The purpose of this communication is to explore possibilities for children’s literature to enable futures learning. It introduces the ways in which two different frameworks might be used to analyse children’s literature. The first framework draws upon the Earth Charter Principles (ECP) (Auld et al., 2021). The second framework brings together the pillars of sustainability with the principles of Education for Sustainability (EfS) in a framework for ecological sustainability of children’s literature (White et al., 2020). The communication starts by introducing a text – a recent example of ‘awarded’ and therefore high-quality children’s literature. We then outline the two frameworks and explore the possibilities of applying these frames for analysing this text. We conclude that the sustainability frameworks are useful tools and resources for analysing children’s literature to determine the quality of the text and how the experience of reading the text may impact children, their learning and their environmental consciousness and practices.

A framework to critically consider the ecological sustainability messaging in children’s literature is presented to authors, illustrators and editors, as well as teachers, parents and students/children. We have applied this framework to three books from the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) 2015 Notables list using critical discourse analysis (CDA). Findings suggest that there are themes and images in these award-winning texts that do not support ecological sustainability and we argue that children’s literature should be judged with criteria including ecological sustainability. Our hope is that ecological sustainability principles and practices lead to changes in social discourse through intergenerational storytelling.

We present the first far-infrared luminosity function in the AKARI Deep Field South, a premier deep field of the AKARI Space Telescope, using spectroscopic redshifts obtained with AAOmega. To date, we have found spectroscopic redshifts for 389 galaxies in this field and have measured the local (z<0.25) 90 μm luminosity function using about one-third of these redshifts. The results are in reasonable agreement with recent theoretical predictions.

The science of extra-solar planets is one of the most rapidly changing areas of astrophysics and since 1995 the number of planets known has increased by almost two orders of magnitude. A combination of ground-based surveys and dedicated space missions has resulted in 560-plus planets being detected, and over 1200 that await confirmation. NASA's Kepler mission has opened up the possibility of discovering Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around some of the 100,000 stars it is surveying during its 3 to 4-year lifetime. The new ESA's Gaia mission is expected to discover thousands of new planets around stars within 200 parsecs of the Sun. The key challenge now is moving on from discovery, important though that remains, to characterisation: what are these planets actually like, and why are they as they are?

In the past ten years, we have learned how to obtain the first spectra of exoplanets using transit transmission and emission spectroscopy. With the high stability of Spitzer, Hubble, and large ground-based telescopes the spectra of bright close-in massive planets can be obtained and species like water vapour, methane, carbon monoxide and dioxide have been detected. With transit science came the first tangible remote sensing of these planetary bodies and so one can start to extrapolate from what has been learnt from Solar System probes to what one might plan to learn about their faraway siblings. As we learn more about the atmospheres, surfaces and near-surfaces of these remote bodies, we will begin to build up a clearer picture of their construction, history and suitability for life.

The Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory, EChO, will be the first dedicated mission to investigate the physics and chemistry of Exoplanetary Atmospheres. By characterising spectroscopically more bodies in different environments we will take detailed planetology out of the Solar System and into the Galaxy as a whole.

EChO has now been selected by the European Space Agency to be assessed as one of four M3 mission candidates.

We present the results of a multi-wavelength line and continuum study of the bright-rimmed cloud SFO 75 in an attempt to determine whether the ionisation front and its associated shocks, driven by the nearby O star, have triggered the formation of a new generation of stars within this bright-rimmed cloud.

The results of a submillimetre wavelength spectral line survey between 455.1 – 507.4 GHz of the Orion-KL hot cloud core are reported. 254 lines were detected, and are associated with 30 different molecular species or their isotopomeric variants. Apart from the abundant diatomic rotors such as CO and CS, the spectrum is dominated by SO, SO2 and CH3OH and large organic molecules such as (CH3)2O, CH3CN, C2H3CN, C2H5CN and HCOOCH3 which make up ∼ 72% of the total number of lines; unidentified lines ∼ 13%; and other lines the remaining ∼ 15% of the total. Rotational temperatures and column densities derived using standard rotation diagram analysis techniques were found to range from 70 – 600 K, and 1014 – 1017cm2 respectively.

Molecular clouds in the Galactic center region are characterised by their large velocity widths and physical conditions which differ from clouds in the Galactic disk (e.g., Morris 1996). These clouds may not be gravitationally bound, but in equilibrium with the high external pressure in the Galactic bulge (Spergel & Blitz 1992, Oka et al. 1997a).

