Three topics within GAIA photometry have been selected for discussionhere. (1) The sampling scheme of the CCDs has been tuned to serve thevarious purposes: detection of stars, astrometry, broad- andmedium-band photometry, and imaging of a small area around eachdetected star, but the tuning may not yet be optimal. (2) Thecalibration of CCD sensitivity is critical since we aim formillimagnitude accuracy, the spikes of the diffraction image aresuited for an accurate calibration of the magnitude scale, and forextending the range of astrometry and photometry to very bright stars.(3) Finally the various photometric filter systems are illustrated.

Nebular emission lines are easy to observe, and their spectrum contains a lot of information. We explain the mechanisms of production of the emissions, and the relation between the intensity of the recombination and forbidden lines, and the physical parameters of the objects. A gallery of emission lines spectra is presented, and a rough analysis will clarify their differences. The case of Planetary Nebulae will be developed, in order to determine the extinction constant, the plasma parameters (electron density and temperature), the chemical abundances, and also the properties of the central star (temperature, mass, stellar wind velocity, age).

This paper gives an overview of conceptual studies that have been realized since 2007 on 30 m towers for Dome C taking into account local available infrastructures and conditions. Some 30 m tower's concepts are presented and finite element simulations are carried to determine their dynamic behaviour including wind-induced vibrations, and to optimize their design.

Optical interferometers are instruments that combine the light coming from separated optical telescopes in order to get information with the spatial resolution of the telescope array. One of the major interferometer is the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). To observe an astronomical target with the VLTI, like with any other interferometers, one needs to carefully prepare the observations because of the numerous parameters to be fixed. In addition, the VLTI is being developed in the framework of the data flow system created for the Very Large telescopes (VLT) at the European Southern Observatory (ESO). I recall the philosophy of the ESO/VLT data flow system and its adaptation to the VLTI data and then I describe the various steps required to prepare a VLTI observation. Finally, I illustrate the various steps of this preparation with an example focused in the observations of the young binary system Z CMa.

The main theme of this paper is truthful communication of scientific results. Therefore, concepts of truth, error, quality and value are elaborated.

The following bibliometric parameters are explained: the journal impact factor, the journal cited half-life, and the journal immediacy index, as well as paper counts, citation rates, citation index and the Hirsch index. These bibliometric indices and indicators are illustrated with examples derived from bibliometric analyses of the astronomical literature.

Scientific misconduct in the broadest sense is discussed by category: researcher misconduct, author misconduct, referee and grant-reviewer misconduct. But also publisher misconduct, editorial misconduct and mismanagement, and research supervisor misbehavior are dealt with. The overall signatures of scientific misconduct are focused on, as well as the causes and the cures. This is followed by a Section devoted to whistleblowing.

The biases of bibliometric indices, and the use and abuse of bibliometrics are illustrated. Moreover, suggestions for remediating the present defective system of bibliometric measurement and evaluation are worked out. Finally, the hopes and concerns of our students – either expressed during or after the lectures, or through subsequent private contacts – are passed on.

We briefly review the observations of the solar photosphere and pinpoint some open questions related to the magnetohydrodynamics of this layer of the Sun. We then discuss the current modelling efforts, addressing among other problems, that of the origin of supergranulation.

Primordial nucleosynthesis is one of the three observational evidences for the Big–Bang model. Even though they span a range of nine orders ofmagnitude, there is indeed a good overall agreement between primordial abundances of 4He, D, 3He and 7Li either deduced from observation or primordialnucleosynthesis. This comparison was used for the determination ofthe baryonic density of the Universe. For this purpose, it is now superseded by the analysis of the CMB anisotropies. Big–Bang nucleosynthesis remains, nevertheless, a valuable tool to probethe physics of the early Universe.

