20 OH/IR stars are monitored in the 1612 MHz OH maser line with the Nançay Radio Telescope. The program started in 2008 with monthly observations of the full sample and will last at least until end of 2012. The aim is the determination of the linear diameter of the circumstellar shell using the phase lag between the light curves of the varying OH maser lines. To use them for distance determinations, angular diameters are obtained by interferometric measurements while the stars pass the maximum of their OH maser flux density variations. The periods of the OH/IR stars monitored are between 425 and >2000 days.

Chinese Giant Solar Telescope is the next generation ground-based solar telescope. The main science task of this telescope is to observe the ultra fine structures of the solar magnetic field and dynamic field. Due to the advantages in polarization detection and thermal controlling with a symmetrical circular system, the current design of CGST is a 6~8 meter circular symmetrical telescope. The results of simulations and analysis showed that the current design could meet the demands of most science cases not only in infrared bands but also in near infrared bands and even in visible bands. The prominences and the filaments are very important science cases of CGST. The special technologies for prominence observation will be developed, including the day time laser guide star and MCAO. CGST is proposed by all solar observatories and several institutes and universities in China. It is supported by CAS and NSFC (National Natural Science Foundation of China) as a long term astronomical project.

Recent imaging observations of transitional discs have revealed discrepancies between the structure observed at different wavelengths. In some targets, the gap measured using sub-mm observations disappears when observed using near infrared polarimetry, suggesting that the empty region is actually filled with small particles of dust (Dong et al., 2012). Assuming the gapped structure observed in transitional discs is caused by the presence of a planet, we try to explain such discrepancies simulating observations of physical models of disc/planet systems with VLT/SPHERE-ZIMPOL, Subaru/HiCIAO, VLT/VISIR and ALMA.

This paper introduces a plan to detect turbulence profiles at Dome A with a Single Star Scidar (SSS), to enhance our understanding of the characteristics of the site. The development of a portable monitor for profiling vertical atmospheric optical turbulence and wind speed is presented. By analyzing the spatial auto and cross-correlation functions of very short exposure images of single star scintillation patterns, the SSS can provide the vertical profiles of turbulence intensity C2n(h) and wind speed V(h). A SSS prototype is already operational at Ali in Tibet which will be improved in order to become fully robotic and adapted to extreme weather conditions that prevail at Dome A in Antarctica.

Magnetic helicity (volume integral of the product of the magnetic field vector B and the vector potential A), or its proxy, the current helicity at the surface (surface integral of B·J or BzJz), is an important quantity which characterizes the helical nature of solar magnetic fields. The current helicity on the Sun shows a tendency, though with large dispersion, that it is positive in the southern hemisphere and negative in the northern hemisphere (the helicity sign rule). However, there are indications that the helicity sign rule may be reversed at activity minimum periods. We will discuss the significance of this property by focusing on the statistical distributions of helicity whether its dispersion follows Gaussian distribution or not.

We present a project that aims to provide a complete theoretical and observational framework for an as yet unexplored class of variable stars, the ultralong-period Cepheids (P longer than 80–100 days). Given their very high luminosities (MV up to −7 mag), with the Hubble Space Telescope we will be able to observe them easily in stellar systems located at large distances (~ 100 Mpc). This limit will be further increased, out to the Hubble flow (~ 350 Mpc), using future ground-based facilities such as the European Extremely Large Telescope. The nature of their pulsation is as yet unclear, as is their evolutionary status, which seems different from the central helium-burning phase generally associated with classical Cepheids. These objects have been found to cover a very large metallicity range, from [Fe/H] ~ −2 dex to solar values, and they are located in heterogeneous stellar systems, from dwarf to spiral galaxies. Once completely characterized, they could provide a crucial test, since they have been found in all Type Ia supernova host spiral galaxies that have been monitored for variability over long periods and that currently offer sound constraints on the estimated value of the Hubble constant.

High-mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) are keys to study stellar remnants that are otherwise extremely faint and difficult to observe when isolated. Vela X-1 is a well-known eclipsing HMXB composed of a very massive neutron star orbiting a B0.5I supergiant with a period of 9 days. The supergiant wind is the main feeding material for the accreting neutron star, and its properties are of prime interest to understand the physics at stakes in the accretion process.

In order to characterize the geometry and physical properties of the dense wind at a scale of a few stellar radii, we obtained infrared interferometric observations of Vela X-1 in 2010 using the VLTI/AMBER instrument in the K band (2.2 μm), and in 2012 using the VLTI/PIONIER instrument in the H band (1.6 μm).

