In 2008 January the 24th Chinese expedition team successfully deployed the Chinese Small Telescope ARray (CSTAR) to Dome A, the highest point on the Antarctic plateau. CSTAR consists of four 14.5cm optical telescopes, each with a different filter (g, r, i and open) and has a 4.5°×4.5° field of view (FOV). Based on the CSTAR data, initial statistics of astronomical observational site quality and light curves of variable objects were obtained. To reach higher photometric quality, we are continuing to work to overcome the effects of uneven cirrus cloud cirrus, optical “ghosts” and intra-pixel sensitivity. The snow surface stability is also tested for further astronomical observational instrument and for glaciology studies.

We outline a project to map the molecular line emission from the Central Molecular Zone across the 3–12 mm wavebands using the Mopra telescope in Australia. The dataset facilitates use of the CMZ as a template against which observations of molecular emission in other galactic nuclei may be interpreted.

The present study demonstrates that behavior of rotational velocity as a function of stellar age is consistent using Tsallis' nonextensive formalism, resulting in a new approach to understanding the stellar rotational scenario.

We use data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the DEEP2 survey to characterize the distribution of stellar mass and light of galaxies in the low-redshift and z = 1 Universe. We investigate the clustering bias of stellar mass and light by comparing these to projected autocorrelations of dark matter estimated from the Millennium Simulations (MS). All of the autocorrelation and bias functions show systematic trends with spatial scale and waveband, which are impressively similar at the two redshifts. This shows that the well-established environmental dependence of stellar populations in the local Universe is already in place at z = 1. The recent MS-based galaxy formation simulation of Guo et al. (2011) reproduces the scale-dependent clustering of luminosity to an accuracy better than 30% in all bands and at both redshifts, but substantially overpredicts mass autocorrelations at separations below ~ 2 Mpc. Further comparison of the shapes of our stellar mass bias functions with those predicted by the model suggests that both the SDSS and DEEP2 data prefer a fluctuation amplitude of σ8 ~ 0.8 rather than the σ8 = 0.9 assumed by the MS.

Edge-on, optically thick circumstellar disks have been previously imaged at subarcsecond resolution around about a dozen nearby young stellar objects. In these systems the central star is occulted from direct view, bright star image artifacts are absent, and the disk reflected light is clearly seen. Comparison of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) edge-on disk images with scattered light models has allowed key disk structural parameters and dust grain properties to be determined. Edge-on disks have been systematically undercounted to date: while 10% of young stars should statistically be occulted by their disk, the observed frequency is much less. Thus there is a significant potential for discovering and imaging new examples. Spitzer Space Telescope legacy science programs have provided the first good spectral energy distribution (SED) measurements for the previously known edge-on disks. These can be used as templates to identify new candidates in far-infrared survey datasets.

We report on the results of our HST program to image twenty-one edge-on disk candidates mostly selected from their SEDs. Eleven are well-resolved with radii ranging from 30-400 AU, nine for the first time and six showing highly collimated jets. Outstanding individual sources include a large and symmetric new template object, a highly flattened disk not accreting onto its central star, and an asymmetric disk with a misaligned jet which likely traces tidal perturbations in a binary system. Follow-up work to obtain ancillary data and perform scattered light modeling of the most symmetric disks is now being pursued. The results of this program will guide a new round of searches for these rare but important snapshots of protoplanetary disk evolution.

The magnetic breakout model has been widely used to explain solar eruptive activities. Here, we apply it to explain successive filament eruptions occurred in a quadrupolar magnetic source region. Based on the high temporal and spatial resolution, multi-wavelengths observations taken by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO), we find some signatures that support the occurrence of breakout-like external reconnection just before the start of the successive filament eruptions. Furthermore, the extrapolated three-dimensional coronal field also reveals that the magnetic topology above the quadrupolar source region resembles that of the breakout model. We propose a possible mechanism within the framework of the breakout model to interpret the successive filament eruptions, in which the so-called magnetic implosion mechanism is firstly introduced to be the physical linkage of successive filament eruptions. We conclude that the structural properties of coronal fields are important for producing successive filament eruptions.

Chandra Multi-wavelength Plane Survey (ChaMPlane) surveys the X-ray point sources discovered by the Chandra X-ray Observatory in the galactic plane in order to constrain the populations of faint (Lx ≤ 1033erg/s) accretion-powered sources in the Galaxy. This multi-wavelength survey includes data from the Chandra archive, as well as optical and infrared images and spectra. This paper summarizes a few selected highlights.

There is a major opportunity for the KDUST 2.5 m telescope to carry out the next generation IR survey. A resolution of 0.2 arcsec is obtainable from Dome A over a wide field. This opens a unique discovery space during the 2015–2025 decade.

