The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has been immensely successful in detecting new Milky Way satellite galaxies over the past seven years. It was instrumental in finding examples of the least luminous galaxies we know in the Universe, uncovering apparent inconsistencies between cold dark matter theory and dwarf galaxy properties, providing first evidence for a possible lower mass limit for dark matter halos in visible galaxies, and reopening the discussion about the building block scenario for the Milky Way halo. Nonetheless, these results are still drawn only from a relatively small number of galaxies distributed over an area covering about 29% of the sky, which leaves us currently with more questions than answers. The study of these extreme stellar systems is a multi-parameter problem: ages, metallicities, star formation histories, dark matter contents, population fractions and spatial distributions must be determined. Progress in the field is discussed and attention drawn to some of the limitations that currently hamper our ability to fully understand the phenomenon of the ‘ultra-faint dwarf galaxy’. In this context, the Stromlo Milky Way Satellite Survey represents a new initiative to systematically search and scrutinize optically elusive Milky Way satellite galaxies in the Southern hemisphere. In doing so, the program aims at investigating some of the challenging questions in stellar evolution, galaxy formation and near-field cosmology.

Large radio surveys such as those proposed for several SKA pathfinder and precursor telescopes require (automated) source-finding algorithms that are highly reliable, complete, and fast. Similarly, sophisticated visualisation tools are needed to explore the resulting survey data together with their multi-wavelength counterparts.

In this PASA Special Issue on Source Finding and Visualisation, several advanced source-finding algorithms, including novel methods for radio continuum, polarisation and spectral line surveys are described, tested and compared. The process of finding sources can be considered one of many important steps (e.g., pre-processing, source finding and characterisation, cataloguing/post-processing) in the production of astronomical source catalogues, on which much of the survey science is based.

The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP), equipped with novel Chequerboard phased array feeds, will be a powerful 21-cm survey machine. For the large volumes of ASKAP data, a special version of Duchamp, called Selavy, is being developed in consultation with the ASKAP survey science teams (Whiting & Humphreys 2012). Extensive testing and comparisons of existing and new source-finding algorithms were carried out for this PASA Special Issue and are presented by Westmeier, Popping & Serra (2012), Westerlund, Harris & Westmeier (2012), Popping et al. (2012), Huynh et al. (2012), Hollitt & Johnston-Hollitt (2012), Walsh et al. (2012), George, Stil & Keller (2012), Marsh & Jarrett (2012), Allison, Sadler & Whiting (2012) and Jurek & Brown (2012). An overview on spectral line source finding and visualisation is given by Koribalski (2012), while Hassan, Fluke & Barnes (2012) look into real-time 3D volume rendering of large (Tbytes) astronomical data cubes.

This paper presents the first comprehensive study of the EP And system, a contact binary. In this work the solution of the standard V light curve was obtained using the phoebe program (version 0.3c). Absolute parameters of the stellar components were then determined, enabling us to discuss the structure and evolutionary status of the close binary EP And. The times of minima data (‘O–C curve’) were analyzed. It was found that a third body with a period of 41.20 yr and mass 0.15 M⊙ is orbiting around the system. Also a modulating period of an 11.72-yr cycle along with a relative period increase of = 1.79 × 10−7 were obtained, which were attributed to the magnetic activity cycle and mass transfer with rate = 9.98 × 10−8 yr−1 between the components, respectively.

Cosmic radioactivity represents a cross-disciplinary theme and an interesting alternate viewpoint on cosmic nuclear astrophysics. Radioactive isotopes and their decay provide unique messages from sites of cosmic nucleosynthesis, as the decay is mediated by weak interaction physics and independent of environmental conditions. The radioactive clock of various isotopes traces stellar mixing processes and the process of solidification of bodies when the solar system was formed. Isotopic abundances directly reflect the conditions of their formation in the nucleosynthesis site, which is unobservable otherwise. Measurements range from meteorites and their included stardust grain compositions through to cosmic rays and electromagnetic radiation from infrared to gamma ray wavelengths. Thus, various astronomical disciplines with their different messengers of cosmic nucleosynthesis as seen through unstable, decaying isotopes are linked to the physics of nuclear reactions, and to theories and models of the variety of cosmic nucleosynthesis sites and of cosmic isotopic evolution.

