The evolution of dust particles in circumstellar disk-like structures around protostars and young stellar objects is discussed. We especially consider the coagulation of grains due to collisional aggregation and the influence of this process on the optical properties of the particles. These dust opacities are important for both the derivation of the circumstellar dust mass from submillimetre continuum observations and the dynamical behaviour of the disks.

We present first results of a numerical study of the coagulation of dust grains in a turbulent protoplanetary accretion disk described by a time-dependent one-dimensional (radial) “alpha” model. The influence of grain opacity changes due to dust coagulation on the dynamical evolution of a protostellar disk is investigated. In addition, we consider the grain motion in two-dimensional disks.

A celebrated result of Rödl and Ruciński states that for every graph $F$ , which is not a forest of stars and paths of length 3, and fixed number of colours $r\geqslant 2$ there exist positive constants $c,C$ such that for $p\leqslant cn^{-1/m_{2}(F)}$ the probability that every colouring of the edges of the random graph $G(n,p)$ contains a monochromatic copy of $F$ is $o(1)$ (the ‘0-statement’), while for $p\geqslant Cn^{-1/m_{2}(F)}$ it is $1-o(1)$ (the ‘1-statement’). Here $m_{2}(F)$ denotes the 2-density of $F$ . On the other hand, the case where $F$ is a forest of stars has a coarse threshold which is determined by the appearance of a certain small subgraph in $G(n,p)$ . Recently, the natural extension of the 1-statement of this theorem to $k$ -uniform hypergraphs was proved by Conlon and Gowers and, independently, by Friedgut, Rödl and Schacht. In particular, they showed an upper bound of order $n^{-1/m_{k}(F)}$ for the 1-statement, where $m_{k}(F)$ denotes the $k$ -density of $F$ . Similarly as in the graph case, it is known that the threshold for star-like hypergraphs is given by the appearance of small subgraphs. In this paper we show that another type of threshold exists if $k\geqslant 4$ : there are $k$ -uniform hypergraphs for which the threshold is determined by the asymmetric Ramsey problem in which a different hypergraph has to be avoided in each colour class. Along the way we obtain a general bound on the 1-statement for asymmetric Ramsey properties in random hypergraphs. This extends the work of Kohayakawa and Kreuter, and of Kohayakawa, Schacht and Spöhel who showed a similar result in the graph case. We prove the corresponding 0-statement for hypergraphs satisfying certain balancedness conditions.

The efficiency of dust formation in a variety of environments is an ongoing topic for discussions, especially if it comes to dust formation in the interstellar medium. Although this possibility is discussed in a wide range of numerical studies, experiments on the formation of dust at low densities and temperatures are mostly lacking. This contribution summarizes the main findings of our low-temperature condensation experiments including the formation of silica, complex silicates with pyroxene and olivine stoichiometry, and of carbonaceous refractory materials. Atomic and molecular species to be expected as products of supernovae shock fronts were produced by laser ablation of silicates and graphite. These species were deposited together with a rare gas on cold substrates representing the surfaces of surviving dust grains in the interstellar medium. After characterizing the precursor species, the rare gas matrix was annealed to induce diffusion and reactions between the initial components. We found the production of amorphous and homogeneous silica and magnesium iron silicates at temperatures of about 12 K in a barrierless reaction as monitored by infrared spectroscopy. The 10 μm band of the low-temperature siliceous condensates shows a striking similarity to the 10 μm band of interstellar silicates. Carbonaceous atoms and molecules can also react without a barrier and form an amorphous or hydrogenated amorphous carbon material. The refractory condensate has properties comparable to fullerene-like carbon grains formed at high temperatures.

One of the components of the galactic infrared background (GIRB) radiation is emission by warm dust grains heated by OB stars embedded in molecular clouds. The main contributors are compact HII regions and comparatively radioquiet infrared (IR) point sources such as the Becklin-Neugebauer object. We present the average energy distribution between 1 and 1300 μm for a sample of BN-type objects. The average color temperature between 60 and 100 μm is ~40 K, which is very similar to the color temperature of the observed warm galactic dust emission (WGDE).

