We applied matched filtering to the light curves of 1491 long GRBs in the BATSE catalogue to search for evidence of spindown of rapidly rotating black holes and (proto-)neutron stars. On average, the results favor black hole spindown against high density matter at the ISCO. As a natural and common outcome of core-collapse of massive stars and mergers, this model accounts for GRBs in- and outside star forming regions. It also accounts for hyper-energetic GRB-SNe whose energy requirements exceed the maximal spin-energy of rapidly rotating neutron stars. Hyper-energetic CC-SNe hereby provide novel priors to LIGO-Virgo and KAGRA searches for long duration gravitational wave bursts up to tens of seconds with an anticipated negative chirp by expansion of the ISCO.

Currently, mass-loss in the late Red Giant Branch (RGB) phase of low-mass stars is still relatively poorly constrained by direct observations. Horizontal Branch (HB) colour distributions can provide quantitative constraints to an encounter-based mass-loss law, despite being indirect and model-dependent. Recent infrared observations of dusty RGB stars in Globular Clusters (GCs) suggest that mass-loss is episodic and weakly related to stellar properties. Stellar encounters in GCs cores are a candidate mechanism for producing RGB mass-loss with these characteristics, but a detailed quantitative treatment of the effect is yet lacking. This would be particularly important in GCs such as NGC 2808, where standard mass-loss prescriptions are unable to fully predict the HB morphology, even when helium-enhanced multipopulations are taken into account. I show that the maximum temperature along the HB for a sample of GCs follows a characteristic pattern with dynamical age (i.e. chronological age over relaxation time), suggestive of the high-density state reached during core-collapse playing a role in enhancing mass-stripping in the RGB phase. Moreover, simple, analytical assumptions for the mass-loss law in stellar encounters naturally result in a non-gaussian mass-loss distribution, with high skewness. I compare it to Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data of HB-mass over a sample of 71 GCs, and I briefly discuss the next step in modelling the mass-loss interaction, i.e. smoothed-particle hydrodynamics simulations.

The interest in long-period large-scale oscillations of solar coronal loops, confidently observed with the modern observational facilities is mainly connected with the diagnostics of the plasma, known as the method of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) seismology. Typical periods of these oscillations range from a few seconds in flaring loops to several hours in prominences. Both rapidly decaying and undamped regimes have been revealed. Observed parameters of the oscillations give us unique information about the physical parameters of the plasma, that are either difficult or impossible to obtain by other methods, such as the magnetic field, fine structuring, effective transport coefficients and the empirical heating function. The basic theory used in the interpretation of the observations is based on the linear MHD perturbations of a straight plasma cylinder, that predict the existence of three main magnetoacoustic modes: kink, sausage and longitudinal. Observational manifestation of these modes in the EUV and microwave bands, and their seismological implications are discussed. The main emphasis is put on the kink mode.

The Giant Magellan Telescope project is an international collaboration to design, build and operate a 25m telescope for research in astrophysics and cosmology. The consortium is composed of KASI and several US and Australian Universities and research institutes. The GMT primary mirror is comprised of seven 8.4m diameter segments, providing both a collecting area and diffraction-limited image concentration that are an order of magnitude better than those offered by current facilities. The telescope will be located at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile and will access the same region of the sky as the LSST, the Dark Energy Survey, ALMA and a number of other surveys and front-line facilities. The GMT will have the widest field of view of any of the proposed ELTs. Adaptive optics is integral to the telescope via a segmented adaptive secondary mirror. I will review the scientific goals of the project and the current technical status. Fabrication of 8.4m off-axis primary mirror segments, the largest technical challenge, has now been demonstrated. I will review the challenges associated with implementing a 20 arcminute diameter corrected field of view and approaches to spectroscopic follow-up of large imaging surveys. Diffraction-limited operations will be essential to the exploration of planetary systems and GMT offers unique opportunities as well as technical challenges. A roadmap for instrumentation development will closely interface with commissioning plans for the telescope and key scientific opportunities early in the next decade.

Three topics will be discussed hopefully to give some clues for future Korean lunar and planetary missions. First topic is a scientific result of Japanese lunar exploration, Kaguya. Gravity measurement of the far side of the Moon by using a relay sub-satellite has revealed marked difference of mascon features between near and far sides indicating endogenic origin of lunar dichotomy. But there remains many unresolved issues in lunar sciences. The second topic is an introduction of ongoing asteroid mission, Hayabusa-2. Unlike big, well-planned missions of NASA and ESA, Japanese space scientists have been forced to achieve the most outcomes from the least budget and human resource because of the limit of our nation's economy and power. And Korean space scientists, maybe, face the similar problem with ours in the future. Then an experience of small mission like Hayabusa-2 will help designing future Korean missions. The third topic is a decadal survey activity in Japanese community of planetary scientists. Space programs can be initiated by a leadership of the government, however, the programs will not continue without strong supports of science community. Unfortunately, university researchers are very difficult to unite and share a common goal. An effort of Japanese community to organize a new mission by scientists, not JAXA, is reported.

