Informal science educators at museums and planetariums face the challenging task of engaging a diverse public audience in contemporary science. To do this they need a solid background in the science itself, educational pedagogy, and modern practices in science communication. The task has gotten even more challenging in the era of big data. Interpreting and visualizing these datasets in planetarium shows and museum exhibits requires specialized technical skills. Furthermore, the increasing pace of discovery means that informal science educators have less time to accomplish these tasks. This presentation will summarize a variety of museum and planetarium community efforts to address these challenges through worldwide collaboration and coordination among museums and planetariums. Solutions include content sharing and distribution mechanisms as well as networking museums and planetariums together to create global worldwide events.

This is a brief review of our understanding of the properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) in dwarf galaxies in connection to their star formation activity. What are the dominant phases of the ISM in these objects? How do the properties of these phases depend on the galaxy properties? What do we know about their cold gas content and its link to star formation activity? Does star formation proceed differently in these galaxies? How does star formation feedback operate in dwarf galaxies? The availability of observations from space-based facilities such as FUSE, Spitzer, Herschel, and Fermi, as well as observatories such as SOFIA and ALMA, is allowing us to make significant strides in our understanding of these questions.

Galaxy clusters are excellent targets for high energy astrophysics with gamma rays. Not only they may host active galaxies, but they are often expected to provide signatures of accelerations of electrons and protons to PeV energies. Furthermore, according to ΛCDM scenario, they should be embedded in an extremely massive dark matter halo, the largest halo expected. In this report, we summarize the recently published MAGIC lower limits on the decaying dark matter lifetime using 202 h of selected high quality data taken on the Perseus galaxy cluster, in a 5-year long campaign.

Observations of HI 21cm transition line is a promising probe into the Dark Ages and Epoch-of-Reionization. Detection of this redshifted 21cm signal is one of the key science goal for several upcoming low-frequency radio telescopes like HERA, SKA and DARE. Other global signal experiments include EDGES, LEDA, BIGHORNS, SCI-HI, SARAS. One of the major challenges for the detection of this signal is the accuracy of the foreground source removal. Several novel techniques have been explored already to remove bright foregrounds from both interferometric as well as total power experiments. Here, we present preliminary results from our investigation on application of ANN to detect 21cm global signal amidst bright galactic foreground. Following the formalism of representing the global 21cm signal by ’tanh’ model, this study finds that the global 21cm signal parameters can be accurately determined even in the presence of bright foregrounds represented by 3rd order log-polynomial or higher.

Phylogenetics is a widely used concept in evolutionary biology. It is the reconstruction of evolutionary history by building trees that represent branching patterns and sequences. These trees represent shared history, and it is our contention that this approach can be employed in the analysis of Galactic history. In Galactic archaeology the shared environment is the interstellar medium in which stars form and provides the basis for tree-building as a methodological tool. Using elemental abundances of solar-type stars as a proxy for DNA, we built such an evolutionary tree to study the chemical evolution of the solar neighbourhood and published in Jofré15 et al. (2017). In this proceeding we summarise these results and discuss future prospects.

The formation of molecules in the interstellar medium is significantly driven by grain chemistry, ranging from simple (e.g. H2) to relatively complex (e.g. CH3OH) products. The movement of atoms and molecules on amorphous ice surfaces is not well constrained, and this is a quintessential component of surface chemistry. We show that ice structure created by utilizing an off-lattice Monte Carlo kinetics model is highly dependent on deposition parameters (i.e. angle, rate, and temperature). The model, thus far, successfully predicts the densities of deposition rate- and temperature-dependent laboratory experiments. The simulations indicate, when angle and deposition rate increase, the density decreases. On the other hand, temperature has the opposite effect and will increase the density. We can make ices with desired densities and monitor how molecules, like CO, percolate through H2O ice pores. The strength of this model lies in the ability to replicate TPD-like experiments by monitoring molecules diffusing on and desorbing from user-defined surfaces.

The inner region of the Milky Way is one of the most interesting and complex regions of the γ-ray sky. Intense interstellar emission and point sources contribute to it, as well as other potential components such as an unresolved population of point sources and dark matter. In recent years, claims have been made of an excess consistent with a dark matter annihilation signal in the data collected with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi–LAT). Although these results are intriguing, the complexity involved in modeling the foreground and background emission from conventional astrophysical sources of γ-rays makes a conclusive interpretation of these results challenging. In these proceedings, I discuss Fermi–LAT observations of the Galactic center region, the methodology for point source detection and treatment of the interstellar emission, the characterization of the GeV excess, and implications for dark matter.

Smith’s Cloud is a large few × 106 Solar Mass cloud which will impact the Milk Way disk in about 35 Million Years (Lockman et al., 2008). Green Bank Telescope OH observations indicate that there are no molecules present in Smith’s Cloud, and thus there is no active ongoing chemistry in Smith’s Cloud.