Supernovae are known to be the dominant energy source for driving turbulence in the interstellar medium. Yet, their effect on magnetic field amplification in spiral galaxies is still poorly understood. Analytical models based on the uncorrelated-ensemble approach predicted that any created field will be expelled from the disk before a significant amplification can occur. By means of direct simulations of supernova-driven turbulence, we demonstrate that this is not the case. Accounting for vertical stratification and galactic differential rotation, we find an exponential amplification of the mean field on timescales of 100 Myr. We highlight the importance of rotation in the generation of helicity by showing that a similar mechanism based on Cartesian shear does not lead to a sustained amplification of the mean magnetic field.

Classical Be stars – i.e. non-supergiants B stars with some emission – are very intriguing objects. They represent nearly 20% of B stars. Emission originates in a circumstellar envelope more or less concentrated around the equator, and whose origin is so far unexplained. Fast rotational velocity of Be stars does not attain break-up velocity and an additional process is needed to account for circumstellar region formation. Non-radial pulsations in Be stars were discovered for more than twenty years and asteroseismology is the only way to study the internal structure of these stars. It may also provide some clues to understand the “Be phenomenon”. The opportunity to observe Be stars during long times, without daily interruption, is specially important, considering non-radial pulsation periods of Be stars.

The CRESST-II direct Dark Matter search is located in the Gran Sasso underground laboratories, Italy. CaWO4 crystals are used as scintillating targets for WIMP (weakly interacting massive particle) interactions. They are operated as cryogenic calorimeters in combination with a second cryogenic detector used to measure the scintillation light produced in the target crystal. For each particle interaction, the combination of phonon and light signals provides an event by event discrimination which allows to distinguish known particles (alphas, betas, gammas, neutrons) from the expected signal of WIMPs. A major upgrade of the setup comprises modifications of the shielding, installation of a muon-veto, and new read out electronics, as well as a new detector-support structure to accommodate up to 33 detector modules, i.e. 10 kg of target mass. The experiment was thereafter successfully commissioned in 2007. Data obtained during this commissioning phase from 2 detector modules are presented here. Combining the data collected with these two detector modules with data from one single module obtained during the CRESST-I phase, the experiment could already place a limit of ~6 × 10-7 pb for the spin independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section at a WIMP mass of ~60 GeV/c2.

We present here a study of the Infrared properties ofAsymptoticGiant Branch stars (hereafter AGB) based on existing databases,mainly from space-borne experiments. Preliminary results about Cand S stars are discussed, focusing on the topics for which futureInfrared surveys from Antarctica will be crucial. This kind ofsurveys will help in making more quantitative our knowledge of thelast evolutionary stages of low mass stars, especially for whatconcerns luminosities and mass loss.

In this contribution, I review recent results from observational investigations of early-type binaries of spectral types O and Wolf-Rayet. These studies aim at an accurate determination of fundamental parameters such as masses and radii of the most massive stars. In addition, multi-wavelength analyses of wind collisions in massive binaries provide constraints on the properties of stellar winds of massive stars and shock physics of cosmic plasmas.

We present time-dependent, self-consistent diffusion calculations for Cr, Mn and Fe in a Teff = 12 000 K and logg = 4.0 stellar atmosphere. The temporal evolution of the chemical stratifications is followed for the zero field case and for magnetic fields of varying strength and direction relative to the stellar surface. Preliminary conclusions are preceded by a comparison of the present results to equilibrium solutions.

A brief description of the various types of variable stars occuring in the advanced stages of stellar evolution is given.This includes the Planetary Nebulae Nuclei variables (PNNV), the PG 1159 variables, the sdB pulsators and the DB and DA white dwarf pulsators. In this review, the emphasis is put on the importance of diffusion for eitherthe excitation mechanism or the properties of the oscillations.

