Since the identi cation of proto-planetary nebulae (PPNe) as transition objects between the asymptotic giant branch stars and planetary nebulae more than two decades ago, astronomers have attempted to characterise these exciting objects. Today many questions still elude a conclusive answer, partly due to the sheer diversity observed within this small subset of stellar objects, and partly due to the low numbers detected. Fortunately, many of these objects display a rich spectrum of emission/absorption lines that can be used as diagnostics for these nebulae. This dissertation presents a study of six PPNe using the relatively new (at NIR wavelengths) integral eld spectroscopy technique. This method has allowed the investigation of distinct regions of these nebulae, and in certain cases the application of magneto-hydrodynamic shock models to the data. The goal of this research has been to investigate the evolution of PPNe by detailed examination of a small sample of objects consisting of a full range of evolutionary types. Near-IR ro-vibrational lines were employed as the primary tool to tackle this problem. In all six sources the 1!0S(1) line is used to map the spatial extent of the H2. In three of these objects the maps represent the rst images of their H2 emission nebulae. In the case of the earliest-type object (IRAS 14331-6435) in this sample, the line map gives the rst image of its nebula at any wavelength. In the only M-type object (OH 231.8+4.2) in the sample, high-velocity H2 is detected in discrete clumps along the edges of the bipolar out ow, while a possible ring of slower moving H2 is found around the equatorial region. This is the rst detection of H2 in such a late-type object but due its peculiarities, it is possibly not representative of what is expected of M-type objects. In IRAS 19500-1709, an intermediate-type object, the line map shows the H2 emission to originate in clumpy structures along the edges of a bipolar shell/out ow. The remaining three objects have all been the subject of previous studies but in each case new H2 lines are detected in this work along with other emission lines (Mg ii, Na i & CO). In the case of IRAS 16594-4656, MHD shock models have been used to determine the gas density and shock velocity. Two new python modules/classes have been written. The rst one to deal with the data cubes, extract ux measurements, rebin regions of interest, and produce line maps. The second class allows the easy calculation of many important parameters, for example, excitation temperatures, column density ratio values, extinction estimates from several line-pairs, column density values, and total mass of the H2. The class also allows the production of input les for the shock tting procedure, and simulated shocks for testing this tting process. A new framework to t NIR shock models to data has been developed, employing Monte Carlo techniques and the extensive computing cluster at the University of Hertfordshire (UH). This method builds on the approach used by many other authors, with the added advantages that this framework provides a method of correctly sampling the shock model parameter space, and providing error estimates on the model t. Using this approach, data from IRAS 16594-4656 have been successfully modelled using the shock models. A full description of this class of stellar objects from such a small sample is not possible due to their diverse nature. Although H2 was detected across the full spectral vi range of post-AGB objects, the phase at which H2 emission begins is still not clear. The only M-type object in this work is a peculiar object and may not be representative of a typical post-AGB star. The H2 PPNe appear to be located at lower Galactic latitudes (b 20 ) than the total PPNe population, possibly pointing to an above average mass and hence younger age of these objects.

