Earth-and space-based observations provide synergistic information for space mission encounters by providing data over longer timescales, at different wavelengths and using techniques that are impossible with an in situ flyby. We report here such observations in support of the EPOXI spacecraft flyby of comet 103P/Hartley 2. The nucleus is small and dark, and exhibited a very rapidly changing rotation period. Prior to the onset of activity, the period

Context. The study of small bodies that have a cometary activity at a large heliocentric distance (larger than 5 au) is important for a better understanding of the physical properties of comets and their origin. Such studies require long-term monitoring and a significant observational effort. Aims. Our goal is to monitor the cometary activity and search for possible emission lines of C/2006 S3 (LONEOS), which is a distant comet that was discovered in 2006 and passed perihelion at 5.13 au in April 2012. Methods. We performed different observing runs with telescopes, ranging from 2 m to 6 m both in imaging and spectroscopic modes in the optical range, between 2006 and 2014. Results. The comet C/2006 S3 (LONEOS) was a very active object with A f ρ ∼ 4000 cm at its maximum of activity, corresponding to a dust production rate of 82 kg s −1 , considering a mean geometric albedo of 0.1 and grain outflow velocities in the range 2−22 m s −1 . It appeared to be more active after its perihelion than before and we did not manage to detect any emission lines. Upper limits for the main cometary species that have emission bands in the optical range are provided. Our dust environment modeling is in agreement with a collimated source of dust that appeared in 2013.

In this work, we present transit timing variations detected for the exoplanet TrES-5b. To obtain the necessary amount of photometric data for this exoplanet, we have organized an international campaign to search for exoplanets based on the Transit Timing Variation method (TTV) and as a result of this we collected 30 new light curves, 15 light curves from the Exoplanet Transit Database (ETD) and 8 light curves from the literature for the timing analysis of the exoplanet TrES-5b. We have detected timing variations with a semi-amplitude of A ≈ 0.0016 days and a period of P ≈ 99 days. We carried out the N-body modeling based on the three-body problem. The detected perturbation of TrES-5b may be caused by a second exoplanet in the TrES-5 system. We have calculated the possible mass and resonance of the object: M ≈ 0.24MJup at a 1:2 Resonance.

We report on the analysis of 34 years of photometric observations of the pulsating helium atmosphere white dwarf GD358. The complete data set includes archival data from 1982-2006, and 1195.2 hours of new observations from [2007][2008][2009][2010][2011][2012][2013][2014][2015][2016]. From this data set, we extract 15 frequencies representing g-mode pulsation modes, adding 4 modes to the 11 modes known previously. We present evidence that these 15 modes are ℓ = 1 modes, 13 of which belong to a consecutive sequence in radial overtone k. We perform a detailed asteroseismic analysis using models that include parameterized, complex carbon and oxygen core composition profiles to fit the periods. Recent spectroscopic analyses place GD358 near the red edge of the DBV instability strip, at 24,000 ± 500 K and a log g of 7.8 ± 0.08 dex.The surface gravity translates to a mass range of 0.455 to 0.540 M ⊙ . Our best fit model has a temperature of 23,650 K and a mass of 0.5706 M ⊙ . That is slightly more massive than suggested by most the recent spectroscopy. We find a pure helium layer mass of 10 −5.50 , consistent with the result of previous studies and the outward diffusion of helium over time. Subject headings: Stars: oscillations -Stars: variables: general -white dwarfs spectroscopic temperature (T eff = 24000 ± 500 K) and log g = 7.8 places GD358 near the red edge of the instability strip. GD358's pulsation spectrum contains a series of independent radial overtones, and many have complex frequency structure. For one epoch of data taken during the Whole Earth Telescope (WET) run XCOV25, models involving magnetic fields and oblique rotation are proposed to explain such structure (Montgomery et al. 2010). Since the XCOV25 WET run reported in Provencal et al. (2009), we have maintained an active observing program of this complex star. These new observations have successfully identified additional periods in GD358's pulsation spectrum, bringing the total known independent radial overtones to 15. Thirteen of these modes belong to a consecutive ℓ = 1 sequence, the longest sequence observed in a DBV. Paradoxically, among the DBVs with enough detected periods to be fitted asteroseismically, GD358 is the only one that has not been analyzed using the complex C/O profiles adapted and parameterized from stellar evolution calculations (e.g. Salaris et al. (1997); Althaus et al. (2005)). The most recent fits of GD358 (Metcalfe et al. 2003b) wereperformed using 11 observed modes and simple models where the oxygen abundance drops linearly from its central value to zero. This study was plagued by a symmetric asteroseismic signature from the core and the envelopes in the models and was subsequently unable to derive a unique fit to the period spectrum. We present here a new detailed asteroseismic analysis employing more sophisticated interior chemical profiles.With these profiles, we are able to remove the degeneracy in the best fit parameters and better constrain the asteroseismic fits.The present analysis also allows us to place GD358 in...