implemented with the inclusion of high-redshift data. I argue on the viability of such high-z probes for cosmographic purposes, and resume some statistical issues in finding the most reliable cosmographic truncation.

We quantify the thermodynamic requirement for the Vertical Shear Instability and evaluate its relevance to realistic protoplanetary disks as a potential route to hydrodynamic turbulence.

Comets generally stay long in the sky and can be seen from many places on the surface of the Earth. We are interested in historical comets which were observed at plural sites. We have shown in a previous work (Tanikawa & Sôma, 2008) that in the seventh century, five comets were observed independently in China and Japan. From this fact and other data, we deduced that Japanese observational astronomy started in the seventh century. We know that, other than China and Japan, Korea and Vietnam had observational astronomy before the 9th century. We look for historical comets observed at plural sites by surveying the existing literature of respective countries. Examining the independence of the records, we provide a list of comets observed independently at plural sites. This strengthens the reliability of the records of comets. The list can be used for other purposes.

Radio sources are divided into two distinct morphological groups of objects: Fanaroff-Riley type I and type II sources. There is a relatively sharp luminosity boundary between these at low frequency. The nature of the FR division is still an open issue, as are the details of the evolutionary process in which younger and smaller GHz-peaked spectrum (GPS) and compact steep spectrum (CSS) sources become large-scale radio structures. It is still unclear whether FRII objects evolve to become FRIs, or whether a division has already occurred amongst CSS sources and some of these then become FRIs and some FRIIs. We explored evolution scenarios of AGNs using new radio, optical and X-ray data of unstudied so far Low Luminosity Compact (LLC) sources. We suggest that the determining factors of the further evolution of compact radio objects could occur at subgalactic (or even nuclear) scales, or they could be related to the radio jet - interstellar medium (ISM) interactions and evolution. Our studies show that the evolutionary track could be related to the interaction, strength of the radio source and excitation levels of the ionized gas instead of the radio morphology of the young radio source.

Does photometric and spectroscopic survey benefit from overlapping areas? The photometric survey measures 2D Weak Lensing (WL) information from galaxy shape distortions. On the other hand, the higher redshift precision of an spectroscopic survey allows measurements of redshift space distortions (RSD) and baryonic accustic oscillations (BAO) from 3D galaxy counts.

The two surveys are combined using 2D-correlations, using sufficiently narrow bins to capture the radial information. This poster present effects of RSD and intrinsic correlations between narrow redshift bins. In understanding how the effects affects cosmological constrains, we first define two stage-IV and then present forecast for various configurations. When surveys overlap, they benefit from additional cross-correlations and sample variance cancellations from overlapping volumes. For a combined dark energy and growth history figure of merit, the result increase 50% for overlapping surveys, corresponding to 30% larger area.

We have compiled and analyzed historical meter and meteor shower records in Korean, Chinese, and Japanese chronicles. We have confirmed the peaks of Perseids and an excess due to the mixture of Orionids, north-Taurids, or Leonids through the Monte-Carlo test from the Korean records. The peaks persist for almost one thousand years. We have also analyzed seasonal variation of sporadic meteors from Korean records. Major features in Chinese meteor shower records are quite consistent with those of Korean records, particularly for the last millennium. Japanese records also show Perseids feature and Orionids/north-Taurids/Leonids feature, although they are less prominent compared to those of Korean or Chinese records.

The role of stability in the general three-body problem is investigated with regard to the tidal radius of a globular cluster (GC) in a galactic potential. This proceedings is a summary of two papers which outline the stability method (Kennedy 2014a) and compare the predicted stability boundary radius to observations of velocity dispersion profiles in Milky Way GCs (Kennedy 2014b).

Fast outflows of the ionized plasma, probably lunched in proximity of Supermassive Black Hole, are responsible for blue-shifted Broad Absorption Lines (BALs) in quasar spectrum. Outflows together with powerful jets produced in AGN are important feedback processes. Therefore, understanding physics behind BAL outflows might be a key to comprehend Galaxy Evolution as a whole. Discovery of the existence of radio-loud BAL quasars gave us another opportunity to study the BAL phenomenon, this time on the ground on radio emission. The radio emission is an additional tool to understand the BAL quasars, their orientation and age, by the VLBI imaging (detection of radio jets and their direction, size determination), the radio-loudness parameter distribution and variability study.

Since 2011, Oukaimeden Observatory (OUCA) has become one of the active NEO search facilities in the word. Its discovery statistics shows that the MOSS (Morocco Oukaimeden Sky Survey) project received credits for more than 2,145 new designations, including 3 NEOs and 4 comets. Its excellent astro-climactic characteristics are partly behind the success. The average number of observable nights is around 280 nights per year, while median seeing is 0.8-0.9 arcsec. We completed construction of a new telescope at the site in March 2015. It is Optical Wide-field Patrol (OWL) facility designed and built by Korea Space Science Institute (KASI). The primary objective of this facility is to monitor national space assets of Korea; either wide-field imaging- or fast data acquisition- capabilities enable the 0.5m telescope to conduct observation programs to catalog and follow-up various transient events in the night sky. We present the seeing condition, the OWL system and preliminary results obtained at OWL@Oukaimeden during the past several months.

The debris disk host star HD 76582 was observed at 450 μm and 850 μm as part of the JCMT/SCUBA-2 debris disk legacy survey ‘Sub-millimetre Observations of Nearby Stars’ (SONS). The sub-millimetre data are inconsistent with a disk undergoing a steady-state collisional cascade. Combining the sub-millimetre (sub-mm) measurements with mid- and far-infrared measurements from Spitzer and Herschel, we simultaneously model the disk's thermal emission and radial extent in a self-consistent manner.

The surfaces of the atmosphere-less objects of our solar system are traditionally probed via reflectance measurements and/or broadband linear polarimetry. Little attention has been paid so far to the wavelength dependence of the linear polarization of the scattered light. We decided to explore the potential of spectropolarimetry as a remote sensing tool for asteroids in addition to the more traditional reflectance measurements, and we carried out a spectropolarimetric survey of asteroids – to our best knolwedge, the first of its kind. We observed a sample of asteroids of different albedo and taxonomic classes, as well as a few regions at the limb of the Moon. We show that objects exhibiting similar reflectance spectra may display totally different polarization spectra, and we suggest that both intensity and polarization spectra should be used for asteroid classification. We also found that in some cases the Umov law is violated, that is, in contrast to what is expected from simple physical considerations, the fraction of linear polarization and the reflectance spectra may be correlated positively. We conclude that future modelling attempts of the surface structure of asteroids should be aimed at explaining both reflectance and polarization spectra.