The near infrared (NIR) flare/rebrightening in the afterglow of the short hard gamma ray burst (SHB) 130603B measured with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and an alleged late-time X-ray excess were interpreted as possible evidence of a neutron star merger origin of SHBs. However, the X-ray afterglow that was measured with the Swift XRT and Newton XMM has the canonical behaviour of a synchrotron afterglow produced by a highly relativistic jet. The H-band flux observed with HST 9.41 days after burst is that expected from the measured late-time X-ray afterglow. The late-time flare/rebrightening of the NIR-optical afterglow of SHB 130603B could have been produced also by jet collision with an interstellar density bump. Moreover, SHB plus a kilonova can be produced also by the collapse of a compact star (neutron star, strange star, or quark star) to a more compact object due to cooling, loss of angular momentum, or mass accretion.

Gumbel’s first distribution is applied to smoothed monthly mean sunspot numbers for solar cycles 10 to 24. According to that, the next minimum for solar cycle 24-25 transition would be the deepest solar minimum of the last 150 years. This study provides an additional insight about changes in the Sun which are currently happening.

The reduction of integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data requires several stages and many repetitive operations to convert raw data into, typically, a large number of spectra. Instead there are several semiautomatic data reduction tools and here we present this data reduction process using some of the Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF) tasks devoted to reduce spectroscopic data. After explaining the whole process, we illustrate the power of this instrumental technique with some results obtained for the object HH202 in the Orion Nebula (Mesa-Delgado et al., 2009).

We present 1.3 and 3.6 cm radio continuum images and a HCO+spectrum of the massive star forming region G75.78+0.34 obtained with the Very Large Array (VLA) and with the Berkley Illinois Maryland Association (BIMA) interferometer. Three structures were detected in the continuum emission: one associated with the well-known cometary H ɪɪ region, plus two more compact structures located at 6′′ east and at 2′′ south of cometary H ɪɪ region. Using the total flux and intensity peak we estimated an electron density of≈1.5 × 104 cm−3, an emission measure of≈6 × 107 cm−6 pc, a mass of ionized gas of≈3 M⊙, and a diameter of 0.05 pc for the cometary H ɪɪ region, being typical values for an ultracompact H ɪɪ region. The HCO+emission probably originates from the molecular outflows previously observed in HCN and CO.

We consider the short-lived radionuclide (SLR) ³⁶Cl in calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) found in primitive meteorites with the solar wind implantation model. In this model, SLRs are produced via nuclear reaction with solar energetic particles (SEPs) interacting with gaseous targets in the protosolar atmosphere in T-Tauri stars. These SLRs are captured by the solar wind and then implanted in CAI precursor materials, which have dropped from the funnel flow leading onto the protostar. This method of incorporating SLRs into solar system materials is currently active in our solar system and has been measured with SLRs from the solar wind being implanted on the lunar surface. T-Tauri stars are capable of SEP fluxes <i>&#x7e;</i>10⁵ greater than contemporary SEP fluxes. Here we scale the production rate of ³⁶Cl to the ancient SEP activity. From the enhanced production rates and the refractory mass inflow rate at 0.06&#x2009;AU from the protosun, we model the ancient ³⁶Cl content in CAIs. We find the initial isotopic ratio of ³⁶Cl/³⁵Cl to range from about 1 &#xd7; 10^&#x2212;5 to 5 &#xd7; 10^&#x2212;5 and the concentration of ³⁶Cl to range from about 3 &#xd7; 10¹³ to 1.5 &#xd7; 10¹⁴ atoms g^&#x2212;1.

I give a summary of the observations of Anomalous Microwave Emission (AME) from HII regions. AME has been detected in, or in the vicinity of, HII regions. Given the difficulties in measuring accurate SEDs over a wide range of frequencies and in complex environments, many of these detections require more data to confirm them as emitting significant AME. The contribution from optically thick free-free emission from UCHII regions may be also be significant in some cases. The AME emissivity, defined as the ratio of the AME brightness to the 100 μm brightness, is comparable to the value observed in high-latitude diffuse cirrus in some regions, but is significantly lower in others. However, this value is dependent on the dust temperature. More data, both at high frequencies (&gt;~5 GHz) and high resolution (~1′ or better) is required to disentangle the emission processes in such complex regions.

In an effort to investigate a possible relation between geometry and information, we establish a relation of the Ricci scalar in the Robertson-Walker metric of the cosmological Friedmann model to the number of informationNand entropyS. This is with the help of a previously derived result that relates the Hubble parameter to the number of informationN. We find that the Ricci scalar has a dependence which is inversely proportional to the number of informationNand entropyS. Similarly, a nonzero number of information would imply a finite Ricci scalar, and therefore space time will unfold. Finally, using the maximum number of information existing in the universe, we obtain a numerical value for the Ricci scalar to beO(10-52) m-2.

FIGURES 3–5. Rhynchomicropteron kuslitzkyi sp. n. 3, habitus of male and female; 4, female lateral view; 5, female dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

After almost one century since their definition, the origin of lenticular galaxies is still a matter of debate. Several formation processes have been proposed in order to explain the wide variety of their observational properties. These properties could indicate that the class of lenticulars is a family formed by galaxies with different formations and evolutions. Here I review the main observational properties of the photometric components of lenticular galaxies reported in recent decades. I revise the main processes proposed in order to explain their origin and evolution. I also explain the different properties of the lenticular galaxies that have evolved through each of these formation processes. A unique opportunity for understanding the origin of S0 galaxies will shortly be forthcoming. This is due to the morphological classifications of large galaxy samples that have recently been published. These classifications have given us our first ever opportunity to study large samples of lenticulars within a wide range of masses and located in a great variety of environments. These large samples will provide us with a real census of nearby lenticular galaxies and could be crucial in finally helping us to understand the origin and evolution of these galaxies.

We present new upper limits for black hole masses in extremely late type spiral galaxies. We confirm that this class of galaxies has black holes with masses less than 106M⊙, if any. We also derive new upper limits for nuclear star cluster masses in massive galaxies with previously determined black hole masses. We use the newly derived upper limits and a literature compilation to study the low mass end of the global-to-nucleus relations. We find the following. (1) TheMBH-σrelation cannot flatten at low masses, but may steepen. (2) TheMBH-Mbulgerelation may well flatten in contrast. (3) TheMBH-Sersicnrelation is able to account for the large scatter in black hole masses in low-mass disk galaxies. Outliers in theMBH-Sersicnrelation seem to be dwarf elliptical galaxies. When plottingMBHversusMNCwe find three different regimes: (a) nuclear cluster dominated nuclei, (b) a transition region, and (c) black hole-dominated nuclei. This is consistent with the picture, in which black holes form inside nuclear clusters with a very low-mass fraction. They subsequently grow much faster than the nuclear cluster, destroying it when the ratioMBH/MNCgrows above 100. Nuclear star clusters may thus be the precursors of massive black holes in galaxy nuclei.