Stars of all ages and evolutionary stages are seen to be surrounded by discs of matieral. during the formation of a stellar system the stars are orbited by a massive protoplanetary disc composed of interstellar gas and dust, in which planet formation occurs. Betewwen 1 and 10 Myr the protoplanetary disc disperses, leaving behind the newly formed system of planets and smaller bodies. The remaining material which has not formed into planets is referred to as a debris disc. Even though the interstellar dust grains from the protoplanetary disc have long been removed from the system, debris discs can contain large quantities of dust due to collisions between larger bodies and cometary activity. such dust can be detected by its thermal emission. This thesis focuses on observational studies at far-infrared and sub-millimetre wavelengths of debris discs and the late stages of protoplanetary disc evolution. An overview of surveys for debris discs performed to date is presented, highlighting the limitations and statistical biases. the motivation, design and sample selection for two large surveys for debris discs around nearby stars, with the Hershel space observatory and the SCUBA-2 sub-millimetre camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, are described. The combination of a uniform obstevational strategy, longer wavelengths than previous surveys, and a large, clearly chosen sample - unbiased by stellar properties - will allow robust statistical conclusions of how the incidence and properties of debris discs depend on system parameters such as stellar mass, age, metallicity, binarity and the presence of planets. As a precursor to the Hershel and SCUBA-2 surveys, a volume-limited ample of 130 A type star systems was surveyed using observations at 24 and 70 μm, which were required to determine the presence of emission from dust, were predicted by fitting model flux distributions to optical and near-infrared photometry. Debris discs were detected around 46 systems, 12 of which including the system with the largest dust mass - are new discoveries. This survey adds to the results of previous studies which show that debris disc incidence is not correleated with host star metallicity despite the wll known giant planet - metallicity correlation, This is in accordance with what is predicted from the core accretion theory of planet formation. The most signigicant result from this survey is that, contrary to results reported in a previous work, debris discs are oberall less common around binary stars. Further investigation shows that systems with separations of ~3-150 AU are especially deficient of debris, while closer binaries and the primaries of wider binaries show debris detection rates consisten with those for single stars. A sample of circumstellar discs around 29 young stellar systems with ages of 5-30 Myr were observed with the LABOCA sub-millimetre instrument on the APEX telescope at 870μm, to provide disc masses or mass upper limits in support of a large Hershel programme. These targets included the η Chamaeleontis cluster and four bright Herbig Ae/Be stars which have not previously been observed at this wavelength. All but the Herbig Ae/Be stars were not detected, and 3σ dust mass upper limits of ~ 0.1-3 M are determined, with corresponding total disc masses of ~0.03-1Mjup. These mass limits indicate that there is insufficient remaining material in these discs to form gas giant planets, and add to the prevailing view that protoplanetary discs typically disperse within 10 Myr and that gas giant planet formation must be completed before this time. A search for cold dust emimission from two of the Solar System's nearest neighbours - α Centauri AB and ε Indi - was also performed with LABOCA. In both cases no debris disc emission was detected. A bright resolved feature was detected near α Centauri AB, nowever, follow-up observations at a second epoch, two years after the initial observations, showed that the feature is not co-moving with the stars. It is argued that the feature is most likely a pre-stellar core. The stars α Centauri A and B are detected, which is one of only very few detections of main sequence stellar photospheres at sub-millimetre wavelengths.

We present a new velocity-resolved survey of 2.9 mu m spectra of hot H2O and OH gas emission from protoplanetary disks, obtained with the Cryogenic Infrared Echelle Spectrometer at the VLT (R similar to 96,000). With the addition of archival Spitzer-IRS spectra, this is the most comprehensive spectral data set of water vapor emission from disks ever assembled. We provide line fluxes at 2.9-33 mu m that probe from the dust sublimation radius at similar to 0.05 au out to the region of the water snow line. With a combined data set for 55 disks, we find a new correlation between H2O line fluxes and the radius of CO gas emission, as measured in velocity-resolved 4.7 mu m spectra (R-co), which probes molecular gaps in inner disks. We find that H2O emission disappears from 2.9 mu m (hotter water) to 33 mu m (colder water) as R-co increases and expands out to the snow line radius. These results suggest that the infrared water spectrum is a tracer of inside-out water depletion within the snow line. It also helps clarify an unsolved discrepancy between water observations and models by finding that disks around stars of M-star > 1.5M(circle dot) generally have inner gaps with depleted molecular gas content. We measure radial trends in H2O, OH, and CO line fluxes that can be used as benchmarks for models to study the chemical composition and evolution of planet-forming disk regions at 0.05-20 au. We propose that JWST spectroscopy of molecular-gas may be used as a probe of inner disk gas depletion, complementary to the larger gaps and holes detected by direct imaging and by ALMA.

We present new deep UBVRI images and high-resolution multi-object optical spectroscopy of the young (similar to 6-10 Myr old), relatively nearby (800 pc) open cluster IC 2395. We identify nearly 300 cluster members and use the photometry to estimate their spectral types, which extend from early B to middle M. We also present an infrared imaging survey of the central region using the IRAC and MIPS instruments on board the Spitzer Space Telescope, covering the wavelength range from 3.6 to 24 mu m. Our infrared observations allow us to detect dust in circumstellar disks originating over a typical range of radii from similar to 0.1 to similar to 10 au from the central star. We identify 18 Class II, 8 transitional disk, and 23 debris disk candidates, respectively, 6.5%, 2.9%, and 8.3% of the cluster members with appropriate data. We apply the same criteria for transitional disk identification to 19 other stellar clusters and associations spanning ages from similar to 1 to similar to 18 Myr. We find that the number of disks in the transitional phase as a fraction of the total with strong 24 mu m excesses ([8] - [24]. 1.5) increases from (8.4. +/- 1.3)% at similar to 3 Myr to (46. +/- 5)% at similar to 10 Myr. Alternative definitions of transitional disks will yield different percentages but should show the same trend.

