Context. Scaling relations are very useful tools for estimating unknown stellar quantities. Within this framework, eclipsing binaries are ideal for this goal because their mass and radius are known with a very good level of accuracy, leading to improved constraints on the models. Aims. We aim to provide empirical relations for the mass and radius as function of luminosity, metallicity, and age. We investigate, in particular, the impact of metallicity and age on those relations. Methods. We used a multi-dimensional fit approach based on the data from DEBCat, an updated catalogue of eclipsing binary observations such as mass, radius, luminosity, effective temperature, gravity, and metallicity. We used the PARAM web interface for the Bayesian estimation of stellar parameters, along with the stellar evolutionary code MESA to estimate the binary age, assuming a coeval hypothesis for both members. Results. We derived the mass and radius–luminosity–metallicity–age relations using 56 stars, with metallicity and mass in the range −0.34 < [Fe/H] < 0.27 and 0.66 < M/M⊙ < 1.8. With that, the observed mass and radius are reproduced with an accuracy of 3.5% and 5.9%, respectively, which is consistent with the other results in literature. Conclusions. We conclude that including the age in such relations increases the quality of the fit, particularly in terms of the mass, as compared to the radius. On the other hand, as otherss authors have noted, we observed an higher dispersion on the mass relation than in that of the radius. We propose that this is due to a stellar age effect.

Carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars span a wide range of stellar populations, from bona fide second-generation stars to later forming stars that provide excellent probes of, e.g., binary mass transfer. Here we analyse 11 metal-poor stars of which 10 are CEMP stars. Based on high signal-to-noise (SNR) X-Shooter spectra, we derive abundances of 20 elements (C, N, O, Na, Mg, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Sr, Y, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Eu). From the high SNR spectra, we trace the chemical contribution of the rare earth elements (REE) from various production sites, finding a preference for metal-poor low-mass AGB stars of 1.5Mo in CEMP-s stars, while CEMP-r/s stars may indicate a more massive AGB contribution (2-5Mo). A contribution from the r-process - possibly from neutron star mergers (NSM), is also detectable in the REE abundances, especially in the CEMP-r/s. Combining spectra with Gaia DR2 astrometric data indicates that all but one star in our sample (and most literature stars) belong to the Galactic halo. They exhibit a median orbital eccentricity of 0.7, and are found on both pro- and retrograde orbits. The orbital parameters of CEMP-no and CEMP4s stars are remarkably similar in the 98 stars we study. A special CEMP-no star, with very low Sr and Ba content, possesses the most eccentric orbit among the stars in our sample, passing close to the Galactic centre. Finally, we propose an improved scheme to sub-classify the CEMP stars, making use of the Sr$/$Ba ratio, which can also be used to separate very metal-poor stars from CEMP stars in 93 stars in the metallicity range $-4.2<$[Fe/H]$<-2$. The Sr/Ba ratio can also be used for distinguishing CEMP-s,-r/s and -no stars. The Sr/Ba ratio is also a powerful astro-nuclear indicator, as AGB stars exhibit very different Sr/Ba ratios, compared to fast rotating massive stars and NSM, and it is fairly unbiased by NLTE and 3D corrections.(abridged)

This chapter presents an overview of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Particular emphasis is given to the core activities.

