Thermal convection plays a very important role in the structure and evolution of stars, as it is one of the main physical processes that transport heat from their interior where it is released, to the surface where it is radiated into space. Much progress has been achieved in modeling that process during the past 60 years, and I shall recall here how Juri Toomre has greatly contributed to it.

We study the connections between the sun's convection zone evolution and the dynamics of the solar wind and corona. We input the magnetic fields generated by a 2.5D axisymmetric kinematic dynamo code (STELEM) into a 2.5D axisymmetric coronal MHD code (DIP). The computations were carried out for an 11 year cycle. We show that the solar wind's velocity and mass flux vary in latitude and in time in good agreement with the well known time-latitude assymptotic wind speed diagram. Overall sun's mass loss rate, momentum flux and magnetic breaking torque are maximal near the solar minimum.

We study the effects of different approximations of scattering in 3D radiation-hydrodynamics simulations on the photospheric temperature stratification of metal-poor red giant stars. We find that assuming a Planckian source function and neglecting the contribution of scattering to extinction in optically thin layers provides a good approximation of the effects of coherent scattering on the photospheric temperature balance.

This paper discusses nonlinear dynamos where the nonlinearity arises directly via the Lorentz force in the Navier-Stokes equation, and leads to a situation where the Lorentz force and the velocity and the magnetic field are in direct competition over substantial regions of the flow domain. Filamentary and non-filamentary dynamos are contrasted, and the concept of Alfvénic dynamos with almost equal magnetic and kinetic energies is reviewed via examples. So far these remain in the category of toy models; the paper concludes with a discussion of whether similar dynamos are likely to exist in astrophysical objects, and whether they can model the solar cycle.

We investigate conditions in a radially self-similar outflow in the regime of large resistivity. Using the PLUTO code, we performed simulations with proper choice of boundary conditions, relaxed at the footpoints of critical surfaces in the flow. We investigate outflow propagation in a high-resistive disk corona, and compare it to the results with small or vanishing resistivity.

We study the complexity of supergranular cells using the intensity patterns obtained at the Kodaikanal solar observatory during the solar maximum. Our data consists of visually identified supergranular cells, from which a fractal dimension D is obtained according to the relation P ∝ AD/2 where A is the area and P is the perimeter of the cells. We find a difference in the fractal dimension between the active and the quiet region cells which is conjectured to be due to the magnetic activity level.

Recent results are reviewed on galaxy dynamics, bar evolution, destruction and re-formation, cold gas accretion, gas radial flows and AGN fueling, minor mergers. Some problems of galaxy evolution are discussed in particular, exchange of angular momentum, radial migration through resonant scattering, and consequences on abundance gradients, the frequency of bulgeless galaxies, and the relative role of secular evolution and hierarchical formation.

Observations have shown that the Sun's magnetic field has helical structures. The helicity content in magnetic field configurations is a crucial constraint on the dynamical evolution of the system. Since helicity is connected with the number of links we investigate configurations with interlocked magnetic flux rings and one with unlinked rings. It turns out that it is not the linking of the tubes which affects the magnetic field decay, but the content of magnetic helicity.

The origin and evolution of magnetic fields in the Universe is a cosmological problem. Although exotic mechanisms for magneotgenesis cannot be ruled out, galactic magnetic fields could have been seeded by magnetic fields from stars and accretion disks, and must be continuously regenerated due to the ongoing replacement of the interstellar medium. Unlike stellar dynamos, galactic dynamos operate in a multicomponent gas at low collisionality and high magnetic Prandtl number. Their background turbulence is highly compressible, the plasma β ~ 1, and there has been time for only a few large exponentiation times at large scale over cosmic time. Points of similarity include the importance of magnetic buoyancy, the large range of turbulent scales and tiny microscopic scales, and the coupling between the magnetic field and certain properties of the flow. Understanding the origin and maintenance of the large scale galactic magnetic field is the most challenging aspect of the problem.

We perform 3D radiative hydrodynamic simulations to study convection in low-mass main-sequence stars with the aim of improving stellar models. Comparing models from a 0.90 M⊙ evolutionary track with 3D simulations reveals distinct differences between simulations and mixing length theory. The simulations show obvious structural differences throughout the superadiabatic layer where convection is inefficient at transporting energy. The discrepancy between MLT and simulation changes as the star evolves and the dynamical effects of turbulence increase. Further, the simulations reveal a T-tau relation that is sensitive to the strength of the turbulence, which is in contrast to 1D stellar models that use the same T-tau relation across the HR diagram.

We discuss the problem of turbulent dynamo and illustrate it through numerical simulations and few results from the VKS experiment.