We present multi-epoch mid-infrared (IR) photometry and the optical discovery observations of the "impostor" supernova (SN) 2010da in NGC. 300 using new and archival Spitzer Space Telescope images and ground-based observatories. The mid-infrared counterpart of SN. 2010da was detected as Spitzer Infrared Intensive Transient Survey (SPIRITS). 14bme in the SPIRITS, an ongoing systematic search for IR transients. Before erupting on 2010 May 24, the SN. 2010da progenitor exhibited a constant mid-IR flux at 3.6 and only a slight similar to 10% decrease at 4.5 mu m between 2003 November and 2007 December. A sharp increase in the 3.6 mu m flux followed by a rapid decrease measured similar to 150 days before and similar to 80 days after the initial outburst, respectively, reveal a mid-IR counterpart to the coincident optical and high luminosity X-ray outbursts. At late times, after the outburst (similar to 2000 days), the 3.6 and 4.5 mu m emission increased to over a factor of two. times the progenitor flux and is currently observed (as of 2016 Feb) to be fading, but still above the progenitor flux. We attribute the re-brightening mid-IR emission to continued dust production and increasing luminosity of the surviving system associated with SN. 2010da. We analyze the evolution of the dust temperature (T-d similar to 700-1000 K), mass (Md similar to 0.5-3.8 x. 10(-7) M circle dot), luminosity (L-IR similar to 1.3-3.5 x 10(4) L circle dot), and the equilibrium temperature radius (R-eq similar to 6.4-12.2 au) in order to resolve the nature of SN. 2010da. We address the leading interpretation of SN. 2010da as an eruption from a luminous blue variable high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) system. We propose that SN. 2010da is instead a supergiant (sg)B[e]-HMXB based on similar luminosities and dust masses exhibited by two other known sgB[e]-HMXB systems. Additionally, the SN. 2010da progenitor occupies a similar region on a mid-IR color-magnitude diagram (CMD) with known sgB[e] stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The lower limit estimated for the orbital eccentricity of the sgB[e]-HMXB (e > 0.82) from X-ray luminosity measurements is high compared to known sgHMXBs and supports the claim that SN. 2010da may be associated with a newly formed HMXB system.

Supernova (SN) 2005ip was a Type IIn event notable for its sustained strong interaction with circumstellar material (CSM), coronal emission lines and infrared (IR) excess, interpreted as shock interaction with the very dense and clumpy wind of an extreme red supergiant. We present a series of late- time spectra of SN 2005ip and a first radio detection of this SN, plus late-time X-rays, all of which indicate that its CSM interaction is still strong a decade post- explosion. We also present and discuss new spectra of geriatric SNe with continued CSM interaction: SN 1988Z, SN 1993J and SN 1998S. From 3 to 10 yr post- explosion, SN 2005ip's Ha luminosity and other observed characteristics were nearly identical to those of the radio- luminous SN 1988Z, and much more luminous than SNe 1993J and 1998S. At 10 yr after explosion, SN 2005ip showed a drop in Ha luminosity, followed by a quick resurgence over several months. We interpret this Ha variability as ejecta crashing into a dense shell located less than or similar to 0.05 pc from the star, which may be the same shell that caused the IR echo at earlier epochs. The extreme Ha luminosities in SN 2005ip and SN 1988Z are still dominated by the forward shock at 10 yr post- explosion, whereas SN 1993J and SN 1998S are dominated by the reverse shock at a similar age. Continuous strong CSM interaction in SNe 2005ip and 1988Z is indicative of enhanced mass- loss for similar to 10(3) yr before core collapse, longer than Ne, O or Si burning phases. Instead, the episodic mass- loss must extend back through C burning and perhaps even part of He burning.

