Long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow observations offer cutting-edge opportunities to characterise the star formation history of the Universe back to the epoch of reionisation, and to measure the chemical composition of interstellar and intergalactic gas through absorption spectroscopy. The main barrier to progress is the low efficiency in rapidly and confidently identifying which bursts are high redshift ( $z > 5$ ) candidates before they fade, as this requires low-latency follow-up observations at near-infrared wavelengths (or longer) to determine a reliable photometric redshift estimate. Since no current or planned gamma-ray observatories carry near-infrared telescopes on-board, complementary facilities are needed. So far this task has been performed by instruments on the ground, but sky visibility and weather constraints limit the number of GRB targets that can be observed and the speed at which follow-up is possible. In this work we develop a Monte Carlo simulation framework to investigate an alternative approach based on the use of a rapid-response near-infrared nano-satellite, capable of simultaneous imaging in four bands from $0.8$ to $1.7\,\unicode{x03BC}$ m (a mission concept called SkyHopper). Using as reference a sample of 88 afterglows observed with the GROND instrument on the MPG/ESO telescope, we find that such a nano-satellite is capable of detecting in the H-band (1.6 $\unicode{x03BC}$ m) $72.5\% \pm 3.1\%$ of GRBs concurrently observable with the Swift satellite via its UVOT instrument (and $44.1\% \pm 12.3\%$ of high redshift ( $z>5$ ) GRBs) within 60 min of the GRB prompt emission. This corresponds to detecting ${\sim}55$ GRB afterglows per year, of which 1–3 have $z > 5$ . These rates represent a substantial contribution to the field of high-z GRB science, as only 23 $z > 5$ GRBs have been collectively discovered by the entire astronomical community over the last ${\sim}24$ yr. Future discoveries are critically needed to take advantage of next generation follow-up spectroscopic facilities such as 30m-class ground telescopes and the James Webb Space Telescope. Furthermore, a systematic space-based follow-up of afterglows in the near-infrared will offer new insight on the population of dusty (‘dark’) GRBs which are primarily found at cosmic noon ( $z\sim 1-3$ ). Additionally, we find that launching a mini-constellation of 3 near-infrared nano-satellites would increase the detection fraction of afterglows to ${\sim}83\%$ and substantially reduce the latency in the photometric redshift determination.

When open-cut mines are eventually abandoned, they leave a large hole with sloping sides. The hole fills with rain water, and there is also contaminated run-off from surrounding land, that moves through the rock and eventually through the sloping sides of the abandoned mine. This paper considers a two-dimensional unsteady model motivated by this leaching flow through the rock and into the rain-water reservoir. The stability of the interface between the two fluids is analysed in the inviscid limit. A viscous Boussinesq model is also presented, and a closed-form solution is presented to this problem, after it has been linearized in a manner consistent with Boussinesq theory. That solution suggests that the interfacial zone is effectively neutrally stable as it evolves in time. However, an asymptotic theory in the interfacial region shows the interface to be unstable. In addition, the nonlinear Boussinesq model is solved using a spectral method. Interfacial travelling waves and roll-up are observed and discussed, and compared against the predictions of asymptotic Boussinesq theory.

The use of roman numerals for stellar populations represents a classification approach to galaxy formation which is now well behind us. Nevertheless, the concept of a pristine generation of stars, followed by a protogalactic era, and finally the mainstream stellar population is a plausible starting point for testing our physical understanding of early star formation. This will be observationally driven as never before in the coming decade. In this paper, we search out observational tests of an idealised coeval and homogeneous distribution of population II stars. We examine the spatial distribution of quasars, globular clusters, and the integrated free electron density of the intergalactic medium, in order to test the assumption of homogeneity. Any real inhomogeneity implies a population II that is not coeval.

Integral field unit spectrographs allow the 2D exploration of the kinematics and stellar populations of galaxies, although they are generally restricted to small fields-of-view. Using the large field-of-view of the DEIMOS multislit spectrograph on Keck and our Stellar Kinematics using Multiple Slits technique, we are able to extract sky-subtracted stellar light spectra to large galactocentric radii. Here, we present a new DEIMOS mask design named SuperSKiMS that explores large spatial scales without sacrificing high spatial sampling. We simulate a set of observations with such a mask design on the nearby galaxy NGC 1023, measuring stellar kinematics and metallicities out to where the galaxy surface brightness is orders of magnitude fainter than the sky. With this technique we also reproduce the results from literature integral field spectroscopy in the innermost galaxy regions. In particular, we use the simulated NGC 1023 kinematics to model its total mass distribution to large radii, obtaining comparable results with those from published integral field unit observation. Finally, from new spectra of NGC 1023, we obtain stellar 2D kinematics and metallicity distributions that show good agreement with integral field spectroscopy results in the overlapping regions. In particular, we do not find a significant offset between our Stellar Kinematics using Multiple Slits and the ATLAS3D stellar velocity dispersion at the same spatial locations.