Context. One of the greatest uncertainties in modelling the mass-exchange phases during the evolution of a binary system is the quantity of mass and angular momentum that has been lost from the system. To constrain this problem, a favourable, evolved, and detached real binary system is valuable as an example of the end result of this process. Aims. We study the 52-day post-mass-exchange eclipsing binary V643 Ori from complete uvby light curves and high-resolution spectra. V643 Ori is double-lined and shows total primary eclipses. The orbit is accurately circular and the rotation of the two stars is synchronised with the orbit, but the photometry from a single year (1993) shows signs of weak spot activity (0.02 mag) around the primary eclipse. Results. We determined accurate masses of 3.3 and 1.9 M⊙ from the spectroscopic orbit and solved the four light curves to determine radii of 16 and 21 R⊙, using the Wilson-Devinney photometric code. The rotational velocities from the cross-correlation profiles agree well with those computed from the known radii and orbital parameters. All observable parameters are thus very precisely determined, but the masses and radii of V643 Ori are incompatible with undisturbed post-main-sequence evolution. Conclusions. We have attempted to simulate the past evolutionary history of V643 Ori under both conservative and non-conservative Case B mass transfer scenarios. In the non-conservative case we varied the amounts of mass and angular momentum loss needed to arrive at the present masses in a circular 52-day orbit, keeping the two stars detached and synchronised as now observed, but without following the evolution of other stellar properties in any detail. Multiple possible solutions were found. Further attempts were made using both the BSE formalism and the binary MESA code in order to track stellar evolution more closely, and make use of the measured radii and temperatures as important additional constraints. Those efforts yielded no satisfactory solutions, possibly due to limitations in handling mass transfer in evolved stars such as these. We remain hopeful that future theoreticians can more fully model the system under realistic conditions.

AbstractThe standard scenario for the production of carbon-enhanced extremely metal-poor (CEMP) stars requires a more massive binary companion, which has evolved through the AGB stage and transferred carbon-rich material to the surface of the surviving, likewise extremely metal-poor (EMP) star. Evidently, the binary companion plays a key role in this process.In order to characterise the polluting star, if any, the stage of evolution of the observed star (whether RGB or AGB), and whether pulsations exist, must be known. The Gaia DR2 parallaxes and photometry should contain the answer.

AbstractThe IAU was founded in 1919“to facilitate the relations between astronomers of different countries where international co-operation is necessary or useful” and “to promote the study of astronomy in all its departments”. These aims have led the IAU throughout the century of its existence, but the way it has tried to fulfil them has changed. We have tried to trace the changing role of the IAU in the international astronomical community through the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. The IAU has striven – occasionally struggled – to protect international scientific cooperation across the deep political divides that characterized the 20th century, while maintaining an important function in the context of the rapidly evolving science itself and the changing fabric of institutions involved in astronomy. We especially argue how the emphasis of the IAU’s activities has shifted from the first aim – facilitating collaboration by organizing meetings and defining common standards – to the second aim: promoting astronomy by outreach and development programs.

AbstractFrom 1977 to 1999, thousands of accurate radial velocities in both hemispheres were made on a large variety of programmes with the two CORAVEL scanners. The data base of ~350000 individual observations will now be made available to complement the Gaia data.

Detailed spectroscopic studies of metal-poor halo stars have highlighted the important role of carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars in understanding the early production and ejection of carbon in the Galaxy and in identifying the progenitors of the CEMP stars among the first stars formed after the Big Bang. Recent work has also classified the CEMP stars by absolute carbon abundance, A(C), into high- and low-C bands, mostly populated by binary and single stars, respectively. Our aim is to determine the frequency and orbital parameters of binary systems among the CEMP-s stars, which exhibit strong enhancements of neutron-capture elements associated with the s-process. This allows us to test whether local mass transfer from a binary companion is necessary and sufficient to explain their dramatic carbon excesses. Eighteen of the 22 stars exhibit clear orbital motion, yielding a binary frequency of 82+-10%, while four stars appear to be single (18+-10%). We thus confirm that the binary frequency of CEMP-s stars is much higher than for normal metal-poor giants, but not 100% as previously claimed. Secure orbits are determined for 11 of the binaries and provisional orbits for six long-period systems (P > 3,000 days), and orbital circularisation time scales are discussed. The conventional scenario of local mass transfer from a former AGB binary companion does appear to account for the chemical composition of most CEMP-s stars. However, the excess of C and s-process elements in some single CEMP-s stars was apparently transferred to their natal clouds by an external (distant) source. This finding has important implications for our understanding of carbon enrichment in the early Galactic halo and some high-redshift DLA systems, and of the mass loss from extremely metal-poor AGB stars. Abridged.