Recent high resolution CO images of the Galactic center (GC) molecular clouds reveal many arc and/or shell structures (Oka et al. 1997). A considerable fraction of them may most probably be formed by an interaction between supernova remnants (SNRs) and molecular clouds. Studies of such cases in less confused areas are needed to clarify this picture. The SNR W44 is a good place for examining the SNR induced shell formation scenario.

At the interface between an HII region and a molecular cloud, lies a neutral gas layer which is subject to both an intense radiation field, and to shocks arising from the expansion of the ionisation front of the HII region. The gas in these regions is highly excited, hot, and may be fairly dense. We present the first high resolution images of atomic carbon towards a sample of ionisation front sources. This study has relevance to our understanding of shock induced star formation, the formation and destruction of molecular species under extreme conditions, shock processes in the ISM, and the energy balance in molecular clouds.

We have obtained a high resolution map of the 12CO J=3—2 emission in the vicinity of HH102 in the L1551 molecular outflow. The data reveal the presence of several bright clumps within the thin shell of low-velocity blue-shifted outflowing gas. There is evidence for further fragmentation in the clumps, as signified by the high derived excitation temperatures and low beam-filling factors. The region of peculiarly energetic activity associated with HH102 coincides with the projected location of impact of a radio jet from IRS5 with the dense ambient gas surrounding the outflow cavity.

We have adopted a detailed map in the CO J = 3-2 line of the M17 molecular cloud complex covering an area of about 60 square arc minutes. As well as the M17SW cloud core, the map covers the areas containing both ionization bars, and their surrounding molecular clouds. A complex dynamical picture will be presented, with evidence for fragmentation of the complex into a number of discrete clouds, as well as indications of wide-spread interaction between the ionization bars and the CO gas. The morphology revealed by the CO maps will be discussed in connection with the distributions of IR, radio and optical emission, and the overall dynamics of the whole M17 region.

We report on extensive submillimetre wavelength observations in the CO J = 3-2 and 4-3 lines towards a sample of star formation regions. The observations have been obtained using the Queen Mary College Submillimetre Heterodyne Receiver at the UKIRT 3.8 m telescope. The data include observations and maps of NGC 2024, S88, W3, S140, CRL2591, NGC 2264, K3-50, G35.2-0.74, ρ Oph A, M17, W51, S68, S106, NGC 1333, DR21 and W49. Several new bipolar flow sources have been detected in NGC 2024, S88 and NGC 2264. Comparisons between the spectra in the CO J = 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 transitions will be discussed in terms of their excitation, in particular for the gas in the high velocity line wings, where we have attempted to estimate the densities and relative abundances of the flow material.

We report on the first submillimetre wavelength spectral scan of the Orion A molecular cloud in the frequency range 342-463 GHz (0.88-0.65 mm) using the Queen Mary College Submillimetre Heterodyne Receiver at UKIRT. Twenty-eight molecular transitions were detected, the majority of these for the first time. The lines include transitions of CO, CS, HCN, HCO+, H2CO, H2CS, SO, SO2, CCH, SiO and CH3OH. Upper limits are reported for a number of lines including CO+ and the ground state transition of NH2. A number of the lines are surprisingly intense, and we will present maps of the relative distributions of HCO+, HCN, H2CO and CCH, which show striking differences in their spatial structures. We will present details of the excitation of a number of the lines based on the results from this survey.

Extensive molecular line observations have been made of a small region of the supernova remnant IC443 that is strongly interacting with, and shocking a nearby molecular cloud. The observations obtained at the Nobeyama 45-m, Kitt Peak 12-m, and UKIRT 3.8-m telescopes include detailed maps at 15 and 30 arc second resolution in the CO (J = 1-0) and 2-1 lines, and spectra in the CO (J = 3-2) transition. The shocked gas is characterized by a low density and a high temperature. The spatial distribution of the CO shows a remarkable correspondence to maps of shocked molecular hydrogen, and contains a very complex velocity structure, indicating extensive fragmentation. The masses of the clumps are 0.1-0.3 solar masses, and as a system are dynamically unstable. In addition we report a comprehensive molecular line survey towards two of the fragments in IC443, one characterized by the presence of high velocity, and the other by low velocity gas. These results are discussed in relation to the properties of shock-excited gas and theoretical shock-chemistry models. Several other regions in IC443, which appear as strong far-Ir emitters on IRAS images of the remnant, were searched, and also found to be strong emitters of characteristic shocked-gas profiles.