We present the proceedings from a two-day workshop held at Swinburne University on 2005 May 24–25. The workshop participants highlighted current Australian research on both theoretical and observational aspects of galaxy groups. These proceedings include short one-page summaries of a number of the talks presented at the workshop. The talks presented ranged from reconciling N-body simulations with observations, to the Hı content of galaxies in groups and the existence of ‘dark galaxies’. The formation and existence of ultra-compact dwarfs in groups, and a new supergroup in Eridanus were also discussed.

Galaxy groups have been under-studied relative to their richer counterparts — clusters. The Group Evolution Multiwavelength Study (GEMS) aims to redress some of the balance. Here we describe the GEMS sample selection and resulting sample of 60 nearby (< 130 Mpc) galaxy groups and our multiwavelength dataset of X-ray, optical, and Hı imaging. ROSAT X-ray images of each group are presented. GEMS also utilizes near-infrared imaging from the 2MASS survey and optical spectra from the 6dFGS. These observational data are complemented by mock group catalogues generated from the latest ΓCDM simulations with gas physics included. Existing GEMS publications are briefly highlighted as are future publication plans.

Although originally classified as galaxies, Ultra-Compact Dwarfs (UCDs) have many properties in common with globular star clusters. The debate on the origin and nature of UCDs, and the recently discovered ultra-faint dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies which contain very few stars, has motivated us to as the question ‘What is a galaxy?’ Our aim here is to promote further discussion of how to define a galaxy and, in particular, what separates it from a star cluster. Like most previous definitions, we adopt the requirement of gravitationally bound stellar system as a minimum. In order to distinguish a dwarf galaxy from a globular cluster, we discuss other possible requirements, such as a minimum size, a long two-body relaxation time a satellite system, the presence of complex stellar populations and non-baryonic dark matter. We briefly mention the implications of the adoption of each of these definitions. Some special cases of objects with a ambiguous nature are also discussed. Finally, we give our favoured criteria, and in the spirit of ‘collective wisdom’, invite readers to vote on their prefered definition of a galaxy via a dedicated website.

We detail an innovative new technique for measuring the 2-D velocity moments (rotation velocity, velocity dispersion and Gauss-Hermite coefficients h3 and h4) using spectra from Keck DEIMOS multi-object spectroscopic observations. The data are used to reconstruct 2-D rotation velocity maps.

A comparison is carried out among the star formation histories of early-type galaxies in fossil groups, clusters and low density environments. Although they show similar evolutionary histories, a significant fraction of the fossils are younger than their counterparts, suggesting that they can be precursors of the isolated ETG galaxies.

An outbreak of food poisoning which occurred at Brighton in November, 1917, showed several features of unusual interest which makes its publication of value. While the epidemiological inquires and pathological investigations were carried out separately a coherent narrative is best obtained by combined presentation. The pathological investigations were carried out for, and at the request of, the Local Government Board.

The outbreak occurred in the Royal Sussex County Hospital which at the time contained 369 residents, 227 being patients and 142 staff. Twenty-eight persons suffered from food poisoning, 24 of whom were patients and 4 members of the staff. Two deaths occurred but both were patients already suffering from severe diseases.

Globular Clusters provide a unique method for tracing the formation and evolution of their host galaxies. As single stellar populations they are far easier to interpret than the multi-population complexity of galaxy field stars. The scaling properties of globular clusters provide important constraints on the hierarchical assembly history of galaxies. Here we briefly review recent progress using the Hubble Space Telescope for imaging and the Keck plus Gemini telescopes for spectroscopy. We argue that the red, or metal-rich, subpopulation of GCs is associated with the bulge/spheroid component of galaxies. As one of the oldest stellar systems available for study, we discuss how globular clusters can be used to constrain the formation of galaxy bulges, in particular the role of mergers vs secular evolution. We conclude that metal-rich GCs, and hence bulges, formed very early in the Universe with more recent mergers having a small effect at most.