The outer atmosphere of the first generations of low-mass (M < 0.8 M⊙) stars retain to a great extent the original chemical composition of the interstellar medium (ISM) at the time and place of their birth. The composition of this pristine gas represents the nucleosynthesis of the very first massive stars, that produced and ejected the first heavy elements into the early ISM. Thus a detailed abundance analysis of low-mass, metal-poor stars can help us track these gasses and provide insight into the formation processes that took place in the very early stages of our Galaxy. Preliminary result of a 25-star homogeneously analysed sample of metal- poor candidates from the Hamburg/ESO survey is presented. The main focus is on the most metal-poor stars of the sample; stars with [Fe/H] < −4. The abundance pattern of these ultra metal-poor (UMP) stars is used to extract key information of the earliest ongoing formation processes (ranging from hydrostatic burning to neutron-capture processes).

As a brief revision, the origin of heavy elements and the role of abundances in extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars are presented. Heavy element abundances in the EMP uranium-rich star CS 31082-001 based mainly on near-UV spectra from STIS/HST are presented. These results should be useful for a better characterisation of the neutron exposure(s) that produced the r-process elements in this star, as well as a guide for improving nuclear data and astrophysical site modelling, given that the new element abundances not available in previous works (Ge, Mo, Lu, Ta, W, Re, Pt, Au, and Bi) make CS 31082-001 the most completely well studied r-II object, with a total of 37 detections of n-capture elements.

Significant minorities of extremely metal-poor (EMP) halo stars exhibit dramatic excesses of neutron capture elements. The standard scenario for their origin is mass transfer and dilution in binary systems, but requires them to be binaries. If not, these excesses must have been implanted in them from birth by processes that are not included in current models of SN II chemical enrichment. The binary population of such EMP subgroups is a test of this scenario.

Context. A large fraction of the carbon-enhanced, extremely metal-poor halo giants ([Fe/H] < -2.5) are also strongly enriched in neutron-capture elements from the s process (CEMP-s stars). The conventional explanation for the properties of these stars is mass transfer from a nearby binary companion on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). This scenario leads to a number of testable predictions in terms of the properties of the putative binary system and the resulting abundance pattern. Among the CEMP stars, some stars further exhibit overabundances in r-process elements on top of the s-process enrichment, and are tagged CEMP-rs stars. Although the nucleosynthesis process responsible for this kind of mixed abundance pattern is still under debate, CEMP-rs stars seem to belong to binary systems as do CEMP-s stars.Aims. Our aim is to present and analyse in detail our comprehensive data set of systematic radial-velocity measurements and highresolution spectroscopy of the CEMP star HE 0017+0055.Methods. Our precise radial-velocity monitoring of HE 0017+0055 over 2940 days (8 yr) with the Nordic Optical Telescope and Mercator telescopes exhibits variability, with a period of 384 d and amplitude of 540 +/- 27 m s(-1) superimposed on a nearly linear long-term decline of similar to 1 m s(-1) day(-1). We used high-resolution HERMES/Mercator and Keck/HIRES spectra to derive elemental abundances with 1D LTE MARCS models. A metallicity of [Fe/H] similar to -2.4 is found, along with s-process overabundances of the order of 2 dex (with the exception of [Y/Fe] similar to +0.5), and most notably overabundances of r-process elements like Sm, Eu, Dy, and Er in the range 0.9-2.0 dex. With [Ba/Fe] > 1.9 dex and [Eu/Fe] = 2.3 dex, HE 0017+0055 is a CEMP-rs star. We used the derived atmospheric parameters and abundances to infer HE 0017+0055 evolutionary status from a comparison with evolutionary tracks.Results. HE 0017+0055 appears to be a giant star below the tip of the red giant branch. The s-process pollution must therefore originate from mass transfer from a companion formerly on the AGB, which is now a carbon-oxygen white dwarf (WD). If the 384 d velocity variations are attributed to theWD companion, its orbit must be seen almost face-on, with i similar to 2.3 degrees, because the mass function is very small: f (M-1, M-2) = (6.1 +/- 1.1)x10(-6) M-circle dot. Alternatively, theWD orbital motion could be responsible for the long-term velocity variations, with a period of several decades. The 384 d variations should then be attributed either to a low-mass inner companion (perhaps a brown dwarf, depending on the orbital inclination), or to stellar pulsations. The latter possibility is made likely by the fact that similar low-amplitude velocity variations, with periods close to 1 yr, have been reported for other CEMP stars in a companion paper. A definite conclusion about the origin of the 384 d velocity variations should however await the detection of synchronous low-amplitude photometric variations.