A next generation 2μm survey will feed JWST with serendipitous targets for spectroscopy, including spectra and images of the first galaxies.

The discovery of a pulsar (PSR) in orbit around a black hole (BH) is expected to provide a superb new probe of relativistic gravity and BH properties. Apart from a precise mass measurement for the BH, one could expect a clean verification of the dragging of space-time caused by the BH spin. In order to measure the quadrupole moment of the BH for testing the no-hair theorem of general relativity (GR), one has to hope for a sufficiently massive BH. In this respect, a PSR orbiting the super-massive BH in the center of our Galaxy would be the ultimate laboratory for gravity tests with PSRs. But even for gravity theories that predict the same properties for BHs as GR, a PSR-BH system would constitute an excellent test system, due to the high grade of asymmetry in the strong field properties of these two components. Here we highlight some of the potential gravity tests that one could expect from different PSR-BH systems, utilizing present and future radio telescopes, like FAST and SKA.

We present the outcomes of the consistent analysis of 6 epochs of VLBA 12.2 GHz data obtained between 1995 and 2005 towards the known high-mass star formation reigon NGC7538 IRS1 N. Our analysis concentrates on the study of the main spectral/spatial feature, which is 20 VLBA synthesized beams in size with a distinct velocity gradient. We looked for proper motion signals relative to the central peak which, in an edge-on disc framework, is expected to be stationary. We also study the peak flux and the spatial brightness profile of the main maser feature searching for maser variability. Our results are twofold: we detect a clear proper motion signal of three spatial features (0.21, 0.1, 0.65 mas yr−1) and conclude that these can be made consistent with previous modelling of a Keplerian disc seen edge-on around a high-mass protostar. We further detect a consistent decrease of the peak flux over the time-span 1995-2005 (~ 5.4 Jy yr−1), confirmed when taking into account earlier data (1986, 1987) as well as by the 6.7 GHz maser emission. Also, the width of the spatial brightness profile of the main feature seems to decrease between 1995 and 2005 by some 50%. We consider these observables as clear signs of partial maser saturation.

The Methanol Multibeam (MMB) survey has yielded over 1000 masers at the 6668-MHz methanol transition: a near-complete census throughout the Galactic disc, as evident from the discovery statistics, and corroborated by preliminary distance determinations. Each maser pinpoints a massive star in a brief early evolutionary phase. Follow-up comparisons reveal in most cases a matching IR source in the GLIMPSE survey. The methanol masers effectively distinguish the genuine high mass proto-stars from the many thousand IR mimics of similar color. Longer IR wavelength follow-ups by Herschel instruments, and in the radio mm-continuum, will refine the mass-range encompassed by the masers; and, complemented by radio measurements at short cm-wavelengths, will define the evolutionary stage of each site, distinguishing hyper-compact HII regions from an earlier phase. Follow-up studies of key molecular gas tracers, including closely associated masers (other methanol transitions, water and OH), reveal the extent of homogeneity in the population and environments of high mass stars.

Distance estimates based on the maser velocities have already allowed useful exploration of Galactic structure. Future astrometric parallax measurements extended to the full maser sample will precisely define the geometry of Galactic spiral arms of our Galaxy and independently define the velocity field, allowing a model-free study of Galactic rotation and dynamics. Associated OH masers (present at about half of the methanol sites) are being exploited to provide the first Galaxy-wide grid of ‘in situ’ magnetic field estimates.

Our detailed characterization of the Galactic methanol maser population provides a yardstick for extragalactic comparisons with M31 and the LMC. Notably, our survey of the LMC has shown its methanol maser population to be remarkably small relative to our Galaxy - a likely consequence of low LMC metallicity.

The present study reports measurements of the rotation period of a young solar analogue, estimates of its surface coverage by photospheric starspots and of its chromospheric activity level, and derivations of its evolutionary status. It compares the chromospheric activity level of this young star with a model of chromospheric activity evolution established by combining relationships between the R′HK index and the Rossby number with a recent model of stellar rotation evolution on the main-sequence.

The spectroscopic study of blue supergiants in nearby galaxies can yield crucial information about the spatial distribution of extinction by dust, and can be successfully used to measure the metal content, abundance patterns, and distances of galaxies out to ~8 Mpc with current telescopes and instrumentation. We briefly review the results of an ongoing project in which the quantitative analysis of B- and A-type supergiants is used to independently test widely used metallicity diagnostics for star-forming galaxies and derive reddening-free extragalactic distances.

The formation and evolution of massive galaxies represent one of the most intriguing open problems in astrophysics. Their underlying stellar populations encode valuable information about their past history. Detailed spectroscopic observations allow us to constrain the star formation histories, revealing a complicated mixture of a strong, early formation process, followed by passive evolution in the cores, along with an extended assembly of the outer regions via minor mergers. In this contributed talk, some recent results are presented from the analysis of samples of massive galaxies both at z ~ 0 and moderate redshift.

