This study consisted of an optical photometric and spectroscopic analysis on a 7′ 7′ field around the Southern high mass star forming region RCW 34. A previous study on RCW 34 in the NIR discov- ered many deeply embedded young stellar objects which were suspected to be T Tauri stars and which justified further investigation. The data used in this study consisted of three sets, the first two are photometric and spectroscopic data sets which were obtained during the first two weeks of February 2002. A third data set of spectroscopic observations was obtained by the author during the second week of 2011 of selected candidates using results from the NIR study and from the photometric data sets. All of the spectroscopy was conducted with the long slit spectrograph on the 1.9-m telescope and the photometry with DANDICAM on the 1.0-m telescope at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Sutherland. Objectives accomplished in the course of this study were to understand, ob- tain, reduce and interpret photometric and long slit spectroscopic CCD images. From the photometric results 57 stars showed excess blue emission on a colour-colour diagram which could be generated by circumstellar matter. The spectroscopic study showed 5 stars that showed H emission and 2 with strong Li absorption lines which confirm the suspicions of the NIR study about T Tauri stars in the region. All of the stars from the spectroscopic study in 2011 were identified as low-mass K or M type stars. Using colour-magnitude diagrams it was possible to see that the majority of the stars in the cluster are low-mass pre-main sequence stars. The stars matching between the optical and NIR filters were plotted on NIR colour-colour diagrams showing that the 5 stars that had H emission lines also had NIR colours characteristic to T Tauri stars. Out of the 5 stars that showed H emission, 2 were found to be classical T Tauris and three were found to be weak line T Tauris. / Thesis (MSc (Space Physics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

This study consisted of an optical photometric and spectroscopic analysis on a 7′ 7′ field around the Southern high mass star forming region RCW 34. A previous study on RCW 34 in the NIR discov- ered many deeply embedded young stellar objects which were suspected to be T Tauri stars and which justified further investigation. The data used in this study consisted of three sets, the first two are photometric and spectroscopic data sets which were obtained during the first two weeks of February 2002. A third data set of spectroscopic observations was obtained by the author during the second week of 2011 of selected candidates using results from the NIR study and from the photometric data sets. All of the spectroscopy was conducted with the long slit spectrograph on the 1.9-m telescope and the photometry with DANDICAM on the 1.0-m telescope at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Sutherland. Objectives accomplished in the course of this study were to understand, ob- tain, reduce and interpret photometric and long slit spectroscopic CCD images. From the photometric results 57 stars showed excess blue emission on a colour-colour diagram which could be generated by circumstellar matter. The spectroscopic study showed 5 stars that showed H emission and 2 with strong Li absorption lines which confirm the suspicions of the NIR study about T Tauri stars in the region. All of the stars from the spectroscopic study in 2011 were identified as low-mass K or M type stars. Using colour-magnitude diagrams it was possible to see that the majority of the stars in the cluster are low-mass pre-main sequence stars. The stars matching between the optical and NIR filters were plotted on NIR colour-colour diagrams showing that the 5 stars that had H emission lines also had NIR colours characteristic to T Tauri stars. Out of the 5 stars that showed H emission, 2 were found to be classical T Tauris and three were found to be weak line T Tauris. / Thesis (MSc (Space Physics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

I construct anti-de Sitter boson stars in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity coupled to a (D-1)/(2)-tuplet of complex massless scalar field both perturbativelyand numerically in D=5,7,9,11 dimensions. Due to the choice of scalar fields, these solutions possess just a single helical Killing symmetry. For each choice of the Gauss-Bonnet parameter &alpha;&#8800;&alpha;_cr, the central energy density at the center of the boson star, q_0 completely characterizes the one parameter family of solutions. These solutions obey the first law of thermodynamics, in the case of the numerics, to within 1 part in 10^6. I describe the dependence of the boson star mass, angular momentum and angular velocity on &alpha; and on the dimensionality. For &alpha;<&alpha;_cr and D>5, these quantities exhibit damped oscillations about finite central values and the central energy density tends to infinity. The Kretschmann invariant at the center of the boson star diverges in the limit of diverging central energy. This contrasts the D=5 case, where the Kretschmann invariant diverges at a finite value of the central energy density. Solutions where &alpha;<&alpha;_cr, correspond to negative mass boson stars, and the for all dimensions the boson star mass and angular momentum decrease exponentially as the central energy density tends toward infinity with the Kretschmann invariant diverging only when in the limit the central energy density diverges. I also briefly discuss the difficulties of numerically obtaining single Killing vector hairy black hole solutions and present the explicit boundary conditions for both Einstein gravity and Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity.

Les caméras pushbroom sont omniprésentes en imagerie satellitaire. Ce capteur linéaire enregistre des images 1-D et utilise le défilement du satellite autour de la terre pour construire des bandeaux d'image ; son principe de fonctionnement est identique aux scanners et photocopieurs que l'on peut utiliser tous les jours. Les avantages liés à cette technologie sont principalement une résolution d'image étendue qui va bien au delà des caméras perspectives, un coût d'exploitation faible et une robustesse au contexte spatial. Pour reconstruire des images couleur, le plan focal d'un satellite embarque plusieurs caméras pushbroom sensibles à différentes bandes spectrales de la lumière. Ce mode d'acquisition dépendant du temps suppose que l'orientation du satellite, également appelée attitude dans cette étude, ne varie pas au cours du survol d'une scène. Les satellites ont jusqu'à maintenant été considérés comme stables du fait de leur inertie. Cependant les technologies récentes développées dans la recherche spatiale tendent à réduire leur taille et alléger leur poids pour les rendre plus agiles et moins coûteux en énergie lors de leur mise en orbite. La résolution des capteurs a également été améliorée, ce qui rend nettement plus critique la moindre oscillation de l'imageur. Ces facteurs cumulés font qu'un changement d'attitude de quelques microradians peut provoquer des déformations géométriques notables dans les images. Les solutions actuelles utilisent les capteurs de positionnement du satellite pour asservir son attitude et rectifier les images, mais elles sont coûteuses et limitées en précision. Les images contiennent pourtant une information cohérente sur les mouvements du satellite de par leurs éventuelles déformations. Nous proposons dans cette étude de retrouver les variations d'attitude par recalage des images enregistrées par le satellite. Nous exploitons la disposition des caméras pushbroom dans le plan focal ainsi que la nature stationnaire des oscillations pour conduire l'estimation. Le tout est présenté dans un cadre bayesien, où les données images peuvent se mêler avec une information a priori sur le mouvement ainsi que des mesures exogènes fournies par un capteur stellaire couramment appelé star tracker. Différentes solutions sont décrites et comparées sur des jeux de données satellitaires fournis par le constructeur de satellite EADS Astrium.