Building models capable of successfully matching the Terrestrial Planet's basic orbital and physical properties has proven difficult. Meanwhile, improved estimates of the nature of water-rich material accreted by the Earth, along with the timing of its delivery, have added even more constraints for models to match. While the outer Asteroid Belt seemingly provides a source for water-rich planetesimals, models that delivered enough of them to the still-forming Terrestrial Planets typically failed on other basic constraints - such as the mass of Mars.

Recent models of Terrestrial Planet Formation have explored how the gas-driven migration of the Giant Planets can solve long-standing issues with the Earth/Mars size ratio. This model is forced to reproduce the orbital and taxonomic distribution of bodies in the Asteroid Belt from a much wider range of semimajor axis than previously considered. In doing so, it also provides a mechanism to feed planetesimals from between and beyond the Giant Planet formation region to the still-forming Terrestrial Planets.

We present a set of time dependent chemical evolution models (based on the UMIST† astrochemistry 2012 code, McElroy et al. (2013) for a range of initial physical cloud parameters: 10 K < T < 20 K; 103 cm−3 < n(H2) < 5 ⋅ 104 cm−3; 1 < AV < 10 and with estimated values of scaled interstellar ultraviolet radiation field. We compare our chemical model results with the relative abundances of: CO, CH, OH, HCO+, HCN, HNC, NH3, N2H+ and H2CO molecules. We find significant time dependent variations of the chemical ratios of: X(NH3/H2); X(HCO+/H2) and X(HCO+/NH3). The input physical conditions were taken from Fehér O. et al. (2015) at 16 positions along the TMC-1 dark cloud. The NH3 and HCO+ relative densities based on the observations of Fehér O. et al. (2015) help to find the “chemical age” of the given position in the evolution curves.

Clustering analysis indicate that at z ~ 2 submm-selected galaxies (SMGs) reside in very massive halos (MDM > 5 × 1013), suggesting that SMGs trace high-density environments that evolve into rich galaxy clusters. Conversely, recent work suggests that SMGs are tracers of a broader range of environments, including structures with more modest masses caught in highly active periods; since galaxies in these structures are likely caught during episodes of peak starbursts, SMGs may be tracers of a wider range of environments beyond the progenitors of todays very rich clusters, opening a window for a more complete exploration of the details underpinning the process of galaxy evolution in concert with the assembly of the large scale structure (LSS). We have undertaken a large observing program comprising deep narrow-band Ly-alpha imaging and multi-object spectroscopy using Palomar/Keck/Magellan/Gemini telescopes to probe for galaxy overdensities in SMG environments at z ~ 1 − 5. With ~200 spectroscopically-confirmed Ly-alpha emitters, we are in a position to gauge the level of galaxy overdensity in these regions.

We have conducted a LABOCA 870 μm follow-up of ten massive lensing clusters of the Herschel Lensing Survey (HLS, Egami et al. 2010) aiming at unveiling the yet hidden part of dusty star formation in the distant Universe. Among these clusters, A2744 and AS1063 are part of the Frontier Fields HST program. We also obtained 2 mm bolometer observations of A2744 and A370 with the GISMO array at the IRAM 30 m. We detected sources that are undetected with Herschel (PACS and SPIRE) implying either a very high redshift (z > 4) or a very low dust temperature (T<25 K). Their flux also imply a low intrinsic luminosity, LFIR < 1012L⊙. Some of them are extended and could correspond to multiple sources or to multiple images of a lensed source. Substructures in the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect could also contribute this very red submm emission. An ALMA program is ongoing to unveil the nature of these sources.

We present a set of time dependent chemical evolution models (based on the UMIST† astrochemistry 2012 code, Woodall et al. (2007); McElroy et al. (2013) for a range of initial physical cloud parameters: 10 K < T < 20 K; 103 cm−3 < n(H2) < 5 · 104 cm−3; 1 < AV < 10 and with estimated values of scaled interstellar ultraviolet radiation field. Our computation model included the full UMIST gas-phase reaction network for 467 species Garrod et al. (2008), Graedel et al. (1982). We compare our chemical model results with the relative abundances of: CO, CH, OH, HCO+, HCN, HNC, NH3, N2H+ and H2CO molecules. We find significant time dependent variations of the chemical ratios of: X(NH3/H2); X(HCO+/H2) and X(HCO+/NH3). We derive an ammonia age spread for the parts of TMC-1 (Taurus Molecular Cloud-1) that looks more complex than previous estimated showed. Age estimates based on X(NH3/H2); X(HCO+/H2) and X(HCO+/NH3) were compared in 3 selected positions, and were found to be very similar (with ±9% differences).