The current standard model of cosmology (SMoC) requires The Dual Dwarf Galaxy Theorem to be true according to which two types of dwarf galaxies must exist: primordial dark-matter (DM) dominated (type A) dwarf galaxies, and tidal-dwarf and ram-pressure-dwarf (type B) galaxies void of DM. Type A dwarfs surround the host approximately spherically, while type B dwarfs are typically correlated in phasespace. Type B dwarfs must exist in any cosmological theory in which galaxies interact. Only one type of dwarf galaxy is observed to exist on the baryonic Tully-Fisher plot and in the radius-mass plane. The Milky Way satellite system forms a vast phase-space-correlated structure that includes globular clusters and stellar and gaseous streams. Other galaxies also have phase-space correlated satellite systems. Therefore, The Dual Dwarf Galaxy Theorem is falsified by observation and dynamically relevant cold or warm DM cannot exist. It is shown that the SMoC is incompatible with a large set of other extragalactic observations. Other theoretical solutions to cosmological observations exist. In particular, alone the empirical mass-discrepancy—acceleration correlation constitutes convincing evidence that galactic-scale dynamics must be Milgromian. Major problems with inflationary big bang cosmologies remain unresolved.

We report on a concerted effort aimed at understanding the origin and history of the pre-solar nanodiamonds in meteorites including the astrophysical sources of the observed isotopic abundance signatures. This includes measurement of light elements by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), analysis of additional heavy trace elements by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and dynamic calculations of r-process nucleosynthesis with updated nuclear properties. Results obtained indicate that: (i) there is no evidence for the former presence of now-extinct 26Al and 44Ti in our diamond samples other than what can be attributed to silicon carbide and other ‘impurities’, and this does not offer support for a supernova (SN) origin but neither does it negate it; (ii) analysis by AMS of platinum in ‘bulk diamond’ yields an overabundance of r-only 198Pt that at face value seems more consistent with the neutron burst than with the separation model for the origin of heavy trace elements in the diamonds, although this conclusion is not firm given analytical uncertainties; (iii) if the Xe–H pattern was established by an unadulterated r-process, it must have been a strong variant of the main r-process, which possibly could also account for the new observations in platinum.

A procedure to estimate the aerosol extinction parameters of Angstrom's formula using data acquired with photometric broadband standard filters, the Johnson–Cousins filters, is presented. The method is based on the transformation of the heterochromatic magnitudes to the equivalent mean wavelength monochromatic magnitudes by an iterative approach, correcting subsequently the effects of water-vapour extinction in the longer-wavelength filters. As an example, the procedure has been used in the determination of the extinction parameters at the location of our observatory using the filters B, V, Rc and Ic on the night of 2008 August 28.

Detection thresholds in polarized intensity and polarization bias correction are investigated for surveys where the polarization information is obtained from rotation measure (RM) synthesis. Considering unresolved sources with a single RM, a detection threshold of 8 σQU applied to the Faraday spectrum will retrieve the RM with a false detection rate less than 10−4, but polarized intensity is more strongly biased than Ricean statistics suggest. For a detection threshold of 5 σQU, the false detection rate increases to ∼4%, depending also on λ2 coverage and the extent of the Faraday spectrum. Non-Gaussian noise in Stokes Q and U due to imperfect imaging and calibration can be represented by a distribution that is the sum of a Gaussian and an exponential. The non-Gaussian wings of the noise distribution increase the false detection rate in polarized intensity by orders of magnitude. Monte Carlo simulations assuming non-Gaussian noise in Q and U give false detection rates at 8 σQU similar to Ricean false detection rates at 4.9 σQU.

Many neutron stars (NSs) and runaway stars apparently come from the same regions on the sky. This suggests that they share the same birth places, namely associations and clusters of young massive stars. To identify NS birth places, we attempt to find NS-runaway pairs that could be former companions that were disrupted in a supernova (SN). The remains of recent (<few Myr) nearby (<150 pc) SNe should still be identifiable by observing the emission of rare radioisotopes such as 26Al and 60Fe that can also be used as additional indicators to confirm a possible SN event. We investigated the origin of the isolated NS RX J1605.3+3249 and found that it was probably born ≈ 100 pc far from Earth 0.45 Myr ago in the extended Corona Australis or Octans associations, or in Sco OB4 ≈ 1 kpc 3.5 Myr ago. A SN in Octans is supported by the identification of one to two possible former companions—the runaway stars HIP 68228 and HIP 89394—as well as the appearance of a feature in the γ-ray emission from 26Al decay at the predicted SN place. Both, the progenitor masses estimated by comparison with theoretical 26Al yields as well as derived from the lifetime of the progenitor star, are found to be ≈ 11M⊙.

Dependences of electron and proton impact Stark width on the upper level ionization potential within different series of the neutral calcium spectral lines have been evaluated and discussed. The similar dependences previously found for the electron impact contribution were also obtained for the proton impact contribution to the Stark broadening. The emphasis is on the term structure influence on the studied Stark width dependences. The influence of the lower transition level and transition term is higher at low temperatures. After establishing these dependences, predictions were made for Stark widths of neutral calcium spectral lines not measured experimentally or calculated theoretically until now.

