STOCKHOLM OBSERVATORY ANNUAL REPORT 2007 Stockholm Observatory, AlbaNova University Center, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden www.astro.su.se Editor: Sofia Ramstedt Front page image: A composite of pictures taken during the mounting of the new 1 m telescope in the dome at AlbaNova. Credit: Michael Blomqvist, Robert Cumming, and Teresa Riehm. Stockholm Observatory, AlbaNova University Center, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden www.astro.su.se 3 PREFACE The year 2007 marked the official start for the new structure of undergraduate education at Swedish universities, usually referred to as the Bologna process. The transition from basically four year programmes to a system with two exams after three and two years respectively, is a major one and it will probably take a few years before the new scheme works smoothly. Another focal point of the year was the working environment. This was the main theme during our yearly one-day departmental meeting. A number of issues were brought up and discussed. Partly as a follow-up to this, an afternoon was later spent analysing and discussing the results from a questionnaire with a similar aim. This provided a range of measures that need to be taken and suggestions on how they should be implemented. It will be one of the main tasks for the coming years to ensure that the good intentions shown during these meetings are transformed into fruitful changes in the way we work together for the betterment of the Observatory. During the year Tanja Nymark, Luis Borgonovo, and Matthew Hayes presented and successfully defended their PhD-theses. At the same time, Martina Friedrich, Javier Blasco Herrera, Vasco Henriques, and Andrej Kuutmann joined our graduate programme. Magnus N¨aslund started a permanent position as “universitetsadjunkt” and Kambiz Fathi accepted a four year position as research associate financed by the Swedish Research Council. Ren´eLiseau and Kay Justtanont left the Observatory to take upp positions at the Onsala Space Observatory, while Edvard M¨ortsell was offered a permanent position as associate professor at the Physics department here at AlbaNova. After almost six years, the Observatory is again an observatory in the true sense of the word. The arrival of the 1-m telescope arose much joy and was duly celebrated. It is going to be shared with the environmental group in the Physics department at KTH and, hence, is a good example of the interdisciplinary projects made possible by the establishment of AlbaNova. April 2008 Claes-Ingvar Bj¨ornsson, Director (2002-2007) 4 1. INTRODUCTION The Department of Astronomy at Stockholm University (Stockholm Observatory) has responsibilities in teaching, research and public outreach. The department hosts The Institute for Solar Physics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences [Kungliga Vetenskapsakademiens institut f¨or solfysik]. About 60 people were actively engaged at the department during 2007, including close to 30 graduate students. The fields of research include the interstellar medium and star formation, young stars and planetary systems, solar physics, evolved stars and planetary nebulae, su- pernovae, galactic structure and dynamics, observational cosmology, and high energy astrophysics. Besides, instruments were developed in the Observatory workshop. Stockholm Observatory made use of many instruments at the European South- ern Observatory (ESO), including the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The Swedish Solar Telescope (SST) operated by the Institute for Solar Physics, and the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) are both extensively used by researchers at Stockholm Observatory and are located on La Palma, Canary Islands. Other ground-based instruments were also used, like the 20 m antenna at the Onsala Space Observatory (OSO), the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) located on Llano Chajnantor, Chile, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and the IRAM 30 m telescope on Pico Veleta, Spain. Various research programs at the Observatory make use of space-based obser- vatories including the swedish space-born radio telescope Odin, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTE- GRAL), the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO), the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), the X-ray Multimirror Mission (XMM), and the X-ray Observa- tory (CHANDRA). Observatory members are also actively involved in the development of, and program planning for, new space missions such as the far infra-red space telescope Herschel, the infrared space interferometer Darwin, the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), the Polarized Gamma-ray Observer (Light weight ver- sion) (PoGOLite), and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). 