Integral field spectroscopy of nearby supernova sites within ~30 Mpc have been obtained using multiple IFU spectrographs in Hawaii and Chile. This technique enables both spatial and spectral information of the explosion sites to be acquired simultaneously, thus providing the identification of the parent stellar population of the supernova progenitor and the estimates for its physical parameters including age and metallicity via the spectrum. While this work has mainly been done in the optical wavelengths using instruments such as VIMOS, GMOS, and MUSE, a near-infrared approach has also been carried out using the AO-assisted SINFONI. By studying the supernova parent stellar population, we aim to characterize the mass and metallicity of the progenitors of different types of supernovae.

This short article is about Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS), a very wide-field, massively-multiplexed, and optical & near-infrared (NIR) spectrograph as a next generation facility instrument on Subaru Telescope. More details and updates are available on the PFS official website (http://pfs.ipmu.jp), blog (http://pfs.ipmu.jp/blog/), and references therein.

Interstellar dust is still the dominant uncertainty in Astronomy, limiting precision in e.g., cosmological distance estimates and models of how light is re-processed within a galaxy. When a foreground galaxy serendipitously overlaps a more distant one, the latter backlights the dusty structures in the nearer foreground galaxy. Such an overlapping or occulting galaxy pair can be used to measure the distribution of dust in the closest galaxy with great accuracy. The STARSMOG program uses HST observation of occulting galaxy pairs to accurately map the distribution of dust in foreground galaxies in fine (<100 pc) detail. Furthermore, Integral Field Unit observations of such pairs will map the effective extinction curve in these occulting galaxies, disentangling the role of fine-scale geometry and grain composition on the path of light through a galaxy.

The overlapping galaxy technique promises to deliver a clear understanding of the dust in galaxies: the dust geometry, a probability function of the amount of dimming as a function of galaxy type, its dependence on wavelength, and evolution of all these properties with cosmic time using distant, high-redshift pairs.

Coronal mass ejections are the most spectacular form of solar activity and they play a key role in driving space weather at the Earth. These eruptions are associated with active regions and occur throughout an active region's entire lifetime. All coronal mass ejection models invoke the presence of a twisted magnetic field configuration known as a magnetic flux rope either before or after eruption onset. The observational identification of magnetic flux ropes in the solar atmosphere using remote sensing data represents a challenging task, but theoretical models have led to the understanding that there are signatures that reveal their presence. The range of coronal mass ejection models are helping build a more complete picture of both the trigger and drivers of these eruptions.

We discuss the morphology of star forming clouds and filaments in the central (≲ 50 kpc) regions of 16 low redshift (z<0.3) cool core brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs). The sample spans decades-wide ranges of X-ray mass deposition and star formation rates as well as active galactic nucleus (AGN) mechanical power, encompassing both high and low extremes of the supposed intracluster medium (ICM) cooling and AGN heating feedback cycle. Amid evidence that the gas fueling both star formation and AGN activity has condensed from the hot atmosphere, we present new and archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of far ultraviolet (FUV) continuum emission directly associated with young stars, acting as a calorimeter for the degree to which the suppression of star formation by AGN mechanical feedback may be spatially or temporally inefficient. We discuss evidence for temporal and possibly cyclical variation in star formation rate, wherein elevated cooling episodes are permitted when AGN feedback is in a low-power state, and vice-versa. Several sources exhibit strong morphological evidence that low levels of star formation can survive and may indeed be triggered by the passage of a propagating radio source. We conclude by discussing the apparent coexistence of feedback and star formation. If AGN mechanical power does establish an “entropy floor”, this floor must be porous, or raise and lower as the AGN varies in power.

The Astro Izery project is carried by several institutions from Poland and Czech Republic. Its aim is to educate and inform tourists, who visit the Izery Mountains, about astronomy and light pollution. The project consists of two activities: permanent (sundials, planetary path etc.) and periodic (meetings, workshops). After five years the project is in good health and will gain more elements in next years.

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is an anticipated to undertake a 10–year, 3π steradian survey that promises to observe millions of new periodic variable stars. We report on a study to determine the efficiency of the LSST to recover the light curve properties of RR Lyrae stars. An LSST light curve simulation tool was used to sample input idealized light curves or RR Lyrae stars observed in SDSS Stripe 82 data, returning each as it would have been observed by LSST, including realistic photometric scatter, limiting magnitudes, and telescope downtime. Our results show that the LSST will be capable of mapping the spatial distributions and chemical compositions of halo stellar overdensities using RR Lyrae discovered across 3π steradians and out to nearly 1.5 Mpc. LSST will thus enable the mapping of halo merger streams, the discovery of new dwarf galaxies, and the mapping galactic halos throughout the Local Group galaxies.