We review recent insights into the dynamics of the solar convection zone obtained from global numerical simulations, focusing on two recent developments in particular. The first is quasi-cyclic magnetic activity in a long-duration dynamo simulation. Although mean fields comprise only a few percent of the total magnetic energy they exhibit remarkable order, with multiple polarity reversals and systematic variability on time scales of 6-15 years. The second development concerns the maintenance of the meridional circulation. Recent high-resolution simulations have captured the subtle nonlinear dynamical balances with more fidelity than previous, more laminar models, yielding more coherent circulation patterns. These patterns are dominated by a single cell in each hemisphere, with poleward and equatorward flow in the upper and lower convection zone respectively. We briefly address the implications of and future of these modeling efforts.

In the interstellar medium the turbulence is believed to be forced mostly through supernova explosions. In a first approximation these flows can be written as a gradient of a potential being thus devoid of vorticity. There are several mechanisms that could lead to vorticity generation, like viscosity and baroclinic terms, rotation, shear and magnetic fields, but it is not clear how effective they are, neither is it clear whether the vorticity is essential in determining the turbulent diffusion acting in the ISM. Here we present a study of the role of rotation, shear and baroclinicity in the generation of vorticity in the ISM.

Turbulent reconnection is studied by means of two-dimensional (2D) compressible magnetohydrodynamical numerical calculations. The process of homogeneous turbulence is set up by adding two-dimensional random forcing implemented in the spectral space at small wave numbers with no correlation between velocity and forcing. We apply the initial Harris current sheet configuration together with a density profile calculated from the numerical equilibrium of magnetic and gas pressures. We assume that there is no external driving of the reconnection. The reconnection develops as a result of the initial vector potential perturbation. We use open boundary conditions. Our main goal is to find the dependencies of reconnection rate on the uniform resistivity. We present that the reconnection speed depends on the Lindquist number in 2D in the case of low as well as high resolution. When we apply more powerful turbulence the reconnection is faster, however the speed of reconnection is smaller than in the case of our three-dimensional numerical simulations.

HD75445 was recently announced by Kochukhov et al. (2009) to be a low-amplitude roAp star, based on spectroscopic measurements. We present putative pulsation frequencies of HD75445 determined from 22 hours of Johnson B photometry obtained in 2008, 2009 and 2010. We present the first photometric periodicities detected in this star. We make a marginal detection of one of Kochukhov et al. (2009)'s spectroscopic periods, along with a range of confidently detected periodicities covering the low-frequency end of the roAp instability spectrum and the high-frequency end of the Delta Scuti instability spectrum.

The co-evolution of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and their host galaxies is a rich problem, spanning a large-dynamic range and depending on many physical processes. Simulating the transport of gas and angular momentum from super-galactic scales all the way down to the outer edge of the black hole's accretion disk requires sophisticated numerical techniques with extensive treatment of baryonic physics. We use a hydrodynamic adaptive mesh refinement simulation to follow the growth and evolution of a typical disk galaxy hosting an SMBH, in a cosmological context (covering a dynamical range of 10 million!). We have adopted a piecemeal approach, focusing our attention on the gas dynamics in the central few hundred parsecs of the simulated galaxy (with boundary conditions provided by the larger cosmological simulation), and beginning with a simplified picture (no mergers or feedback). In this scenario, we find that the circumnuclear disk remains marginally stable against catastrophic fragmentation, allowing stochastic fueling of gas into the vicinity of the SMBH. I will discuss the successes and the limitations of these simulations, and their future direction.

When stars like our Sun are young they rotate rapidly and are very magnetically active. We explore dynamo action in rapidly rotating suns with the 3-D MHD anelastic spherical harmonic (ASH) code. The magnetic fields built in these dynamos are organized on global-scales into wreath-like structures that span the convection zone. Wreath-building dynamos can undergo quasi-cyclic reversals of polarity and such behavior is common in the parameter space we have been able to explore. These dynamos do not appear to require tachoclines to achieve their spatial or temporal organization. Wreath-building dynamos are present to some degree at all rotation rates, but are most evident in the more rapidly rotating simulations.

Several uncertain helioseismic findings of potential interest to Jüri about the solar convection zone are briefly discussed, along with some personal optimistic hopes for the future.

We reflect upon a few of the research challenges in stellar convection and dynamo theory that are likely to be addressed in the next five or so years. These deal firstly with the Sun and continuing study of the two boundary layers at the top and bottom of its convection zone, namely the tachocline and the near-surface shear layer, both of which are likely to have significant roles in how the solar dynamo may be operating. Another direction concerns studying core convection and dynamo action within the central regions of more massive A, B and O-type stars, for the magnetism may have a key role in controlling the winds from these stars, thus influencing their ultimate fate. Such studies of the interior dynamics of massive stars are becoming tractable with recent advances in codes and supercomputers, and should also be pursued with some vigor.