The photometric properties of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the near-infrared as garnered from observations made over the last 30 years are reviewed. During this period, light curves for more than 120 nearby SNe Ia have been published, revealing considerable homogeneity but also some fascinating differences. These data have confirmed that, for all but the fastest declining objects, SNe Ia are essentially perfect standard candles in the near-infrared, displaying only a slight dependence of peak luminosity on decline rate and color.

The large spectral bandwidth and wide field of view of the Australian SKA Pathfinder radio telescope will open up a completely new parameter space for large extragalactic HI surveys. Here we focus on identifying and parametrising HI absorption lines which occur in the line of sight towards strong radio continuum sources. We have developed a method for simultaneously finding and fitting HI absorption lines in radio data by using multi-nested sampling, a Bayesian Monte Carlo algorithm. The method is tested on a simulated ASKAP data cube, and is shown to be reliable at detecting absorption lines in low signal-to-noise data without the need to smooth or alter the data. Estimation of the local Bayesian evidence statistic provides a quantitative criterion for assigning significance to a detection and selecting between competing analytical line-profile models.

An enhanced concentration of 60Fe was found in a deep ocean crust in 2004 in a layer corresponding to an age of ∼2 Myr. The confirmation of this signal in terrestrial archives as supernova-induced and the detection of other supernova-produced radionuclides is of great interest. We have identified two suitable marine sediment cores from the South Australian Basin and estimated the intensity of a possible signal of the supernova-produced radionuclides 26Al, 53Mn, 60Fe, and the pure r-process element 244Pu in these cores. The finding of these radionuclides in a sediment core might allow us to improve the time resolution of the signal and thus to link the signal to a supernova event in the solar vicinity ∼2 Myr ago. Furthermore, it gives us an insight into nucleosynthesis scenarios in massive stars, condensation into dust grains and transport mechanisms from the supernova shell into the solar system.

The identity of the progenitor systems of type-Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) is a major unsolved problem in astrophysics. SN Ia rates are providing some striking clues. We review the basics of SN rate measurement, preach about some sins of SN rate measurement and analysis, and illustrate one of these sins with an analogy about Martian scientists. We review the recent progress in measuring SN Ia rates in various environments and redshifts, and their use to reconstruct the SN Ia delay-time distribution (DTD)—the SN rate versus time that would follow a hypothetical brief burst of star formation. A good number of DTD measurements, using a variety of methods, appear to be converging. At delays 1 <t<10 Gyr, these measurements show a similar, ∼t−1, power-law shape. The DTD peaks at the shortest delays probed. This result supports the idea of a double-degenerate progenitor origin for SNe Ia. Single-degenerate progenitors may still play a role in producing short-delay SNe Ia, or perhaps all SNe Ia, if the red-giant donor channel is more efficient than is found by most theoretical models. The DTD normalization enjoys fairly good agreement (though perhaps some tension), among the various measurements, with a Hubble time–integrated DTD value of about 2 ± 1 SNe Ia per 1000M⊙ (stellar mass formed with a low–mass turnover initial mass function). The local WD binary population suggests that the WD merger rate can explain the Galactic SN Ia rate, but only if sub-Chandra mergers lead to SN Ia events. We point to some future directions that should lead to progress in the field, including measurement of the bivariate (delay and stretch) SN Ia response function.

Medium-resolution (R ∼ 6500) spectra of 97 giant stars in the globu lar cluster 47 Tucanæ (47 Tuc) have been used to derive the C- and N-abundance sensitive index, δC, and to infer abundances of several key elements (Fe, Na, Si, Ca, Zr and Ba) for a sample of 13 of these stars with similar effective temperature ( Teff) and surface gravity (log g). These stars have stellar properties similar to the well-studied 47 Tuc giant star, Lee 2525, but with a range of CN excess (δC) values which are a measure of the CN abundance. The δC index is shown to be correlated with Na abundance for this sample, confirming previous studies. Fe, Ca, Si and the light and heavy s-process (slow neut ron capture) elements, Zr and Ba, respectively, have a narrow range of abundance values, indicative of a homogeneous abundance within this population of stars. The constancy of many element abundances (Fe, Si, Ca, Zr, Ba) and the δC and Na abundance correlation could imply that there has been a second era of star formation in this cluster that has revealed the products of CNO-cycle burning via hot bottom burning (depletion of C, enhancement of N and the production of Na for high δC population). But there is no overall metallicity change across the range of δC values at a given position in the HR diagram as has been seen in some other globular clusters.

