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In order to perform star-identification with lower processing requirements, multi-dimensional techniques are implemented in this research as a database search as well as to create star pattern parameters. New star pattern parameters are presented which produce a well-distributed database, required by the database search algorithm to achieve the fastest performance. To mitigate problems introduced by the star pattern selection, incorrect entries are added to the database, which reduces the number of iterations of the run-time algorithm. The associated algorithms, star pattern parameters, and database preparation are collectively referred to as Multi-dimensional Star-Identification (Star-ND). The star pattern parameters developed may also be extended to star patterns with an arbitrarily large number of stars, while retaining the well-distributed property. The algorithm is contrasted with the current state-of-the-art star-ID algorithm, Pyramid. The database is found to grow linearly with the size of the star catalog, while Pyramid's database grows quadratically. The running time of Star-ND is found to be on average a factor of 25 times faster than the time for Pyramid.

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Chapter 1 of this thesis details the incorporation of a Charged Coupled Device (CCD) detector system with the Durham Imaging Polarimeter. The details include the physical characteristics of the device and the electronics and software associated with the device control and data storage. The introduction of the CCD detector system haa made necessary the inclusion of a super-achromatic half-wave plate in the polarimeter which has an inherent variability in its optic axis. Chapter 2of this work describes fully how suitable corrections for this effect can be made, and derives "first order" results. The CCD performance is examined in comparison with the detector used previously and hence the veracity of the new results is established. Chapter 3 is a relevant summary of the status of the astronomy of the immediate regions of recent star-formation. Chapter 4 describes multicolour polarimetry of NGC2261/R Mon covering the period 1979 to 1986. The data conclusively proves that the polarisation of R Mon must be due to effects close to R Mon (~ 14 astronomical units). This is evident because of the dynamic timescale of the variations of the polarisation of R Mon and the anomalous band of polarisations seen across the head of the nebula. The interpretation presented is an extension of the Elsasser and Staude (1978) method of polarising objects embedded within the confines of a nearly edge-on disk. Detailed polarisations within the main nebula body provide evidence for this extended interpretation and also for an extensive helical magnetic field which may extend into the disk. Also it is seen that R Mon must still be "shrouded" in material preventing light from directly reflecting in the main nebula body. It is not thought that the variations in the region close to R Mon are due to planetary bodies but to accretion from the disk. The results of this re-interpretation of the polarising mechanism are tentatively applied to other similar objects.

無 / A multiple-star representation of a simple graph G assigns each vertex a union of stars in a host tree, such that vertices are adjacent if and only if their assigned sets intersect. The total star number S(G) is the minimum of the total number of stars used in any such representation of G. We obtain the maximum value of S(G) for m-edge connected graphs: m + 1, n-vertex graphs: [n² + 1)/ 4], and n-vertex outer-planar graphs: [3n /2-l]

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / This research aimed to evaluate the effects of changing length-scales on the star formation laws and star formation efficiencies for our selected sample of galaxies. We have combined high-resolution Hi data from The Hi Nearby Galaxy Survey, CO data from HERA CO–Line Extragalactic Survey and the Nobeyama CO Atlas of Nearby Spiral Galaxies and 12 𝜇m data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer of a sample of five nearby galaxies to study the relationship between star formation rate surface density, ΣSFR, and gas surface density, Σgas, at various length-scales. In order to probe the star formation law of each galaxy, all image sets were placed on common astrometric grids and evaluated on a pixel-by-pixel basis over a range of sub-kpc length-scales. We investigated whether the star formation law changes with length-scales and found that as resolution becomes coarser, the Kennicutt Schmidt power-law index decreases for the correlation between ΣSFR and ΣH2 . Our results show that the index values are close to unity but are not consistent with it.

Star formation is an inherently multi-scale process, connecting scales from the kiloparsecs of the galactic disk to the single AU scale of a protostar. In the middle of these scales are star clusters and molecular clouds, the structures in which most stars form. The clouds and clusters are connected via the interstellar medium, the gas and dust making up the matter between stars. In the cold phases of this medium rests the first steps of star formation, the formation of molecular gas and networks of filaments. This cold, neutral medium (CNM) hosts a handful of physical mechanisms, all contributing to the structures that feeds star formation. In this thesis work, we present a suite of simulations using the magneto-hydrodynamical code Ramses to investigate the role of turbulence, magnetic fields and cooling on the formation of filaments and clusters in the CNM. Through 9 different models we find that velocity dispersions in the CNM play a significant role in the formation of structure, requiring a balance between turbulence, self gravity and cooling to form filaments. We find magnetic fields, initialized at strengths of 7 muG, affect the formation of filaments, creating higher percentages of star-forming dense gas and lower percentages of molecular gas. Both magnetic fields and velocity dispersion in the gas affect the formation rate of clusters early in the simulation. Our 8 km/s simulations present a good initial condition for star formation that can include multiple scales of the process and recreate accurate clouds and filamentary structure. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

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