We introduce a new inverse population synthesis algorithm (DINBAS3D) which aims to recover the star formation and metallicity histories from galactic spectra. We investigate the use of a dynamical basis of three simple stellar population spectra that is specific for each galaxy. Our goal is to recover a robust star formation history that minimizes degeneracy effects which are very common in high resolution histories methods. In this work, we detail the method and present our findings when we apply DINBAS3D to synthetic spectra with known parameters, we compare our results with similar methods and find good agreement between them.

The most accepted model for jet production is based on the magneto-centrifugal acceleration out off an accretion disk that surrounds the central source (Blandford & Payne, 1982). This scenario, however, does not explain, e.g., the quasi-periodic ejection phenomena often observed in different astrophysical jet classes. de Gouveia Dal Pino & Lazarian (2005) (hereafter GDPL) have proposed that the large scale superluminal ejections observed in microquasars during radio flare events could be produced by violent magnetic reconnection (MR) episodes. Here, we extend this model to other accretion disk systems, namely: active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and young stellar objects (YSOs), and also discuss its hole on jet heating and particle acceleration.

Several astronomical instruments including early spyglasses are depicted in at least five paintings that Jan Brueghel the Elder completed between 1608 and 1625. This rather unique circumstance is due to the fact that Jan Brueghel was court painter of Archduke Albert VII of Habsburg, whose love for art and science, he celebrated in his paintings. An optical tube that appears in the Extensive Landscape with View of the Castle of Mariemont, dated 1608-1612 represents the first painting of a telescope whatsoever. Some documents are collected showing that Albert VII could have obtained very early spyglasses directly from Lipperhey or Sacharias Janssen, who are two possible inventors of the telescope. Thus the painting could reproduce one of the first telescopes ever made by mankind. Two more instruments appear prominently in two Allegories of Sight made in the years 1617 and 1618. These are precious instruments made possibly in silver, composed by several draw-tubes, which look much more sophisticated than other instruments of same epoch. Rather surprisingly, the structure and, in particular the eyepiece, suggest that they may represent the first examples of Keplerian telescopes about two decades before they replaced the Dutch mounting.

In a recent paper, da Silva et al. (2009), we report results of Li abundance analysis for nine young stellar associations, defined in Torres et al. (2008), from a high-resolution optical spectroscopic survey searching for associations containing young stars (SACY), among optical counterparts of ROSAT All-Sky X-ray sources in the Southern Hemisphere. They have applied a convergence method in the (UVW) velocity space and have determined nine nearby young associations in the sample. As they are young and with different ages, those associations form an interesting laboratory to test the Li depletion theory, as a function of the star age.

NGC 6611, Trumpler 14, Trumpler 15, Trumpler 16, and Collinder 232 are very young open clusters located in star-formation regions in the Eagle Nebula and Carina in the Milky Way, and NGC 346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud. With different instrumentation and techniques, it has been possible to detect and classify new Herbig Ae/Be and classical Be stars and to provide new tests/comparisons of the Be stars' appearance models. Special (He-strong) stars in these star-formation regions are also discussed.

NGC 404, at a distance of 3.4 Mpc, is the nearest S0 galaxy. This galaxy harbors a LINER; however, since the spectrum does not show a broad Hα emission, it is not certain that this LINER is a low luminosity AGN and its nature is still an open question. HST observations show the existence of stellar populations with an age of 3 × 108 years in the galactic bulge and with an age of 6–15 × 109 years in the galactic disk. In this work, we present an analysis of the data cube of NGC 404 obtained with the IFU (Integral Field Unity) of the GMOS (Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph) on the Gemini North telescope.

We demonstrate that quantifying the intrinsic variability of quasars by fitting individual structure function data pairs with a 2-parameter power law model separates quasars from contaminating variable and non-variable point sources with a completeness of 93% and a purity of 99%. This approach can be used to select quasar samples in surveys like that being performed by Pan-STARRS1, where the usual color selection of quasars is not possible due to a filter system that is too red.

From high resolution spectra taken with the spectrograph FIES on the Nordic Optical Telescope, La Palma, we measure abundances of oxygen and α-elements in order to characterize stars which from their dynamical properties are suspected to have originated in disrupted satellites. We find that the chemical composition of investigated stars is homogeneous and distinct from Galactic disk dwarfs, which is providing further evidence of their extragalactic origin.