M dwarf stars are attractive targets in the search for habitable worlds as a result of their relative abundance and proximity, making them likely targets for future direct detection efforts. Hot super-Earths as well as gas giants have already been detected around a number of early M dwarfs, and the former appear to be the high-mass end of the population of rocky, terrestrial exoplanets. The Carnegie Astrometric Planet Search (CAPS) program has been underway since March 2007, searching ~ 100 nearby late M, L, and T dwarfs for gas giant planets on orbits wide enough for habitable worlds to orbit interior to them. The CAPSCam-N camera on the 2.5-m du Pont telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory has demonstrated the ability to detect planets as low in mass as Saturn orbiting at several AU around late M dwarfs within 15 pc. Over the next decade, the CAPS program will provide new constraints on the planetary census around late M dwarf stars, and hence on the suitability of these nearby planetary systems for supporting life.

For over a decade, the structure of the inner “hole” in the transition disk around TW Hydrae has been a subject of debate. To probe the innermost regions of the protoplanetary disk, observations at the highest possible spatial resolution are required. We present new interferometric data of TW Hya from near-infrared to millimeter wavelengths. We confront existing models of the disk structure with the complete data set and develop a new, detailed radiative-transfer model. This model is characterized by: 1) a spatial separation of the largest grains from the small disk grains; and 2) a smooth inner rim structure, rather than a sharp disk edge.

The direct detection of gravitational waves will usher in a new era of astrophysics, enabling the study of regions of the universe opaque to electromagnetic radiation or electromagnetically quiet. An ensemble of pulsars (referred to as a pulsar timing array) provides a set of clocks distributed across the Galaxy sensitive to gravitational waves with periods on the order of five years (frequencies of many nanohertz). Plausible source of gravitational waves in this frequency band include massive black hole binaries in the throes of mergers and oscillating cosmic strings. The stochastic gravitational wave background, the sum of gravitational waves emitted throughout the universe, is the most likely signal to be detected by a pulsar timing array.

While the detection of gravitational waves will be a milestone in pulsar astronomy, a constraining limit on the strength of the gravitational wave background can be used to constrain cosmological models and early Universe physics. Here we present a new algorithm that can be used to constrain the strength of the GWB with a pulsar timing array. We then apply this technique to Parkes Pulsar Timing Array observations and place a new limit on the strength of the GWB. We conclude by discussing the astrophysical implications of this limit and the prospects for detecting gravitational waves with pulsars.

The Polar Large Telescope (PLT) project is primarily aimed at undertaking large, wide band synoptic astronomical surveys in the infrared in order to provide critical data to the forthcoming generation of observational facilities such as ALMA, JWST, LSST and the E–ELT, and to complement the observations obtained with them. Sensitive thermal IR surveys beyond 2.3 μm cannot be carried out from any existing ground based observatory and the Antarctic Plateau is the only place on the ground where it can be envisaged, thanks to its unique atmospheric and environmental properties, such as the turbulence profile (image quality), the low opacity and the reduced thermal background emission of the sky. These unique conditions enable high angular resolution wide field surveys in the near thermal infrared (2.3–5 μm). This spectral range is particularly well suited to tackling key astrophysical questions such as: i) investigating the nature of the distant universe, the first generation of stars and the latest stages of stellar evolution, ii) understanding transient phenomena such as gamma ray-bursts and Type Ia supernovae, iii) increasing our knowledge of extra-solar planets. Further instruments may broaden the expected science outcomes of such a 2–4 m class telescope especially for the characterization of galaxies at very large distance to provide new clues in the mysteries of dark matter and energy. Efforts will be made to merge this project with other comparable projects within an international consortium.

The properties of planet-forming midplanes of protostellar disks remain largely unprobed by observations due to the high optical depths of common molecular lines. However, rotational emission lines from rare isotopologues may have optical depth near unity in the vertical direction, so that the lines are strong enough to be detected, yet remain transparent enough to trace the disk midplane. We have computed chemical models of protostellar disks including different C and O isotopes and detailed photochemical reactions. The CO condensation front is in the giant planet-forming region, within 20 AU of the star. We show that the optical depths of low-order rotational lines of C17O are around unity, which suggests that it may be possible to see into the disk midplane using C17O. In lower-mass disks, the slightly more abundant C18O is a possible midplane probe. ALMA observations would provide estimates of the disk midplane temperature if CO ice line were spatially resolved. With our computed C17O/H2 abundance ratio, we would also be able to measure disk surface densities from the fluxes of low-order C17O transitions.