Although the apparent disk of the supergiant and the orbital separation of the two objects are beyond the present resolution limit of the VLTI, the K-band observations partially resolve the wind envelope on the two longest baselines. We were able to measure the radius of 265±82 R⊙ for the circumstellar wind at a temperature of 1300 K, assuming a distance of 1.9 kpc. The H-band observations do not resolve the system, and we were able to set an upper limit of 112 R⊙ for the envelope radius at a temperature of 1800 K.

A new version of the Hamburg Database of Circumstellar OH Masers at 1612, 1665, and 1667 MHz was released in 2012 January. The database now lists 13170 OH maser observations of stars in the Milky Way. They belong to 6318 different objects and 2324 of them were detected in at least one of the transitions. The database contains flux densities and velocities of the two strongest maser peaks, the expansion velocity of the shell and the radial velocity of the star. Compared to the first version presented in 2007 at the IAU Symposium 242 in Alice Springs new observations published 2008–2011 are included. Interferometric observations and monitoring programs of the maser emission were also added. Access to the database is possible over the Web (www.hs.uni-hamburg.de/maserdb), allowing cone searches for individual objects and lists of objects. A general object search is possible in selected regions of the sky and by defining ranges of flux densities and/or velocities.

There is evidence that the growth of stellar populations and supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are coupled across cosmic time: the redshift evolution of star formation rate and quasar number density are similar; SMBH masses in local inactive galaxies are correlated with the velocity dispersion of their stellar bulges. Models predict that SMBHs predominantly grow in brief quasar phases accompanied by starbursts, but on-going starbursts in luminous quasars have been difficult to quantify. There have been extensive photometric studies of quasar host galaxies. However, spectroscopic studies that provide crucial information on stellar populations such as age and velocity dispersion are scarce, especially at the highest luminosities, where the stars are vastly outshone by the quasar.

LOFAR is an innovative new radio interferometer operating at low radio frequencies from 10 to 270 MHz. It combines a large field-of-view, high fractional bandwidth, rapid response, and a wide range of baselines from tens of meters to thousand kilometers. Its use of phased-array technology and its digital nature make LOFAR an extremely versatile instrument to search for transient radio phenomena on all time scales. Here we discuss in particular the search for fast radio transients (FRATs) at sub-second time scales. In fact, at these time scales the radio sky is rather dynamic due to coherent emission processes. Objects like pulsars, flaring stars, or planets like Jupiter are able to produce bright short flares. For pulsars, most previous detection strategies made use of the rotation of pulsars to detect them, using Fourier techniques, but it is also possible to detect pulsars and other objects through their single pulses. Such surveys have, e.g., led in the previous decade to the detection of Rapid Radio Transients (RRATS), but the unprobed search space is still rather large. LOFAR is now conducting a rather unique survey over the entire northern sky, searching for bright dispersed single radio pulses. This FRATs survey makes use of the LOFAR transient buffer boards (TBBs), which had initially been used to detect nanosecond radio pulses from cosmic rays. The TBBs store the radio data from each single receiver element of LOFAR and allow one to look back in time. A trigger system that runs parallel to normal imaging observation allows one to detect single pulses in an incoherent beam of all LOFAR stations, covering several tens to hundred square degrees at once. Once triggered, the data can be used to localize the pulse and to discriminate cosmic sources from terrestrial interference through 3D localization. The system has been successfully tested with known pulsars and first results of the ongoing survey will be presented.

During the last stage of terrestrial planet formation, Mars-sized protoplanets often collides with each other. Our high-resolution impact simulations show that such giant impacts produce a significant amount of fragments within the terrestrial planet region. These ejected fragments form a hot debris disk around the central star. We calculated the evolution of the surface density and size distribution of the debris disk using the analytical model of collision disruption, and estimated its infrared excess emission. We found that 24 μm flux from the debris disk is higher than stellar flux throughout the giant impact stage (~ 108 years), which can explain the infrared excess recently observed around the star with the age of 107 – 108 years.

Submillimeter-wave observations of complex organic molecules toward southern massive star forming regions were carried out with ASTE 10m telescope. Methyl formate (HCOOCH3) and dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3) were detected in some molecular cloud cores with young protostars. Differences in chemical composition among neighboring cores were also found.

We present results of convective turbulent dynamo simulations including a coronal layer in a spherical wedge. We find an equatorward migration of the radial and azimuthal fields similar to the behavior of sunspots during the solar cycle. The migration of the field coexist with a spoke-like differential rotation and anti-solar (clockwise) meridional circulation. Even though the migration extends over the whole convection zone, the mechanism causing this is not yet fully understood.