We present results from our high-resolution, high-contrast imaging campaign targeting the circumstellar environments of young, nearby stars of different masses. The observations have been conducted using the ALFA/CA 3.5m and NACO UT4/VLT adaptive optics systems. In order to enhance the contrast we applied the methods PSF-subtraction and polarimetric differential imaging (PDI). The observations of young stars yielded the identification of numerous new companion candidates, the most interesting one being ∼ 0.5″ from FU Ori. We also obtained high-resolution near-infrared imaging of the circumstellar envelope of SU Aur and AB Aur. Our PDI of the TW Hya circumstellar disk traced back the disk emission as close as 0.1″ ≃ 6 AU from the star, the closest yet. Our results demonstrate the potential of the adaptive optics systems in achieving high-resolution and high-contrast imaging and thus in the study of circumstellar disks, envelopes and companions.

We present the first mid-infrared (MIR) detection of a field brown dwarf (BD) and the first ground-based MIR measurements of a disk around a young BD candidate. We prove the absence of warm dust surrounding the field BD LP 944–20. In the case of the young BD candidate Cha Hα2, we find clear evidence for thermal dust emission from a disk. Surprisingly, the object does not exhibit any silicate feature as previously predicted. We show that the flat spectrum can be explained by an optically thick flat dust disk but not by a flared one.

Infrared observations of young massive stars yield crucial insights on the birth of high-mass stars and their interaction with the parent molecular cloud. Results for IRAS23140+6121, G254.681+0.219, and NGC6334F obtained by near- and mid-infrared imaging are presented for a brief illustration.

We present the results of a study performed with the goal to investigate whether low-mass pre-main sequence binary stars are formed by multiple fragmentation or via stellar capture. If binaries form preferentially by fragmentation, we expect their disks to be co-planar. On the other hand, the capture scenario will lead to a random distribution of disk orientations. We performed near-infrared polarization measurements of 49 young visual binary stars in the K band with SOFI at the NTT. The near-infrared excess radiation of the targets mostly point to the presence of disks. For a major fraction of the sample, evidence for disks is also obvious from other features (outflows, jets, Herbig-Haro objects). We derived the disk orientation from the orientation of the polarization vector of both components of each binary. This statistical study allows to test which hypothesis (co-planarity, random orientation) is consistent with the observed distribution of polarimetric position angles. We find evidence that the disks are preferentially aligned.

Detailed radiative transfer calculations are an essential tool for the analysis of observations related to fragmented molecular cloud cores, protobinaries, and circumbinary and circumstellar disks. In this contribution, recent progress in line and continuum radiative transfer models will be reviewed.

Division VI of the International Astronomical Union deals with Interstellar Matter, and incorporates Commission 34. It gathers astronomers studying the diffuse matter in space between the stars, ranging from primordial intergalactic clouds via dust and neutral and ionised gas in galaxies to the densest molecular clouds and the processes by which stars are formed. There are approximately 730 members. The working groups in Planetary Nebulae and Cosmochemistry have served us well in organising periodic seminars in these subject areas. However, the Organising Committee has recognised that other developing areas of the ISM are not properly represented in the current organisation. In January 1997, the Division formed a new ISM working group on Star Forming Regions including cross-divisional representation to monitor progress in their fields and to help develop proposals for future IAU Symposia or Colloquia. In the future, especially in view of the rapid developments in spaceborne X-ray and IR astronomy, Division VI also hopes to form other working groups on the Hot ISM and the Extragalactic ISM.

Opacity influences the transfer of radiation and is thus of decisive importance for (a) the interpretation of astronomical observations, (b) determining the thermal structure, (c) critically influencing molecular, atomic and thermonuclear processes and (d) affecting the overall dynamic evolution during the star formation process. Questions pertaining to the onset of instability of gas clouds, their subsequent fragmentation into smaller clumps, the formation of multiple systems, the initial mass function (IMF), the upper and lower mass limits, star formation efficiency and the fate of material not collected into stars cannot be considered without intimate knowledge of the opacity in this environment.