We have obtained new images of the protoplanetary disk orbiting TW Hya in visible, total intensity light with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), using the newly commissioned BAR5 occulter. These HST/STIS observations achieved an inner working angle of similar to 0."2, or 11.7 au, probing the system at angular radii coincident with recent images of the disk obtained by ALMA and in polarized intensity near-infrared light. By comparing our new STIS images to those taken with STIS in 2000 and with NICMOS in 1998, 2004, and 2005, we demonstrate that TW Hya's azimuthal surface brightness asymmetry moves coherently in position angle. Between 50 au and 141 au we measure a constant angular velocity in the azimuthal brightness asymmetry of 22 degrees.7. 7 yr(-1) in a counterclockwise direction, equivalent to a period of 15.9. yr assuming circular motion. Both the (short) inferred period and lack of radial dependence of the moving shadow pattern are inconsistent with Keplerian rotation at these disk radii. We hypothesize that the asymmetry arises from the fact that the disk interior to 1 au is inclined and precessing owing to a planetary companion, thus partially shadowing the outer disk. Further monitoring of this and other shadows on protoplanetary disks potentially opens a new avenue for indirectly observing the sites of planet formation.

The Galactic blue supergiant SBW1 with its circumstellar ring nebula represents the best known analogue of the progenitor of SN 1987A. High-resolution imaging has shown H alpha and infrared structures arising in an ionized flow that partly fills the ring's interior. To constrain the influence of the stellar wind on this structure, we obtained an ultraviolet (UV) spectrum of the central star of SBW1 with the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. The UV spectrum shows none of the typical wind signatures, indicating a very low mass-loss rate. Radiative transfer models suggest an extremely low rate below 10(-10) M-circle dot yr(-1), although we find that cooling time-scales probably become comparable to (or longer than) the flow time below 10(-8) M-circle dot yr(-1). We therefore adopt this latter value as a conservative upper limit. For the central star, the model yields T-eff = 21 000 +/- 1000 K, log(g(eff)) = 3.0, L similar or equal to 5 x 10(4) L-circle dot, and roughly Solar composition except for enhanced N abundance. SBW1' s very low mass-loss rate may hinder the wind's ability to shape its nebula and to shed angular momentum. The spin-down time-scale for magnetic breaking is more than 500 times longer than the age of the ring. This, combined with the star's slow rotation rate, constrains merger scenarios to form ring nebulae. The mass-loss rate is at least 10 times lower than expected from mass-loss recipes, without any account of clumping. The physical explanation for why SBW1' s wind is so weak presents an interesting mystery.

To investigate the potential connection between the intense X-ray emission from young low-mass stars and the lifetimes of their circumstellar planet-forming disks, we have compiled the X-ray luminosities (L-X) of M stars in the similar to 8 Myr old TW Hya Association (TWA) for which X-ray data are presently available. Our investigation includes analysis of archival Chandra data for the TWA binary systems TWA 8, 9, and 13. Although our study suffers from poor statistics for stars later than M3, we find a trend of decreasing L-X/L-bol with decreasing T-eff for TWA M stars, wherein the earliest-type (M0-M2) stars cluster near log(L-X/L-bol) approximate to -3.0 and then log(L-X/L-bol) decreases, and its distribution broadens, for types M4 and later. The fraction of TWA stars that display evidence for residual primordial disk material also sharply increases in this same (mid-M) spectral type regime. This apparent anticorrelation between the relative X-ray luminosities of low-mass TWA stars and the longevities of their circumstellar disks suggests that primordial disks orbiting early-type M stars in the TWA have dispersed rapidly as a consequence of their persistent large X-ray fluxes. Conversely, the disks orbiting the very lowest-mass pre-MS stars and pre-MS brown dwarfs in the Association may have survived because their X-ray luminosities and, hence, disk photoevaporation rates are very low to begin with, and then further decline relatively early in their pre-MS evolution.

Theoretical models and spectroscopic observations of newborn stars suggest that protoplantary disks have an inner "wall" at a distance set by the disk interaction with the star. Around T Tauri stars, the size of this disk hole is expected to be on a 0.1 au scale that is unresolved by current adaptive optics imaging, though some model-dependent constraints have been obtained by near-infrared interferometry. Here we report the first measurement of the inner disk wall around a solar-mass young stellar object, YLW 16B in the rho Ophiuchi star-forming region, by detecting the light-travel time of the variable radiation from the stellar surface to the disk. Consistent time lags were detected on two nights, when the time series in H (1.6 mu m) and K (2.2 mu m) bands were synchronized while the 4.5 mu m emission lagged by 74.5 +/- 3.2 s. Considering the nearly edge-on geometry of the disk, the inner rim should be 0.084 au from the protostar on average, with an error of order 0.01 au. This size is likely larger than the range of magnetospheric truncations and consistent with an optically and geometrically thick disk front at the dust sublimation radius at similar to 1500 K. The widths of the cross-correlation functions between the data in different wavebands place possible new constraints on the geometry of the disk.