The 1968 discovery of the Crab and Vela pulsars in their respective supernova remnants (SNRs) confirmed Baade and Zwicky's 1934 prediction that supernovae form neutron stars. Observations of Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe), particularly with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, have in the past decade opened a new window to focus on the neutron stars' relativistic winds, study their interaction with their hosting SNRs, and find previously missed pulsars. While the Crab has been thought for decades to represent the prototype of PWNe, we now know of different classes of neutron stars and PWNe whose properties differ from the Crab. In this talk, I review the current status of neutron stars/PWNe-SNRs associations, and highlight the growing diversity of PWNe with an X-ray eye on their association with highly magnetized neutron stars. I conclude with an outlook to future high-energy studies.

We investigate the dust velocity and spatial distribution in an eccentric protoplanetary disk under the secular gravitational perturbation of an embedded planet of about 5 Jupiter masses. We first employ the FARGO code to obtain the two-dimensional density and velocity profiles of the gas disk with the embedded planet in the quasi-steady state. We then apply the secular perturbation theory and incorporate the gas drag to estimate the dust velocity on the secular timescale. The dust-to-gas ratio of the unperturbed disk is simply assumed to be 0.01. In our fiducial disk model with the planet at 5 AU, we find that for 0.01 cm– to 1 m–sized dust particles well coupled to the gas, the dust behaves similarly to the gas and exhibits non-axisymmetric dynamics as a result of eccentric orbits. However, for the case of a low-density gaseous disk (termed “transition disk” henceforth in this article) harboring the planet at 100 AU, the azimuthal distributions of dust of various sizes can deviate significantly.

Accretion of minor satellites has been postulated as the most likely mechanism to explain the significant size evolution of massive galaxies over cosmic time. A direct way of probing this scenario is to measure the frequency of satellites around massive galaxies at different redshifts. Here we present our study of satellites around massive galaxies (Mstar ~ 1011 M⊙) up to z ~ 2. We find (Fig. 1) that the fraction of massive galaxies with satellites down to 1:10 mass ratio is ~15% (~30% down to 1:100), not varying with redshift (Mármol-Queraltó et al., (2012)). We also find that our satellites are younger than their central galaxies at low z (Mármol-Queraltó et al., 2013). Then, if minor merging is acting to form massive galaxies, their ourtskirts should be younger than their cores. The challenge to find this age gradient in nearby massive galaxies is opened.

From the extreme position of disk motion, we infer the neutron star (NS) surface magnetic field strength (B0) of Z-source GX 17+2 and Cyg X-2. The inferred B0 of GX 17+2 and Cyg X-2 are ~(1–5)×108 G and ~(1–3)×108 G, respectively, which are not inferior to that of millisecond X-ray pulsars or atoll sources. It is likely that the NS magnetic axis of Z sources is parallel to the axis of rotation, which could result in the lack of pulsations in these sources.

The observation of prominences with ground-based telescopes suffers from poor image quality due to atmospheric turbulence when compared with space-borne instruments which, for solar observations, are of similar apertures. To make ground-based instruments competitive, they should rely on spectropolarimetry and the measurement of prominence magnetic fields, a task which no foreseable space instrument will perform. But spectropolarimetry alone does not suffice, and we argue that future instrumentation should combine it with imaging in a large field of view and good temporal resolution. We place numbers on those requirements and give examples of instrumental accomplishments already at work today that forecast a new generation of instruments for the observation of prominences from ground-based telescopes.

Byurakan-IRAS Galaxies (BIG) (Mickaelian 1995) are the result of optical identifications of IRAS PSC sources at high-galactic latitudes using the First Byurakan Survey (FBS) low-dispersion spectra (Markarian et al. 1989). Among the 1577 targets, 1178 galaxies have been identified. Most are dusty spiral galaxies and there is a number of ULIRGs among these objects. Our spectroscopic observations, carried out with three telescopes (Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory 2.6m, Russian Special Astrophysical Observatory 6m and Observatoire de Haute Provence 1.93m; Mickaelian & Sargsyan 2010), for 172 galaxies, as well as the SDSS DR8 spectra for 83 galaxies make up the list of 255 spectroscopically studied BIG objects. The classification regarding activity type for narrow-line emission galaxies has been carried out using the diagnostic diagrams by Veilleux & Osterbrock (1987). All possible physical characteristics have been measured and/or calculated, including radial velocities and distances, angular and physical sizes, absolute magnitudes and luminosities (both optical and IR). IR luminosities and star-formation rates have been calculated from the IR fluxes (Duc et al. 1997).

