The CoRoT Mission and its performances in flight are summarised. After more than 500 days in orbit, the early results in the exoplanet finding programme are highlighted. The first 5 planets discovered are compared to the previous population of exoplanets.

This overview summarizes the age dating methods available for young sub-solar mass stars. Pre-main sequence age diagnostics include the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram, spectroscopic surface gravity indicators, and lithium depletion; asteroseismology is also showing recent promise. Near and beyond the zero-age main sequence, rotation period or vsini and activity (coronal and chromospheric) diagnostics along with lithium depletion serve as age proxies. Other authors in this volume present more detail in each of the aforementioned areas. Herein, I focus on pre-main sequence HR diagrams and address the questions: Do empirical young cluster isochrones match theoretical isochrones? Do isochrones predict stellar ages consistent with those derived via other independent techniques? Do the observed apparent luminosity spreads at constant effective temperature correspond to true age spreads? While definitive answers to these questions are not provided, some methods of progression are outlined.

Using a self-consistant dynamic theory of non-local convection in chemically inhomogeneous stars, the lithium depletion in MS stars of masses 0.725–1.5 M⊙ are calculated. Both of the overshooting and microdiffusion are included in a consistent way. The comparisons of theretical reasults with the observed Li depletions in open clusters show that the general characters of Li depletions can be reproduced by theory. The overshooting mixing and microdiffusion induced by gravitational setting and radiative accelerations may be two main mechanisms of Li depletion.

While obviously having a common root, solar and planetary dynamo theory have taken increasingly divergent routes in the last two or three decades, and there are probably few experts now who can claim to be equally versed in both. Characteristically, even in the fine and comprehensive book “The magnetic Universe” (Rudiger & Hollerbach 2004), the chapters on planets and on the Sun were written by different authors. Separate reviews written on the two topics include Petrovay (2000), Charbonneau (2005), Choudhuri (2008) on the solar dynamo and Glatzmaier (2002), Stevenson (2003) on the planetary dynamo. In the following I will try to make a systematic comparison between solar and planetary dynamos, presenting analogies and differences, and highlighting some interesting recent results.

We present 5–20 μm Spitzer/IRS spectroscopy toward stars behind dark molecular clouds. We present preliminary results from the Serpens dark cloud to show the variation between environments within a cloud. We are surveying 3 clouds with varying levels of star formation activity. Serpens has the highest level of activity from our 3 clouds. We show that location as well extinction can cause variations in ice composition. We also find that some lines of sight contain organic molecules such as methane and methanol, and the first detection of acetylene ice in the interstellar medium. We believe the high extinction lines of sight have been enriched by star formation activity near those lines of sight.

Population III stars, the first generation of stars formed from primordial Big Bang material with a top–heavy IMF, should contribute substantially to the Universe reionization and they are crucial for understanding the early metal enrichment of galaxies. Therefore it is very important that these objects, foreseen by theories, are detected by observations. However PopIII stars, searched through the HeII 1640Å line signature, have remained elusive. We report about the search for the HeII line in a galaxy at z = 6.5, which is a very promising candidate. Unfortunately we are not yet able to show the results of this search. However we call attention to the possible detection of PopIII stars in a lensed HII dwarf galaxy at z = 3.4, which appeared in the literature some years ago, but has been overlooked.

Supernovae are the dominant energy source for driving turbulence within the interstellar plasma. Until recently, their effects on magnetic field amplification in disk galaxies remained a matter of speculation. By means of self-consistent simulations of supernova-driven turbulence, we find an exponential amplification of the mean magnetic field on timescales of a few hundred million years. The robustness of the observed fast dynamo is checked at different magnetic Reynolds numbers, and we find sustained dynamo action at moderate Rm. This indicates that the mechanism might indeed be of relevance for the real ISM.

Sensing the flow via passive tracer fields, we infer that SNe produce a turbulent α effect which is consistent with the predictions of quasilinear theory. To lay a foundation for global mean-field models, we aim to explore the scaling of the dynamo tensors with respect to the key parameters of our simulations. Here we give a first account on the variation with the supernova rate.