The process of determining the number and characteristics of sources in astronomical images is so fundamental to a large range of astronomical problems that it is perhaps surprising that no standard procedure has ever been defined that has well-understood properties with a high degree of statistical rigour on completeness and reliability. The Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU) survey with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), a continuum survey of the Southern Hemisphere up to declination +30°, aims to utilise an automated source identification and measurement approach that is demonstrably optimal, to maximise the reliability, utility and robustness of the resulting radio source catalogues. A key stage in source extraction methods is the background estimation (background level and noise level) and the choice of a threshold high enough to reject false sources, yet not so high that the catalogues are significantly incomplete. In this analysis, we present results from testing the SExtractor, Selavy (Duchamp), and SFIND source extraction tools on simulated data. In particular, the effects of background estimation, threshold and false-discovery rate settings are explored. For parameters that give similar completeness, we find the false-discovery rate method employed by SFIND results in a more reliable catalogue compared to the peak threshold methods of SExtractor and Selavy.

The technique of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) offers a complementary tool for studying long-lived radionuclides in nuclear astrophysics: (1) as a tool for investigating nucleosynthesis in the laboratory; and (2) via a direct search of live long-lived radionuclides in terrestrial archives as signatures of recent nearby supernova-events. A key ingredient to our understanding of nucleosynthesis is accurate cross-section data. AMS was applied for measurements of the neutron-induced cross sections 13C(n,γ) and 14N(n,p), both leading to the long-lived radionuclide 14C. Solid samples were irradiated at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology with neutrons closely resembling a Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution for kT = 25 keV, and with neutrons of energies between 123 and 178 keV. After neutron activation the amount of 14C nuclides in the samples was measured by AMS at the VERA (Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator) facility. Both reactions, 13C(n,γ)14C and 14N(n,p)14C, act as neutron poisons in s-process nucleosynthesis. However, previous experimental data are discordant. The new data for both reactions tend to be slightly lower than previous measurements for the 25 keV Maxwell–Boltzmann energy distribution. For the higher neutron energies no previous data did exist for 13C(n,γ), but model calculations indicated a strong resonance structure between 100 and 300 keV which is confirmed by our results. Very limited information is available for 14N(n,p) at these energies. Our new data at 123 and 178 keV suggest lower cross sections than expected from previous experiments and data evaluations.

Today, image denoising by thresholding of wavelet coefficients is a commonly used tool for 2D image enhancement. Since the data product of spectroscopic imaging surveys has two spatial dimensions and one spectral dimension, the techniques for denoising have to be adapted to this change in dimensionality. In this paper we will review the basic method of denoising data by thresholding wavelet coefficients and implement a 2D–1D wavelet decomposition to obtain an efficient way of denoising spectroscopic data cubes. We conduct different simulations to evaluate the usefulness of the algorithm as part of a source finding pipeline.

Astronomical light echoes, the time-dependent light scattered by dust in the vicinity of varying objects, have been recognized for over a century. Initially, their utility was thought to be confined to mapping out the three-dimensional distribution of interstellar dust. Recently, the discovery of spectroscopically useful light echoes around centuries-old supernovae in the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud has opened up new scientific opportunities to exploit light echoes.

In this review, we describe the history of light echoes in the local Universe and cover the many new developments in both the observation of light echoes and the interpretation of the light scattered from them. Among other benefits, we highlight our new ability to classify outbursting objects spectroscopically, view them from multiple perspectives, obtain a spectroscopic time series of the outburst, and establish accurate distances to the source event. We also describe the broader range of variable objects with properties that may be better understood from light-echo observations. Finally, we discuss the prospects of new light-echo techniques not yet realized in practice.

Preliminary specifications for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) call for 25% of the total collecting area of the dish array to be located at distances greater than 180 km from the core, with a maximum baseline of at least 3000 km. The array will provide angular resolution θ ≲ 40–2 mas at 0.5–10 GHz with image sensitivity reaching ≲50 nJy beam−1 in an 8-hour integration with 500-MHz bandwidth. Given these specifications, the high-angular-resolution component of the SKA will be capable of detecting brightness temperatures ≲200K with milliarcsecond-scale angular resolution. The aim of this article is to bring together in one place a discussion of the broad range of new and important high-angular-resolution science that will be enabled by the SKA, and in doing so, address the merits of long baselines as part of the SKA. We highlight the fact that high angular resolution requiring baselines greater than 1000 km provides a rich science case with projects from many areas of astrophysics, including important contributions to key SKA science.