The kinematical parameters of the local field RR Lyrae populationand the zero-point of the log $P-\langle M_K\rangle$ relation for thesevariables are inferred by applying the statistical parallax(maximum-likeli-hood) technique to a sample of 182 RR Lyraes withknown periods, radial-velocities, metallicities, K-bandphotometry, and absolute proper motions on the ICRS system.Hipparcos, Tycho-2, SPM, UCAC, NPM1, and the Four-Million StarCatalog (Volchkov et al. 1992) were used asthe sources of proper motions; the proper motions of the last twocatalogs are reduced to the Hipparcos (ICRS) system (Dambis &Rastorguev 2001). The K-band magnitudes were adopted fromthe list of Fernley et al. (1998) andsupplemented by the data of the 2MASS Second Incremental DataRelease. The parameters of the velocity distribution are found tobe: ($U_0 = -10 \pm 10$, $V_0 = -51 \pm 8$, $W_0 = -14 \pm5)$ km s-1; ($\sigma_U = 62 \pm 10$, $\sigma_V = 45 \pm 8$,$\sigma_W = 28 \pm 6$) km s-1: and ($U_0 = -23 \pm 13$, $V_0 = -213 \pm 12$, $W_0 = -5 \pm 8$) km s-1; ($\sigma_U = 157 \pm 12$, $\sigma_V = 98 \pm 8$, $\sigma_W = 91 \pm 7$) km s-1 for the thick-disk (41 stars) andhalo (141 stars) objects, respectively. The zero-point of theinfrared PL relation of Jones et al. (1992)(based on the results obtained using the Baade-Wesselink method)is confirmed: we find $\langle M_K\rangle= -2.33 \cdot \log P_{\rm F}-0.82 \pm0.12$ compared to $\langle M_K\rangle= -2.33 \cdot \log P_{\rm F}-0.88$ asinferred by Jones et al. (1992). A conversion ofthe resulting log $P-\langle M_K\rangle $ relation to V-band luminositiesyields the metallicity-luminosity relation $\langle M_V\rangle= +1.04 + 0.14\cdot [$Fe/H$] \pm 0.11$. Our results imply a solar Galactocentric distance of $R_0 = 7.6 \pm 0.4$ kpc and an LMC distance modulus of $DM_{\rm LMC} = 18.18 \pm 0.12$ (cluster RR Lyraes) or $DM_{\rm LMC} = 18.11 \pm 0.12$ (field RR Lyraes), thereby favoringthe so-called short distance scale.

Extra-planar gas in spiral galaxies can originate from disk-halo cycling driven by star formation in the disk or from infalling gas clouds. Studying the kinematics of halo gas can provide evidence for which scenario is more plausible. Edge-on galaxies provide a direct view of the extra-planar gas. We measure gas velocities from Hα emission as a function of height above the galactic disk for NGC 4244, which has a low star formation rate, and NGC 891, which has a high star formation rate. Using a multi-slit setup on the ARC 3.5 m telescope, we are able to measure velocities along 16 slits simultaneously. We compare our preliminary results to studies of HI velocities in these galaxies.

Given the tendency of planets to form in multiples, and the observational evidence in support of the existence of potential planet-hosting stars in binaries or clusters, it is expected that extrasolar terrestrial planets are more likely to be found in multiple body systems. This paper discusses the prospects of the detection of terrestrial/habitable planets in multibody systems by presenting the results of a study of the long-term stability of these objects in systems with multiple giant planets (particularly those in eccentric and/or in mean-motion resonant orbits), systems with close-in Jupiter-like bodies, and systems of binary stars. The results of simulations show that while short-period terrestrial-class objects that are captured in near mean-motion resonances with migrating giant planets are potentially detectable via transit photometry or the measurement of the variations of the transit-timing due to their close-in Jovian-mass planetary companions, the prospect of the detection of habitable planets with the radial velocity technique is higher in systems with multiple giant planets outside the habitable zone and binary systems with moderately separated stellar companions.

γ-ray sources at synchrotron radiation facilities will provide unprecedented opportunities to investigate photonuclear reactions of astrophysical interest. I report recent research activities in Japan and call for an international collaboration to construct a photonuclear astrophysics database.