The Australia Telescope Compact Array has been used to observe all the 603 6.7 GHz methanol masers detected in the Methanol Multi-Beam survey between l = 310° - 20°. To date we have measured positions with arcsecond accuracy for all the observations in the l = 6° - 20°.

In this conclusion to the conference, I shall attempt to summarise what we knew before about solar prominences and what we have learnt during the conference (mainly from the review talks), as well as to make suggestions for their future study.

Movement and coalescence of magnetic elements could explain the evolution and growth of pores. There have been numerous studies focusing on flow fields in and around individual pores. We have undertaken a systematic study of the statistical properties of such flows. Data of the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope offer an opportunity for this type of research, because of the uniform data quality and absence of seeing so that pores can directly be compared in different environments and at various stages of their evolution. We analyzed about 220 time-series of G-band images using local correlation tracking. The thus computed flow maps make up a database, which covers various scenes on the solar surface. We use an isolated pore to illustrate the statistical parameters collected for further statistical analyses, which include information about morphology, horizontal flows, evolutionary stage (young, mature, or decaying), complexity of the surrounding magnetic field, and proximity to sunspots or cluster of G-band bright points.

High spatial-resolution measurements of surface brightness fluctuations (SBFs) with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) provide the most precise distances available to early-type galaxies beyond the Local Group. The observable SBF magnitude in a given bandpass is a basic property of any stellar system, corresponding to a ratio of the first and second moments of the stellar luminosity function. Calibration of the method has presented challenges, but we now have an excellent empirical determination of how the SBF observable varies with galaxy color in broad bandpasses at the red end of the optical spectrum, and we are working towards a similar calibration for HST's Wide-Field Camera 3 in the near-infrared wavelength range, where the SBF magnitudes are considerably brighter. From HST Advanced Camera for Surveys data, we have determined the relative distances of the Virgo and Fornax clusters to within a precision of 2%, and resolved their internal structures. More recent measurements allow us to tie the Coma cluster, the standard of comparison for distant cluster studies, to the same precise distance scale. The SBF method can be calibrated in an absolute sense either empirically using Cepheids or theoretically based on stellar population models. The agreement between model and empirical zero points provides an independent confirmation of the Cepheid distance scale.

The angular momenta of rarefied preplanetesimals needed for formation of small-body binaries can be obtained at collisions of preplanetesimals. Trans-Neptunian objects, including trans-Neptunian binaries, could be formed from contracting rarefied preplanetesimals.

From 13-years of the spectral optical monitoring of a well-known broad-line radio galaxy 3C 390.3 we concluded that the geometry of the broad emission-line region is complex, while still the main part of the emission is coming from the accretion disk. Here we present part of the analysis of the broad Hα and Hβ emission lines, which are showing highly variable double-peaked profiles during the monitoring period (1995-2007), with the aim to probe the accretion disk properties. The disk-like geometry plays a dominant role, but the variability of Hα and Hβ line profiles and intensities shows a presence of an additional emission-line region, that has a different nature for different periods, e.g. in one period the observed variation can be well modeled if one assumes changes in position and size of the emitting disk along the accretion disk.

The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment has measured a non-zero value for the neutrino mixing angle θ13 with a significance of 7.7 standard deviations. Antineutrinos from six 2.9 GWth reactors were detected in six antineutrino detectors deployed in two near and one far underground experimental halls. With a 116.8 kton-GWth-day live-time exposure in 139 days, 28,909 (205,308) electron-antineutrino candidates were detected at the far hall (near hall). The ratio of the observed to expected number of antineutrinos at the far hall is R = 0.944 ± 0.007 ± 0.003 (syst). A rate-only analysis finds sin22θ13 = 0.089 ± 0.010 (stat) ± 0.005 (syst) in a three-neutrino framework.