We describe an ongoing, large-scale, photometric and spectroscopic survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) periphery. This survey uses Washington M, T2 + DDO51 photometry to identify distant LMC red giant branch (RGB) star candidates; multi-object spectroscopy is used to confirm the stellar surface gravities of these RGB stars and their association with the LMC (e.g., through radial velocities). The survey now encompasses hundreds of fields ranging from the LMC center with full azimuthal coverage around the LMC and out to 23° from the LMC center. We have confirmed the existence of RGB stars with (the unusual) Magellanic velocities out to the radial limit of this survey coverage. From data in a subsample of these fields, we show that this extended population of stars makes up a diffuse structure enveloping the LMC with a two-dimensional distribution resembling a classical halo with a shallow de Vaucouleurs profile and a broad metallicity spread around a typical mean value of [Fe/H] ~ −1.0.

The IAU Working Group (WG) on Numerical Standards for Fundamental Astronomy has been tasked with updating the IAU Current Best Estimates (CBEs), conforming with the IAU Resolutions, IERS Conventions and Système International d'Unités whenever possible. As part of its effort to achieve this, the WG is working in close cooperation with IAU Commissions 4 and 52, the IERS, and the BIPM Consultative Committee for Units.

Hierarchical ΛCDM models provide a successful paradigm for the growth of dark matter on large scales, but they face important challenges in predicting how the baryonic components of galaxies evolve. I present constraints on two aspects of this evolution: (1) The interaction history of galaxies over the last 7 Gyr and the impact of interactions on their star formation properties, based on Jogee et al. (2008a, b); (2) Constraints on the origin of bulges in hierarchical models and the challenge posed in accounting for galaxies with low bulge-to-total ratios, based on Weinzirl, Jogee, Khochar, Burkert, & Kormendy (2008, hereafter WJKBK08).

Helioseismological data have given us two interesting results: the differential-to-uniform solar rotation curve and the extent of the overshooting region (OV). As of today, no model (including numerical simulations) has been able to reproduce these findings. Here, we first present a new model for the angular momentum. It contains new terms representing vorticity and buoyancy that were left out in all previous formulations without a clear justification. It is shown that they extract angular momentum from the stellar core, a welcome feature since the standard angular momentum equation leads to a rotation curve that is considerably higher than what is observed. As for the overshooting extent, all models yield values that are an order of magnitude larger than the helio data of 0.07Hp. We propose a criterion whose main ingredient is a new flux conservation law that includes new terms, one of which increases the dissipation in the radiative zone and thus lowers the OV extent, a tendency in the desired direction. Since we have not coupled the new models to a solar structure-evolution code, we cannot at this stage carry out a comparison with the helio data. The purpose is to exhibit the fact that in both cases the missing ingredients are of such nature as to improve the previous model predictions. A proper quantification remains to be done.

Study of solar oscillations has provided us detailed information about solar structure and dynamics. These in turn provide a test of theories of stellar structure and evolution as well as theories of angular momentum transfer and dynamo. Some of these results about the solar structure and its implication on the recent revision of heavy element abundances are described. Apart from these the solar cycle variations in the rotation rate and its gradients are also discussed.

At the IAU XXVI General Assembly in 2006, the Division I decided to create the Working Group on Astrometry by Small Ground-Based Telescopes (WG-ASGBT). Its scientic goals are to foster the follow-up of small bodies detected by the large surveys including the NEOs; to set-up a dedicated observation network for the follow-up of objects which will be detected by Gaia; to contribute to the observation campaigns of the mutual events of natural satellites, stellar occultations, and binary asteroids; and to encourage teaching astrometry for the next generation. The present report gives the main activities carried out in these areas with small telescopes (diameter less than 2m).

A sample of 33 eclipsing binaries observed in a field of the SMC with FLAMES@VLT is presented. The radial velocity curves obtained, together with existing OGLE light curves, allowed the determination of all stellar and orbital parameters of these binary systems. The mean distance modulus of the observed part of the SMC is 19.05 mag, based on the 26 most reliable systems. Assuming an average error of 0.1 mag on the distance modulus to an individual system, and a gaussian distribution of the distance moduli, we obtain a 2-σ depth of 0.36 mag or 10.6 kpc. Some results on the kinematics of the binary stars and of the H ii gas are also given.