Among the current sample of over 2000 radio pulsars known primarily in the disk of our Galaxy, millisecond pulsars now number almost 200. Due to the phenomenal success of blind surveys of the Galactic field, and targeted searches of Fermi gamma-ray sources, for the first time in over a decade, Galactic millisecond pulsars now outnumber their counterparts in globular clusters! In this paper, I briefly review earlier results from studies of the Galactic millisecond pulsar population and present new constraints based on a sample of 60 millisecond pulsars discovered by 20 cm Parkes multibeam surveys. I present a simple model of the population containing ~ 30,000 potentially observable millisecond pulsars with a luminosity function, radial distribution and scale height that matches the observed sample of objects. This study represents only a first step towards a more complete understanding of the parent population of millisecond pulsars in the Galaxy and I conclude with some suggestions for further study in this area.

It has been suggested that the presence of disks or tori around the central stars of pre Planetary Nebulae and Planetary Nebulae is related to the collimation of the jet that are frequently observed in these sources. These disks or tori can be traced by the maser emission of some molecules such as water. In this work we present Very Large Array (VLA) observations of the water maser emission at 22 GHz toward the PN IRAS 18061–2505, for which the masers appear located on one side of the central star. For comparison with the observations, we present a simple kinematical model of a disk rotating and expanding around the central star. The model matches qualitatively the observations. However, since the masers appear only on one side of the disk, these results are not conclusive.

SONG (Stellar Observations Network Goup) is a low-cost ground based international collaboration aimed at two cutting edge problems in contemporary astrophysics in the time-domain: 1) Direct diagnostics of the internal structure of stars and 2) looking for and studying extra solar planets, possibly in the habitable zone. The general plan is to set up a network of 1m telescopes uniformly distributed in geographic latitude (in both hemispheres). China jointed the collaboration (initiated by Danish astronomers) at the very beginning. In addition to SONG's original plan (http://song.phys.au.dk), the Chinese team proposed a parallel photometry subnet work in the northern hemisphere, namely 50BiN (50cm Binocular Network, previously known as mini-SONG), to enable a large field photometric capability for the network, therefore maximising the potential of the network platform. The network will be able to produce nearly continuous time series observations of a number of selected objects with high resolution spectroscopy (SONG) and accurate photometry (50BiN), and to produce ultra-high accuracy photometry in dense field to look for micro-lensing events caused by planetary systems. This project has great synergy with Chinese Astronomical activities in Antarctica (Dome A), and other similar networks (e.g. LCOGT). The plan and current status of the project are overviewed in this poster.

We develop a means to distinguish between warm dusty circumstellar debris disks produced by steady state collisional evolution of a planetesimal belt or through transient events.

The primary objective of the 2-m National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) is to study the solar atmosphere with high spatial and spectral resolution. With an innovative optical design, NLST is an on-axis Gregorian telescope with a low number of optical elements and a high throughput. In addition, it is equipped with a high order adaptive optics system to produce close to diffraction limited performance.

NLST will address a large number of scientific questions with a focus on high resolution observations. With NLST, high spatial resolution observations of prominences will be possible in multiple spectral lines. Studies of magnetic fields, filament eruptions as a whole, and the dynamics of filaments on fine scales using high resolution observations will be some of the major areas of focus.

The question of the origin of the gas supplying the accretion process is pertinent especially in the context of enhanced activity of Galactic Center during the past few hundred years, seen now as echo from the surrounding molecular clouds, and the currently observed new cloud approaching Sgr A*. We discuss the so-called Galactic Center mini-spiral as a possible source of material feeding the supermassive black hole on a 0.1 parsec scale. The collisions between individual clumps reduce their angular momentum. and set some of the clumps on a plunging trajectory.

We conclude that the amount of material contained in the mini-spiral is sufficient to sustain the luminosity of Sgr A* at the required level. The accretion episodes of relatively dense gas from the mini-spiral passing through a transient ring mode at ~ 104 Rg provide a viable scenario for the bright phase of Galactic Center.

In protoplanetary disks, the inner boundary between an MRI active and inactive region has recently been suggested to be a promising site for planet formation. A set of numerical simulations has indeed shown that vortex formation mediated by the Rossby wave instability is a natural consequence of the disk dynamics at that location. However, such models have so far considered only the case of an isothermal equation of state, while the complex thermodynamics is at the heart of how this region works. Using the Godunov code Ramses, we have performed 3D global numerical simulations of protoplanetary disks that relax the isothermal hypothesis. We find that, at the interface, the disk thermodynamics and the turbulent dynamics are intimately entwined, because of the importance of turbulent dissipation and thermal ionisation.