Star clusters are privileged laboratories for studying the evolution of massive stars (OB stars). One particularly interesting question concerns the phases during which the classical Be stars occur, which—unlike HAe/Be stars—are not pre-main-sequence objects, nor supergiants. Rather, they are extremely rapidly rotating B-type stars with a circumstellar decretion disk formed by episodic ejections of matter from the central star. To study the impact of mass, metallicity, and age on the Be phase, we observed Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) open clusters with two different techniques: (i) with the ESO–WFI in slitless mode, which allowed us to find the brighter Be and other emission-line stars in 84 SMC open clusters, and (ii) with the VLT–FLAMES multifiber spectrograph to determine accurately the evolutionary phases of Be stars in the Be-star-rich SMC open cluster NGC 330. Based on a comparison to the Milky Way, a model of Be stellar evolution, appearance as a function of metallicity and mass, and spectral type is developed, involving the fractional critical rotation rate as a key parameter.

It is argued that Copernican astronomy is a key theme in Michelangelo's fresco of the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel, and was incorporated with the knowledge, consent and approval of the Popes concerned. In Christian art, the iconography of the Last Judgment (depicting the three parts of the universe: heaven, Earth and hell) was traditionally based on a layered structure relating to perceptions of the flat Earth covered by the dome of heaven according to biblical cosmology. In Michelangelo's revolutionary work, Christ is significantly depicted as a beardless Apollonian Sun-god, positioned in the centre of a dramatic circular design rather than at the top of a layered format. This appears to relate to the traditional Christian analogy between the deity and the astronomical feature of the sun, the neoplatonic cult of Sun-symbolism and sources in Dante. More importantly, the influence of the Copernican theory of heliocentricity is argued, since interest in such ideas in papal circles is demonstrated at exactly the time of the commission of the painting (1533). This provides important evidence of papal support for Copernican heliocentricity as early as the 1530s.

I argue that the Doppler shift asymmetries observed in some young stellar object (YSO) jets result from the interaction of the jets with the circumstellar gas, rather than from jets' rotation. The jets do rotate, but at a velocity much below claimed values. During the meeting I carefully examined new claims, and found problems with the claimed jets' rotation. I will challenge any future observation that will claim to detect jet rotation in YSOs that requires the jets (and not a wind) to be launched from radii much larger than the accreting stellar radius. I conclude that the most likely jets' launching mechanism involves a very efficient dynamo in the inner part of the accretion disk, with a jets' launching mechanism that is similar to solar flares (coronal mass ejection).

We give a brief report on spectroscopic properties of V 393 Scorpii. Hα emission and shape and radial velocity of He I5875 are modulated with the long cycle. The long cycle is explained as a relaxation cycle in the circumprimary disc, that cumulates the mass transferred from the donor until certain instability produces disc depletion.

In this paper we briefly discuss the present status of the cosmic ray astrophysics under the light of the new data from the Pierre Auger Observatory. The measured energy spectrum is used to test the scenario of production in nearby radio galaxies. Within this framework the AGN correlation would require that most of the cosmic rays are heavy nuclei and are widely scattered by intergalactic magnetic fields.

Donati's comet was one of the most spectacular astronomical events of the nineteenth century. Its extended sword-like tail was a spectacular sight that inspired several literary and artistic representations. Traces of Donati's comet are found in popular magazines, children's books, collection cards, and household objects through the beginning of the twentieth century.

The observed relations between the black hole mass and the properties of the spheroidal galaxy component imply a close connection between the growth of supermassive black holes and the evolution of their host galaxies. An effective approach to study black hole growth is to measure black hole masses and Eddington ratios of well-defined type 1 AGN samples and determine the underlying distribution functions.

In this paper we try to determine the properties of different galactic components (2 < r < 12kpc) using radial pulsating stars (RPS stars) as tracers. For RPS stars in Galaxy we use a quasi-seismological inversion method (Post Theoretical Mass Method, PTM) which allows us to determine the mass M and the abundance Z for each star. Based on PTM method and using RPS stars as tracers we could determine the chemical structure and evolution of the Galaxy: abundance gradients and segregation between different evolutionary populations. This method is planned to be extended further using the RPS star observed by the KEPLER space mission.