Discs are a key element in star and planet formation; however, magnetic fields can efficiently transport angular momentum away from the central region of the collapsing core during the dense core collapse, preventing disc formation. We perform numerical simulations of magnetically supercritical collapsing cores with a misalignment between the rotation axis and the magnetic field (Joos et al. 2012) and in a turbulent environment (Joos et al. 2013). The early formation of massive discs can take place at moderate magnetic intensities if the rotation axis is tilted or in a turbulent environment, because of misalignment and turbulent diffusion.

Formaldehyde (H2CO) is an accurate probe of physical conditions in dense and low-temperature molecular clouds towards massive star formation regions, while 6.7 GHz methanol (CH3OH) masers provide ideal sites to probe the earliest stages of massive stellar formation. We present preliminary results of our investigation into the possible relationship between formaldehyde and methanol astrophysical masers with the view to expanding knowledge on massive star formation processes. Observations are done using the Nanshan 25m radio telescope of the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatories, Urumqi, China. 127 Methanol sources (from the work of Green et al. 2010, Xu et al. 2003, Pestalozzi et al. 2005, and Xu et al. 2009) have been observed so far for 4.8 GHz formaldehyde absorption lines, and H2CO signals have been detected in 86 of them, 31 of which are newly discovered. We obtained good correlation (0.85 correlation coefficient) between the velocities of the sources, and a poor correlation (−0.03 correlation coefficient) between their intensities, an indication that signals from the two lines originate from about the same region, but that the excitation mechanisms that drive them are likely different.

The luminosity distribution of Galactic radio pulsars is believed to be log-normal in form. Applying this functional form to populations of pulsars in globular clusters, we employ Bayesian methods to explore constraints on the mean and standard deviation of the function, as well as the total number of pulsars in the cluster. Our analysis is based on an observed number of pulsars down to some limiting flux density, measurements of flux densities of individual pulsars, as well as diffuse emission from the direction of the cluster. We apply our analysis to Terzan 5 and demonstrate, under reasonable assumptions, that the number of potentially observable pulsars is in a 95.45% credible interval of 133+101−58. Beaming considerations would increase the true population size by approximately a factor of two.

The first of three Antarctic Survey Telescopes (AST3-1), a 50/68cm Schmidt-like equatorial-mount telescope, is the first trackable Chinese telescope operating on the Antarctic plateau. It was installed at Dome A (80°22′, 77°21′E, 4,093m), the highest place on the Antarctic plateau, in 2012. The telescope is unmanned during night-time operations through the Austral winter. The telescope optics and mechanics, as well as the motors and position sensors, are exposed to a harsh environment. The mechanics is enclosed with a foldable tent-like dome to prevent snow, diamond dust and ice. While the control cabinet containing drive boxes, circuit board boxes, power converters and the Telescope Control Computer (TCC) is located inside the warm instrumental module. In about 15 weeks remote testing and commissioning, from January 24 when the expedition team left there to May 8, when the communication failed, we obtained images with the best FWHM of less than 2″. We also recorded the telescope movement performance and fine-tuned the dynamic properties of the telescope control system. Some experiences and lessons will be disscussed in this paper.

In this paper, we compiled the X-ray observations for 138 Fermi blazars and calculated their Doppler factors, δγ. The calculated Doppler factors, δγ, are found strongly correlated with the γ-ray luminosity.

We used FLAMINGOS near-IR photometry and spectroscopy and Spitzer mid-IR photometry to study disk fractions in the 1 to 2 Myr old NGC2264 clusters. We find that stars with masses < 0.3 solar masses have lower disk fractions than stars of solar mass or higher at these early ages. We also find that most disks disappear within the first 4 Myr, which is consistent with previous studies of disk lifetimes. Our study suggests that either some very low mass stars form without disks or that their disks are less massive and/or colder than predicted from models and not detected with Spitzer/Flamingos sensitivities.

The 2mass Tully–Fisher Survey (2mtf) aims to measure Tully–Fisher (TF) distances for all bright, inclined spirals in the 2mass Redshift Survey (2mrs) using high-quality Hi widths and 2mass photometry. Compared with previous peculiar-velocity surveys, the 2mtf survey provides more accurate width measurements and more uniform sky coverage, combining observations with the Green Bank, Arecibo, and Parkes telescopes. With this new redshift-independent distance database, we will significantly improve our understanding of the mass distribution in the local Universe.