Top researchers and outstanding scientists are an essential source of science-based innovation and regional development. The location pattern and international movements of the scientific elite, are, thus, of fundamental importance. However, despite a growing interest, there is only little empirical evidence about these core issues. Drawing on the results of a world-wide survey of 720 &#8213;star scientists&#8214; (identified by the number of citations they generated in journals in the ISI databases in the period 1981-2002) this paper seeks to explore the role of islands of innovation in providing employment opportunities for stars. It is shown that US and European islands of innovation and their regional labor markets are at the forefront when it comes to produce (i.e. to educate) and to employ star scientists and to exchange them with other places. Furthermore, the paper provides evidence for the formation of a network among innovative regional labor markets based on international movements of the best and brightest scientific minds. (author´s abstract) / Series: SRE - Discussion Papers

The recent empirical literature has shown that the dynamic generating mechanism of macroeconomic variables can be asymmetric. Inspiring from these empirical results, this thesis uses a class of nonlinear models called smooth transition autoregressive models to investigate possible asymmetric dynamics in inflation and nominal exchange rate series of Turkey. Estimation results imply that variables under consideration contain strong nonlinearities and these can be modeled by STAR models.

The study of dwarf galaxies is important in order to better understand the physics of the young universe and how larger galaxies form and evolve. In this work we focus on Blue Compact Galaxies (BCGs) which havemuch enhanced star formation (starbursts), causing blue colours and strong emission line spectra. Investigating of the inner motions of BCGs provides a means for determining masses and understanding what triggered the current starburst. We have used the Very Large Telescope to perform challenging observations of the stellar motions in several BCGs, as seen in the near-infrared Ca-triplet absorption lines. By comparing these to the kinematics of the ionized interstellar medium, we were able to look into the role of feeback from stellar winds and supernova explosions, as well as further strengthen the notion that the merging of galaxies plays an important role. Spatially resolved spectroscopy can yield information about the 3D-structure of galaxies. We have used a Fabry-Perot interferometer to study the kinematics of the interstellar medium in two samples of galaxies, each containing about twenty objects. We find strong indications for ongoing galaxy mergers that correlate well with the strength of the star-formation activity. Furthermore, by estimating dynamical masses, BCGs are shown to be on average not dynamically supported by rotation. In addition, we have used data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to study the frequency of starbursts in the local universe and the connection to their descendants. We selected starbursts by the strength of emission in H-alpha, the first Balmer recombination line, and post-starbursts by the strength of absorption in H-delta. These are indicators of currently ongoing and recent, on the order of 100 Myr, star-formation, respectively. By modelling the stellar populations we derive ages and masses and can establish a link between starbursts and postbursts in a time sequence. We find that starbursts are active on a 100 Myr timescale but are rare objects in the local universe.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / On title page: M.Phil in Ancient Cultures. Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes special report study entitled : The Star ferry Pier & the bus terminus. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (MEng)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The next generation of CubeSats will require accurate attitude knowledge throughout orbit for advanced science payloads and high gain antennas. A star tracker can provide the required performance, but star trackers have traditionally been too large, expensive and power hungry to be included on a CubeSat. The aim of this project is to develop and demonstrate a CubeSat compatible star tracker. Subsystems from two other CubeSat components, CubeSense and CubeComputer, were combined with a sensitive, commercial image sensor and low-light lens to produce one of the smallest star trackers in existence. Algorithms for star detection, matching and attitude determination were investigated and implemented on the embedded system. The resultant star tracker, named CubeStar, can operate fully autonomously, outputting attitude estimates at a rate of 1 Hz. An engineering model was completed and demonstrated an accuracy of better than 0.01 degrees during night sky tests. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die volgende generasie van CubeSats sal akkurate orientasie kennis vereis gedurende 'n volle omwentelling van die aarde. 'n Sterkamera kan die vereiste prestasie verskaf, maar sterkameras is tradisioneel te groot, duur en krag intensief om ingesluit te word aanboord 'n CubeSat. Die doel van hierdie projek is om 'n CubeSat sterkamera te ontwikkel en te demonstreer. Substelsels van twee ander CubeSat komponente, CubeSense en CubeComputer, was gekombineer met 'n sensitiewe kommersiële beeldsensor en 'n lae-lig lens om een van die kleinste sterkameras op die mark te produseer. Algoritmes vir die ster opsporing, identi kasie en orientasie bepaling is ondersoek en geïmplementeer op die ingebedde stelsel. Die gevolglike sterkamera, genaamd CubeStar, kan ten volle outonoom orientasie afskattings lewer teen 'n tempo van 1 Hz. 'n Ingenieursmodel is voltooi en 'n akkuraatheid van beter as 0.01 grade is gedemonstreer.