Magnetic fields potentially play an important role during massive star-formation (MSF), especially in stabilizing disks and launching outflows. Currently, the only information on the magnetic field in the dense regions close to protostars comes from maser observations. In particular, it has recently been shown that methanol masers, the most abundant of the MSF maser species, are excellent probes of the magnetic field. I will present the status of our ongoing high angular resolution observations using the European VLBI Network (EVN). So far, these have revealed energetically dominant and large scale ordered fields in the majority of MSF regions. In particular, the observations reveal a likely relation between the magnetic field direction in and around disks and torii and the outflow, as predicted by recent models.

Title : CFHT Status Report and Future Plans Speaker : Dr. Doug Simons (CFHT) Abstract : After a brief summary of the nature of CFHT Corp. and recent metrics illustrating the scientific success of CFHT, the future of the Observatory is described through various initiatives designed to broaden the CFHT partnership, develop new capabilities, and take steps toward the replacement of CFHT with a powerful new facility dedicated to highly multiplexed wide-field spectroscopy. CFHT, in the context of the evolving landscape on Mauna Kea will also be discussed, as CFHT positions itself among a backdrop of some older facilities being decommissioned while new Mauna Kea facilities are on the planning horizon. Title : The CFHT Science Operations Speaker : Dr. Daniel Devost (CFHT) Abstract : I will review the Science operations at CFHT from the proposal submission all the way to the Archival of the data. CFHT Science Operations are essentially based on a Queue Scheduling system that optimizes the night time to maximize the Scientific return. I will describe each step in the process and show how we proceed to get the best possible observations for our Agencies.

During the talk, I will give a brief review about my past and current projects related with the possibility to observe the first stars by looking their final fate as gamma-ray bursts or supernova. In special, I will discuss a current and still on going project explained bellow. With the next generation of optical and near-infrared (NIR) surveys, the possibility to observe primordial stars becomes real. A fraction of these first stars, with masses between ~ 140 and 260 solar mass, are expected to die as pair-instability supernovae (PISN). We use the state of art of cosmological simulations, to infer the predicted rate of PISN, and radiation hydrodynamical simulations, to model the spectral energy distribution of PISN in realistic circumstellar environments with Lyman absorption by the neutral intergalactic medium. We then constructed a synthetic survey of supernovae light curves as they should be observed by James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), including all important characteristic of the experiment. We are capable to provide a sample of FITS file that can be treated as the same way as a real data. Future supernova surveys are expected to observe much more supernovae than can be confirmed spectroscopically. Given the rare nature of these events, it’s imperative to rely in some good photometric predictor, in order to find suitable candidates for posterior spectroscopically confirmation. Thus, using our synthetic sample, we perform a comprehensive study of the best strategy capable to find these objects, estimate the redshift and identify them photometrically. To do so, we are using a combination of the best learning methods available, in special kernel principal components analysis (kpca), fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms. Our methodology based in KPCA already proved to have a higher accuracy only relying in photometric information in the problem of Type Ia identification (Ishida, E. and de Souza, R, MNRAS 2013,), with no need of redshift information. We are developing the most realistic and complex framework, from far, to study the best way to find the first supernovae. Being one of the most promising approaches to drive the future searches of these objects.

The spectral energy distribution of the light emitted from galaxies across the electromagnetic spectrum contains a myriad of details about the stellar, nebular and dust components of galaxies. In this talk, I present a new approach to assess the relative merits of different types of observations to constrain galaxy physical parameters. To this goal, we build a comprehensive library of galaxy spectral energy distributions by combining the semi-analytic post-treatment of a large cosmological simulation with state-of-the-art models of the stellar and nebular emission and attenuation by dust. A main novelty of our approach is the ability to interpret simultaneously the stellar and nebular emission from galaxies, even at low spectral resolution. We first analyze the medium-resolution, rest-frame optical spectra of a sample of ~ 13,000 nearby star-forming galaxies extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We then rely on our sophisticated and physically motivated models to derive predictions on the star formation histories of blue galaxies at redshift z<1.4. We also apply our approach to the analysis of combined photometric and spectroscopic observations of a sample of galaxies at redshifts between 1 and 3. Finally, we use our approach to simulate observations of primeval galaxies with the NIRSpec instrument onboard the future James Webb Space Telescope. The approach developed in this thesis can be used to extract valuable information from any kind of galaxy observation across the wavelength range covered by spectral evolution models as well as to plan for future galaxy observations.