Waves on a neutrally buoyant intrusion layer moving into otherwise stationary fluid are studied. There are two interfacial free surfaces, above and below the moving layer, and a train of waves is present. A small amplitude linearized theory shows that there are two different flow types, in which the two interfaces are either in phase or else move oppositely. The former flow type occurs at high phase speed and the latter is a low-speed solution. Nonlinear solutions are computed for large amplitude waves, using a spectral type numerical method. They extend the results of the linearized analysis, and reveal the presence of limiting flow types in some circumstances.

Long-slit spectra have been obtained with the Keck telescope for a sample of 11 early-type galaxies covering a range in luminosity. Rotation velocity and velocity dispersions, together with 20 Lick line-strength gradients have been measured to two effective radius. We transform line-strength gradients into age, metallicity and α/Fe. Galaxies show very shallow age gradients, strong metallicity gradients, and both positive and negative α/Fe gradients, which cannot be explained with simple outside-in scenarios of galaxy formation. We explore the correlation of the gradients with other global parameters of the galaxies, finding different behaviour for the two families of galaxies, luminous (boxy, core inner profile) and less luminous (disky, cuspy inner profile) galaxies.

Understanding the stellar populations of extragalactic globular cluster (GC) systems and, in particular, determining their ages, provide essential clues to constrain the star formation histories of their host galaxies. We here summarize the most relevant results derived from a detailed, spectroscopic study of 20 GCs in the E0 NGC 1407. We find most GCs are old (~11 Gyr), follow a tight metallicity sequence reaching values slightly above solar, and exhibit mean [α/Fe] ratios of ~0.3 dex. Blue horizontal branch effects are detected for 3 GCs. We also report the existence of two families of metal-rich (MR) GCs, as some of them exhibit significantly larger [Mg/Fe] and [C/Fe] ratios, what might be interpreted in terms of different star formation time-scales. Striking CN overabundances are found over the entire GC metallicity range. In particular, for MR GCs, N increases dramatically while C essentially saturates. This may be interpreted as a consequence of the increasing importance of the CNO cycle with increasing metallicity.

We present recent results from our long-term Gemini/GMOS study of globular clusters (GCs) in early-type galaxies. To date, we have obtained photometry and spectroscopy for GCs in NGCs 3379, 4649, 524, 7332, and IC 1459. We find a clear bimodality in the NGC 4649 GC color distribution, with the fraction of blue/red clusters increasing with galacto-centric radius. We derive ages and metallicities for 22 GCs in NGC 3379, finding that most of the clusters appear old (10–15 Gyr); however, there is a group of 4 metal-rich, younger clusters with ages of 2–6 Gyr. The NGC 3379 GC velocity dispersion decreases with radius, as does the inferred (local) mass-to-light ratio: there is no evidence for a dark matter halo in NGC 3379 based on our GC data.

We investigate, via numerical simulations, the tidal stripping and accretion of globular clusters (GCs). In particular, we focus on creating models that simulate the situation for the GC systems of NGC 1404 and NGC 1399 in the Fornax cluster, which have poor (specific frequency SN ~ 2) and rich (SN ~ 10) GC systems respectively. We initially assign NGC 1404 in our simulation a typical SN (~ 5) for cluster ellipticals, and find that its GC system can only be reduced through stripping to the presently observed value, if its orbit is highly eccentric (with orbital eccentricity of > 0.5) and if the initial scale length of the GCs system is about twice as large as the effective radius of NGC 1404 itself. These stripped GCs can be said to have formed a ‘tidal stream’ of intra-cluster globular clusters (ICGCs) orbiting the center of Fornax cluster (many of which would be assigned to NGC 1399 in an imaging study). The physical properties of these GCs (e.g., number, radial distribution, and kinematics) depend on the orbit and initial distribution of GCs in NGC 1404. Our simulations also predict a trend for 5N to rise with increasing cluster-centric distance – a trend for which there is some observational support in the Fornax cluster. We demonstrate that since the kinematical properties of ICGCs formed by tidal stripping in the cluster tidal field depend strongly on the orbits of their previous host galaxies, observations of ICGC kinematics provides a new method for probing galaxy dynamics in a cluster.

Our numerical simulations first demonstrate that the pressure of ISM in a major merger becomes so high (> 105 kB K cm-3) that GMCs in the merger can collapse to form globular clusters (GCs) within a few Myr. The star formation efficiency within a GMC in galaxy mergers can rise up from a few percent to ~ 80 percent, depending on the shapes and the temperature of the GMC. This implosive GC formation due to external high pressure of warm/hot ISM can be more efficient in the tidal tails or the central regions of mergers. The developed clusters have King-like profiles with an effective radius of a few pc. The structural, kinematical, and chemical properties of these GC systems can depend on the orbital and chemical properties of major mergers.