The diffuse interstellar bands appear as absorption features in spectra of reddened stars and lie mostly in the visible region of the spectrum. The first examples were recorded photographically nearly one hundred years ago and despite a huge amount of observational, theoretical and laboratory effort the spectra remain unassigned. Most researchers believe that organic material is responsible for the absorptions, the most popular form being polycyclic aromatic (hydro)carbon (PAH) structures. This article reviews briefly the main characteristics of the spectrum, describes some current research and outlines some lines of inquiry.

I show that the predicted densities of the inner dark matter halos in ΛCDM models of structure formation appear to be higher than estimates from real galaxies and constraints from dynamical friction on bars. This inconsistency would not be a problem for the ΛCDM model if physical processes that are omitted in the collisionless collapse simulations were able to reduce the dark matter density in the inner halos. I review the mechanisms proposed to achieve the needed density reduction.

Rotation periods and projected equatorial velocities of pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars in star forming regions can be combined to give projected stellar radii. Assuming random axial orientation, a Monte-Carlo model is used to illustrate that distributions of projected stellar radii are very sensitive to ages and age dispersions between 1 and 10Myr which, unlike age estimates from conventional Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams, are relatively immune to uncertainties due to extinction, variability, distance etc. Application of the technique to the Orion Nebula cluster reveals radius spreads of a factor of 2–3 (FWHM) at a given effective temperature. Modelling this dispersion as an age spread suggests that PMS stars in the ONC have an age range larger than the mean cluster age, that could be reasonably described by the age distribution deduced from the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. These radius/age spreads are certainly large enough to invalidate the assumption of coevality when considering the evolution of PMS properties (rotation, disks etc.) from one young cluster to another.

In this contribution we present our new photometric search for high-z galaxies hosting Population III (PopIII) stars based on deep intermediate-band imaging observations, by using Supreme-Cam on the Subaru Telescope. By combining our new data with the existing broad-band and narrow-band data in the target field, we searched for galaxies which emit strongly both in Lyα and in Heiiλ1640 (“dual emitters”) that are promising candidates for PopIII-hosting galaxies, at 4 ≲ z ≲ 5. Although we found 10 “dual emitters”, most of them turn out to be [Oii]-[Oiii] dual emitters or Hβ-Hα dual emitters at z < 1, as inferred from their broad-band colors and from the ratio of the equivalent widths. No convincing candidate of Lyα-Heii dual emitter with SFRPopIII ≳ 2M⊙ yr−1 was found. This result disfavors low feedback models for PopIII star clusters, and implies an upper limit of the PopIII SFR density of SFRDPopIII < 5 × 10−6M⊙ yr−1 Mpc−3. This new selection method to search for PopIII-hosting galaxies should be useful in future surveys for the first observational detection of PopIII-hosting galaxies at high redshift.

The pioneer space mission for photometric planet searches CoRoT continuously monitors about 12,000 stars in each of its fields of view. Thanks to the so-called “alarm mode”, transit candidates can be detected early in the processing of the data and before the end of a run of observation. This specificity offers the possibility of rapidly triggering follow-up operations for the confirmation and characterization of the best transit candidates. We present the first objects discovered in this way: four planets and a transition object between brown dwarf and planet. We describe the organization of the CoRoT Exoplanet Science Team and briefly comment on the set of periodic signals identified by the various detection groups in the first three runs of observation.

Observations show that magnetic fields in the interstellar medium (ISM) often do not respond to increases in gas density as would be naively expected for a frozen-in field. This may suggest that the magnetic field in the diffuse gas becomes detached from dense clouds as they form. We have investigated this possibility using theoretical estimates, a simple magneto-hydrodynamic model of a flow without mass conservation and numerical simulations of a thermally unstable flow. Our results show that significant magnetic flux can be shed from dense clouds as they form in the diffuse ISM, leaving behind a magnetically dominated diffuse gas.