The National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Science (NAOC), has started building the largest antenna in the world. Known as FAST, the Five-hundredmeter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope is a Chinese mega-science project funded by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). FAST also represents part of Chinese contribution to the international efforts to build the square kilometer array (SKA). Upon its finishing around September of 2016, FAST will be the most sensitive single-dish radio telescope in the low frequency radio bands between 70 MHz and 3 GHz. I will review the design specifications of FAST, its expected capabilities, and its main scientific aspirations. In anticipation of the likely limitations at the initial stages of operation, I will also discuss the considerations and opportunities for astronomical discoveries in the "early science" phase of FAST.

[Fe II] forbidden lines are among the brightest emission lines in NIR band. They have been observed toward diverse types of astronomical sources, from nearby star-forming regions to active galactic nuclei. These NIR [Fe II] lines are particularly strong in shock-heated dense atomic gas, which makes them a shock tracer. Numerous emission lines from the transitions among 16 ground levels of Fe II provide useful diagnostics of physical conditions in shocked gas. In this talk, I will first review the physics of NIR [Fe II] forbidden lines, and then I will present some astrophysical applications regarding interstellar shocks, supernova remnants, and starburst galaxies.

Many intermediate- and high-mass stars are in binary or multiple systems, but the binary formation mechanisms are still uncertain. We have performed a search for FGK spectral type companions to A and B stars, which may have formed through instabilities in the protostellar disk in a scaled-up version of massive planet formation theories. We do so by searching directly for the spectral lines of the low-mass star using high signal-to-noise ratio and high resolution spectroscopy. I will describe a search through the VLT/CRIRES archive for such companions. I will also briefly describe how a similar technique using the near-infrared spectrograph IGRINS should be able to detect the thermal emission from a massive planet orbiting a sun-like star.

Hierarchical structure formation scenario inevitably leads to the formation of binary supermassive black holes (SMBHs) on a subparsec scale in merged galactic nuclei. However, to date there has been no unambiguous detection of such systems. In this talk, I propose how binary SMBHs merge and a feasible method to detect binary SMBHs with a triple disk, which consists of an accretion disk around each black hole and a circumbinary disk surrounding them. The talk is divided into three parts: First, the evolution of binary SMBHs is described based on the triple disk model. Next, the number of binary SMBHs in nearby active galactic nuclei is discussed. Finally, characteristic signals from such a binary black-hole system are studied by Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics simulations.The detectability with next generation all-sky X-ray surveys such as extended Roentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array is also briefly discussed.

Luminous high-redshift Ly-alpha blobs (LABS), often also known as Ly-alpha 'nebulae', ‘halos’ or ‘fuzz’ in the literature, promise to yield important insights into the physics of massive galaxy formation. As prodigious sources of HI Ly-alpha photons, with ~10-100 kpc spatial extents, they provide an efficient way to select distant galaxies (or proto-galaxies) expected to be undergoing significant mass-assembly. In this talk, I will present results from a recently accepted paper in which we used long slit spectroscopy from GTC+OSIRIS to examine the geometry, powering, and origin of the LAB and an absorption line system associated with a radio-loud quasar at z=2.54. I will also discuss some interesting new results from long-slit spectropolarimetry of LABs associated with z>2 radio galaxies, and their related continuum structures.

Recent observations of strikingly well-defined spirals around asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars point to the importance of the presence of binary companions to explain the circumstellar properties of such evolved stars. Binary motion introduces directional dependence of an AGB wind, creating an elongated spiral pattern in the plane of the sky. I will show the use of the elongated spiral pattern to constrain key binary quantities (i.e., inclination of the orbital plane, orbital period, companion mass, and binary mass ratio). To determine the AGB component's mass, it is required to obtain the kinematic information of the circumstellar pattern from a molecular line observation with the high resolution and sensitivity of current interferometers, e.g., ALMA, EVLA, and SMA.