5 2. UNIVERSITY COURSES Stockholm Observatory is the Department of Astronomy at Stockholm University. As such, it offers a number of undergraduate and graduate courses in astronomy and has programs leading to the bachelor, master, licentiate and PhD degrees. In 2007, the director for undergraduate studies [studierektor f¨or grundutbildningen] was Peter Lundqvist and the student counselor [studiev¨agledare] was Magnus Axelsson. The director for the Graduate School [studierektor f¨or forskarutbildningen] was Hans Olofsson. Ulla af Petersens (formerly Engberg) was in charge of the student office. During 2007 a new structure of the undergraduate education (’the Bologna process’) was introduced at the Department of Astronomy. The undergraduate education is now more formally divided into two parts; the first three years leading to a bachelor degree with the possibility to continue the studies for an additional two years leading to a master degree. During a transitional period, courses within the old four-year program (’magister’) are taught simultaneously as the new master courses. In addition, general admission courses are taught (in swedish only) as usuall. The courses taught in 2007 are listed below. 2.1. Undergraduate Courses General Admission Courses [Orienteringskurser] Spring semester Oversiktskurs¨ i astronomi Astronomiska v¨arldsbildens utveckling Om planeter och liv i universum Summer semester Oversiktskurs¨ i astronomi M¨anniskan i rymden Autumn semester Astronomi kontra astrologi ur ett vetenskapligt perspektiv Solen och andra stj¨arnor Modern astronomi Basic Level Courses [Kurser p˚agrundniv˚a] Spring semester Galaxies and cosmology [Galaxer och kosmologi] 6 Advanced Level Courses [Kurser p˚aavancerad niv˚a] Spring semester Observational techniques in astronomy I [Astronomisk observationsteknik I] Observational techniques in astronomy II [Astronomisk observationsteknik II] Astrophysical spectra [Astrofysikaliska spektra] Stellar structure and evolution [Stj¨arnornas struktur och utveckling] Autumn semester Astrophysical gas dynamics [Astrofysikalisk gasdynamik] Radiation processes in astrophysics [Astrofysikaliska str˚alningsprocesser] Galaxies [Galaxer] Interstellar medium [Interstell¨ara mediets fysik] Cosmology [Kosmologi] 2.2. Graduate Courses The course work part within the graduate studies programme corresponds to 90 hp (1.5 hp corresponds to one week of full-time studies). The graduate studies programme in astronomy has three tracks to choose from: astrobiology, astronomy, and high-energy astrophysics and cosmology. All three are divided into one part of 52.5 hp common to all student within that track, and an individual part of 37.5 hp. Some courses are taught in collaboration with or by the Physics Department of Stockholm University. Some courses may be self-study courses. During 2007, the following courses were taught: Spring semester Late stages of stellar evolution [Stj¨arnornas sena utveckling] Molecules in space and planetary atmospheres 7 3. THESES DEFENDED IN 2007 PhD Kramer Nymark T., March 2007, X-ray emission from supernova shock waves, supervisor: C. Fransson Borgonovo L., May 2007, Spectral and Temporal Studies of Gamma-Ray Bursts, supervisors: R. Svensson & C-I. Bj¨ornsson Hayes M., September 2007, Lyman-alpha imaging of starburst galaxies in the local universe and beyond, supervisor: G. Ostlin¨ Master theses Martinsson T., January 2007, Monsters or lens lice? An investigation of unusually bright Lyman Break Galaxies, supervisor: G. Ostlin¨ Bast J., February 2007, SiS line emission as a probe of chemistry and grain forma- tion in circumstellar envelopes of AGB stars, supervisor: F. L. Sch¨oier Kuutmann A., October 2007, Photo-evaporation of Globulettes, supervisor: G. Mellema 8 4. RESEARCH 4.1. Star Formation Regions, Young Stars and Astrobiology (Z. Banhidi, A. Brandeker, H.-G. Flor´en, G. Gahm, M. G˚alfalk, K. Justtanont, A. Kuutmann, B. Larsson, R. Liseau, G. Mellema, R. Nilsson, G. Olofsson, S. Olofsson, Aa. Sandqvist) The research at the Stockholm Observatory in the field of star formation is oriented along four major lines: (i) The study of the interstellar medium, in particular the chemistry, physics and evolution of molecular clouds, star forming clouds, and the molecular emission and polarization from circumstellar environments. (ii) The study of ensembles of very young stellar objects, aiming to determine empirically the mass spectrum of stars at their birth. The functional form of this spectrum appears universal, i.e., it is the same in our Galaxy and in external galaxies. Our primary objective is to understand to what degree the memory of the initial cloud condition is frozen in this spectrum. (iii) The study of the dynamics of forming stars, especially during the earliest, protostellar phases. The physics of the mass building infall and the coexisting mass