The HERMES spectrograph installed on the 1.2-m Mercator telescope has been used to monitor the radial velocity of 13 low-metallicity carbon stars, among which seven carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars and six CH stars (including HIP 53522, a new member of the family, as revealed by a detailed abundance study). All stars but one show clear evidence for binarity. New orbits are obtained for eight systems. The sample covers an extended range in orbital periods, extending from 3.4 d (for the dwarf carbon star HE 0024-2523) to about 54 yr (for the CH star HD 26, the longest known among barium, CH, and extrinsic S stars). Three systems exhibit low-amplitude velocity variations with periods close to 1 yr superimposed on a long-term trend. In the absence of an accurate photometric monitoring of these systems, it is not clear yet whether these variations are the signature of a very low-mass companion or of regular envelope pulsations. The period-eccentricity (P-e) diagram for the 40 low-metallicity carbon stars with orbits now available shows no difference between CH and CEMP-s stars (the latter corresponding to those CEMP stars enriched in s-process elements, as are CH stars). We suggest that they must be considered as one and the same family and that their different names only stem from historical reasons. Indeed, these two families have as well very similar mass-function distributions, corresponding to companions with masses in the range 0.5-0.7 M⊙, indicative of white-dwarf companions, adopting 0.8-0.9 M⊙ for the primary component. This result confirms that CH and CEMP-s stars obey the same mass-transfer scenario as their higher-metallicity analogues, barium stars. The P-e diagrams of barium, CH, and CEMP-s stars are indeed very similar. They reveal two different groups of systems: one with short orbital periods (P 0.1) orbits. These two groups either trace different evolutionary channels during the mass-transfer episode responsible for the chemical peculiarities of the Ba/CH/CEMP-s stars, or result from the operation of tidal circularisation in a more recent past, when the current giant star was ascending the first giant branch.

An increasing fraction of carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars is found as their iron abundance, [Fe/H], decreases below [Fe/H] = -2.0. The CEMP-s stars have the highest absolute carbon abundances, [C/H], and are thought to owe their enrichment in carbon and the slow neutron-capture (s-process) elements to mass transfer from a former asymptotic giant-branch (AGB) binary companion. The most Fe-poor CEMP stars are normally single, exhibit somewhat lower [C/H] than CEMP-s stars, but show no s-process element enhancement (CEMP-no stars). CNO abundance determinations offer clues to their formation sites. C, N, Sr, and Ba abundances (or limits) and 12C/13C ratios where possible are derived for a sample of 27 faint metal-poor stars for which the X-shooter spectra have sufficient S/N ratios. These moderate resolution, low S/N ( 10-40) spectra prove sufficient to perform limited chemical tagging and enable assignment of these stars into the CEMP sub-classes (CEMP-s and CEMP-no). According to the derived abundances, 17 of our sample stars are CEMP-s and three are CEMP-no, while the remaining seven are carbon-normal. For four CEMP stars, the sub-classification remains uncertain, and two of them may be pulsating AGB stars. The derived stellar abundances trace the formation processes and sites of our sample stars. The [C/N] abundance ratio is useful to identify stars with chemical compositions unaffected by internal mixing, and the [Sr/Ba] abundance ratio allows us to distinguish between CEMP-s stars with AGB progenitors and the CEMP-no stars. Suggested formation sites for the latter include faint supernovae with mixing and fallback and/or primordial, rapidly-rotating, massive stars (spinstars). X-shooter spectra have thus proved to be valuable tools in the continued search for their origin. Abridged.