The Submillimeter Array (SMA) is a pioneering radio interferometer dedicated to the observation of the submillimeter sky at angular resolutions of 1 to 30 arc seconds. Since its full scale operation 10 years ago, the SMA has made important contributions to astrophysics from planetary science, star formation to submillimeter galaxies. The SMA is also the de facto pre-cursor of the more powerful ALMA, for which it has paved the way and has laid down a strong technological foundation. As ALMA moves into full scale science operation over the next few years, the SMA is re-positioning itself by making way for new capabilities. The key upgrade under planning is a new wideband receiving system, which will have instantaneous sky coverage of up to 72 GHz. To make this possible, new ultra-wideband SIS receivers and backend electronics running at blazing speeds have to be developed. Running in parallel with the SMA wideband upgrade is the new Greenland telescope initiative. The Smithsonian Observatory, in collaboration with ASIAA, Taiwan, is planning to move a 12-meter telescope (an ALMA prototype dish) to Greenland. While the primary mission of the project is to provide a northern anchor point for the submillimeter VLBI campaign to observe the massive black hole in M87, plans are being made to equip the Greenland telescope with diverse instrumentation ranging from THz multi-beam receivers to multi-color wide-field bolometric camera. We expect that all these technological developments will further push the frontiers of submillimeter astronomy.

I will present high-resolution rotation curves and mass models of neaby (< 10 Mpc) dwarf galaxies culled from LITTLE THINGS. The high-resolution HI observations ( 6" angular; < 2.6 km/s velocity resolution) of LITTLE THINGS enable us to derive reliable rotation curves of the galaxies in a homogeneous and consistent manner. The rotation curves are combined with Spitzer archival 3.6 micron and ancillary optical UBV images to construct mass models. The high quality multi-wavelength dataset significantly reduces observational uncertainties and thus allows us to examine in detail the dark matter distribution in the galaxies. We compare the central dark matter distributions of the LITTLE THINGS sample galaxies with those of dwarf galaxies from The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey (THINGS). From this, we find that they are consistent with each other in terms of (1) the rotation curve shape, showing a linear increase in the inner regions, and (2) a shallow slope of the mass density in the inner parts, resulting in dark matter halos characterised by a core. This is in contrast with classical dark-matter-only cosmological simulations, which predict a steep rotation curve in the central region and steep inner slope of the dark matter density profiles. Instead, our results are more in line with shallower slopes found in LambdaCDM simulations of dwarf galaxies in which the effect of baryonic feedback processes is included. If time allows, I will finish the talk with the latest progress on ASKAP.

Although the effects of ram pressure stripping on galaxies appear to be well understood, the effects of magnetic fields in the interstellar medium and intergalactic medium have not been well examined. I will present new results from magnetohydrodynamics simulations of ram pressure stripping on early-type galaxies with their turbulent weakly-magnetized ISM and weakly-magnetized ICM.

Today, astrophysical research in Kazakhstan is being developed either in theoretical and observational aspects. In particular, both computational astrophysics and stellar dynamics are gaining more momentum due to international collaboration. Meanwhile, a couple of main projects in observational research are construction of a new 3.6 meter optical-IR ground-based telescope, and the participation in the international space project called "World Space Observatory ? Ultraviolet" (WSO-UV).

The recent success of Kepler space telescope in detecting several circumbinary planets combined with many detections of circumprimary planets during the past decade have firmly indicated that planet formation in and around binary star systems is robust and planets of variety of types and sizes can exist in different orbits in these complex environments. The orbital diversity of these objects raises many challenging questions in regard to the formation, possible migration, and dynamical evolution of these bodies. For instance, almost all currently known circumbinary planets are Jovian type and orbit their host binaries in the inner edges of their stability regions. Also, radial velocity searches for circumprimary planets seem to indicate that binaries with separations smaller than 20 AU cannot host planets. On the other hand, models of terrestrial/habitable planet formation in and around binaries suggest that Earth-sized planets with substantial amount of water can exist in such systems implying that habitable planet-hosting binary star systems exist and their detection is only a matter of time. I will review the current state of research on the observation of planets in binary star system using RV, ETV, and transit photometry, and discuss the theoretical models of their formation, dynamical evolution, and their habitability.

New Insights into the Earliest Phases of Low-Mass Star Formation

Gravitational waves from spinning binary sources

The GMT-CfA, Carnegie, Catolica, Chicago Large Earth Finder (G-CLEF): A General-Purpose Optical Echelle Spectrograph for the GMT with Precision Radial Velocity Capability

Circumstellar Disk Evolution: Accretion, Transition Disks, & Planet Formation

Ultra-Precision Machining of Aspheric Molds for X-Ray Telescopes after ASTRO-H

The ASTRO-H project

Challenge to Asteroid Space Missions: From Hayabusa to Hayabusa 2

VLBI multi-epoch water maser observations toward star-forming regions

Exploring the Outer Solar System from Neptune to the Oort Cloud using Occultations of Stars

Gas and Galaxy Evolution in the Local Universe