Astronomical Soc./Pacific

Active OB-Stars; laboratories for stellar and circumstellar physics; proceedings.

Stefl (European Southern Observatory, Chile), Owocki (Bartol Research Institute, U. of Delaware, US), and Okazaki (Hokkai-Gakuen U., Japan) present the proceedings of an International Astronomical Union meeting held in Japan in August-September of 2005. The meeting focused on active OB-stars as laboratories for the study of physical processes leading to stellar activity and the ejection of circumstellar material, particularly the orbiting disk that is central to rapidly rotating B-type stars with prominent emission lines of hydrogen in their spectrums (Be stars). Opening invited reviews provide an overview of active OB stars, discuss rotation and the circumstelllar environment, and explore statistical inference of the Be star periodicity. The remaining 42 papers are presented in accordance with the conference sessions, which were dedicated to dynamical processes, stellar mass loss as origin of circumstellar material, structure and dynamics of circumstellar disks, and evolutionary effects in active OB-stars. Also presented are the 44 posters from the meeting. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Numerical modeling of space plasma flows; proceedings.

In these proceedings of the March 2006 conference, the first in a series on this topic, contributors keep specialists in applied mathematics, space physics, astrophysics and computer science in mind as they cover topics related to the solar structure, the heliosphere, the sun-earth connection, and astrophysical phenomena. Papers cover numerical methods, algorithms and frameworks (including central finite volume methods in multidimensional MHD, turbulence and cosmic ray transport (including particle acceleration in galactic winds), large-scale fluid-based simulations (including MHD models), large-scale kinetic and hybrid calculations (including hybrid simulation applied to space plasmas), data handling and visualization (including virtual observatories). (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Solar MHD theory and observations; a high spatial resolution perspective in honor of Robert F. Stein; proceedings.

Robert F. Stein pioneered computer simulations of megnetohydrodynamics (MHD). Papers from a July 2005 meeting in Stein's honor are presented here, in sections on solar surface observations, surface diagnostics, magneto-convection and dynamos, sub-surface solar structures, flux emergence and active regions, sunspots, chromospheric observations and models, and connections between the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. Specific subjects discussed include plasma flows in emerging sunspots, holistic MHD simulation from the convection zone to the chromosphere, supergranualtion scale convection simulations, diagnostics of quiet- sun magnetism, and the dynamical disconnection of sunspots from their magnetic roots. There is no subject index. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Stellar evolution at low metallicity; mass loss, explosions, cosmology; proceedings.

The first generation of stars formed only 100-250 million years after The Big Band, when the galaxies were still coalescing and there was no metal yet in the universe. They burned very hot but not for very long, and when they exploded as supernovae, they enriched the interstellar and intergalactic medium with metals, which facilitated the formation of the next generation of stars. It is this story that underlies 46 papers discussing the effects of metallicity on early evolution phases, on mass loss during early and advanced phases, on advanced evolutionary phases and endpoints; extremely low metallicity stars and their cosmological consequences; and the GAIA and Planck Missions. Summaries of discussions are included for each section/session. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)