We analyzed birth order differences in means and variances of height and body mass index (BMI) in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins from infancy to old age. The data were derived from the international CODATwins database. The total number of height and BMI measures from 0.5 to 79.5 years of age was 397,466. As expected, first-born twins had greater birth weight than second-born twins. With respect to height, first-born twins were slightly taller than second-born twins in childhood. After adjusting the results for birth weight, the birth order differences decreased and were no longer statistically significant. First-born twins had greater BMI than the second-born twins over childhood and adolescence. After adjusting the results for birth weight, birth order was still associated with BMI until 12 years of age. No interaction effect between birth order and zygosity was found. Only limited evidence was found that birth order influenced variances of height or BMI. The results were similar among boys and girls and also in MZ and DZ twins. Overall, the differences in height and BMI between first- and second-born twins were modest even in early childhood, while adjustment for birth weight reduced the birth order differences but did not remove them for BMI.

A trend toward greater body size in dizygotic (DZ) than in monozygotic (MZ) twins has been suggested by some but not all studies, and this difference may also vary by age. We analyzed zygosity differences in mean values and variances of height and body mass index (BMI) among male and female twins from infancy to old age. Data were derived from an international database of 54 twin cohorts participating in the COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins), and included 842,951 height and BMI measurements from twins aged 1 to 102 years. The results showed that DZ twins were consistently taller than MZ twins, with differences of up to 2.0 cm in childhood and adolescence and up to 0.9 cm in adulthood. Similarly, a greater mean BMI of up to 0.3 kg/m2 in childhood and adolescence and up to 0.2 kg/m2 in adulthood was observed in DZ twins, although the pattern was less consistent. DZ twins presented up to 1.7% greater height and 1.9% greater BMI than MZ twins; these percentage differences were largest in middle and late childhood and decreased with age in both sexes. The variance of height was similar in MZ and DZ twins at most ages. In contrast, the variance of BMI was significantly higher in DZ than in MZ twins, particularly in childhood. In conclusion, DZ twins were generally taller and had greater BMI than MZ twins, but the differences decreased with age in both sexes.

We have selected cold and massive (M > 100M ⊙) cores as candidates for early phases of star formation from millimeter continuum surveys without associations at short wavelengths. We compared the millimeter continuum peak positions with IR and radio catalogs and excluded cores that had sources associated with the cores’ peaks. We compiled a list of 173 cores in over 117 regions that are candidates for very early phases of Massive Star Formation (MSF). Now with the Spitzer and Herschel archives, these cores can be characterized further. We are compiling this data set to construct the complete spectral energy distribution (SED) in the mid- and far-infrared with good spatial resolution and broad spectral coverage. This allow us to disentangle the complex regions and model the SED of the deeply embedded protostars/clusters. We present a status report of our efforts: a preview of the IR properties of all cores and their embedded source inferred from a grey body fit to the compiled SEDs.

Just a decade ago, only a handful of laboratories were engaged in the preparation and characterization of cosmic dust analogues and in the study of the formation of molecules on their surfaces. Now more than three dozen laboratories (see list below) work on such topics.

Within the ‘earliest phases of star formation’ (EPoS) Herschel project, we observed the NH3 inversion lines of 6 very young high-mass star-forming regions at high spatial resolution (3-5″) with the JVLA. While the Herschel data provide details about the dust continuum, the ammonia data reveal the kinematics and temperatures. Here we present the exciting star-forming clump ISOSS23053 that shows multiple velocity components. We observe a prominent velocity step within the clump, which could be a sign of colliding or converging flows that triggers star formation. Furthermore, we used the JVLA in the C-array configuration to study this source in more detail and we present the first results from the new data. They support the idea of converging flows, as we observe two components in the NH3(1,1) and (2,2) line, whereas the higher excited NH3(3,3) line shows one component that links the two lower excited lines.