The next generation of telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will produce enormous quantities of data, too large for traditional analysis techniques. Machine learning has proven invaluable in handling massive data volumes and automating tasks traditionally done by human scientists. The question is, can machine learning also automate scientific discovery? Recent advances in the field have made this feasible but only when combined with expert human input through active learning. astronomaly is a publicly available framework for active anomaly detection in astronomy. It learns to make recommendations of interesting sources to a user, allowing scientists to quickly uncover rare and new classes of objects in large datasets. In this paper, we review some of the discoveries made using astronomaly, discuss the latest deep learning-based approaches and explore the critical role of the cyber-human interface in unveiling cosmic mysteries hidden in massive astronomical datasets.

NASA’s New Horizons team continues to conduct ground-based surveys to find targets for its LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) along the spacecraft’s trajectory. Recent surveys primarily leverage the Subaru Telescope Hyper Suprime-Cam’s wide field-of-view, with >250 new trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) reported to the Minor Planet Center to date, finding more TNOs beyond 70 au than predicted by the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (Fraser et al. 2024). New Horizons’ Student Dust Counter also detected more dust at >40 au than models predict (Doner et al. 2024). These findings motivate deeper surveys (e.g. Rubin/LSST, Roman) to find additional LORRI targets and possibly confirm the existence of an unknown distant TNO population. New Horizons’ LORRI has already observed dozens of these new TNOs and will come within 1.2 au of 2020 KV11 (H∼7.3) in July 2027. From the outer solar system, New Horizons can observe TNOs at solar phase angles substantially larger than the 2° accessible from Earth. These unique vantage points enable determination of TNO shapes and rotation poles, properties that inform and constrain planetesimal formation mechanisms, from rotation (light) curves acquired at high phase angles. Modeling full solar phase curves enables derivation of TNO surface microtexture and scattering properties. Should these surveys find another close flyby target, subsequent ground-based stellar occultation campaigns can characterize the target’s size and shape and refine the astrometry prior to the flyby. Any such campaigns located in Africa will welcome the participation of the African Astronomical community, mirroring those carried out in South Africa and Sénégal for Arrokoth (Buie et al. 2020).

The Virtual Observatory (VO) is a global ecosystem of inter-operating services that connect worldwide data archives. The VO is implemented in all major astronomy archives through common interfaces developed by the 22 members of the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA). It was founded in 2002, and the newest members, the SKA Observatory and the Kazakhstan Virtual Observatory, joined in 2022. The VO offers access to data on FAIR principles and from its inception has supported Open Science. The VO acts as a democratizing influence in astronomy: it provides equal access to worldwide public data sets to under-served communities as well as to large data centers, and it enables international participation in scientific research and education. Thus, astronomers from many different communities are positioned to participate in the big science questions emerging in astronomy in the 2020s, such as interpreting transient sources that will be measured in forthcoming missions such as Rubin. In addition, the IVOA has signed an MoU with the IAU Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD). Under this MoU, IVOA members participated in “Astronomy from Archival Data,” which involved educational activities for undergraduate and post-graduate students organized by Dr. Priya Hasan. The IVOA plans to participate in future such educational events. The presentation describes how new communities may participate in Virtual Observatory science and educational activities, including practices for developing VO-compliant data centers and archives and education and training for developers and end users.

In recent decades, a multitude of modified gravity theories have been proposed to address a variety of cosmological and astrophysical problems. While many of these theories remain viable, observational constraints on their parameters are increasingly stringent. Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), in particular, have emerged as powerful probes of cosmology and fundamental physics. This study investigates the implications of a generic modified gravity theory for gravitational lensing by FRBs. By analyzing the dataset of CHIME/FRBs, we constrain the fraction of dark matter composed of primordial black holes within this theoretical framework. Furthermore, we demonstrate that modified gravity introduces a screening effect on gravitational lensing, analogous to the scattering effect of plasma on light rays.

Massive stars eject strong winds that affect their evolution. When in a binary system, their winds collide and emit radiation across the spectrum, providing an opportunity to study the stars and the interaction between them. There are many physical effects involved in the colliding wind problem, and its complexity requires 3D numerical simulations. We run simulations of colliding winds in massive binary systems that include a detailed treatment of wind ejection, orbital motion, clumpiness, and other effects. These simulations are applied to different kinds of massive binaries, including LBV-WR, WR-WR, WR-O, and O-O systems. Our systematic simulations that were used to determine the general conditions that may lead to accretion onto the star with the weaker wind, and demonstrate new relationships between the mass accretion rate and the ratio of the stellar wind momentum and the Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton (BHL) accretion rate.

Some supernovae are brighter than typical ones due to interactions between the supernova ejecta and dense circumstellar matter, which produce narrow emission lines. Type IIn supernovae show narrow hydrogen lines, while Type Ibn and Icn display narrow helium and carbon lines, respectively. The dense circumstellar material likely forms from significant mass ejection by the progenitor just before the explosion. Two scenarios are proposed for this mass loss: single-star evolution, where a massive star loses mass on its own, and binary evolution, where interaction with a companion star causes mass ejection. For Type Ibn and Icn supernovae, the binary evolution scenario is preferred since their compact progenitors lack the energy for significant mass loss on their own. This study investigates the binary evolution of massive stars and compact objects, using population synthesis to compare supernova ratios with observations and constrain the progenitors’ mass-loss mechanisms and evolutionary pathways.

For decades, the detection of a Pair-Instability Supernova (PISN) has been observationally elusive, despite robust theoretical predictions of their existence in a specific mass range - the PI Gap. Previously it was theorised that this gap would exclusively exist above a certain mass (∼50M⊙) regardless of stellar evolution parameter inputs. However, with recent gravitational wave observations showing black hole masses within this gap, this has been questioned. We present a series of results showcasing Hydrogen-rich stellar evolution models using the software tool MESA where we systematically vary several stellar parameters such as initial mass, metallicity, and rotation, to build a theoretical prediction for the mass range above which stars are expected to go pair unstable.

The extragalactic γ -ray sky is overwhelmingly dominated by blazars, both in the high-energy (HE, E > 100 MeV) and very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100GeV) domain. In VHE γ -rays, currently only 6 radio galaxies (the mis-aligned parent population of blazars) and potentially one LINER-type low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (AGN) have been detected. This review summarizes recent highlights in studies of VHE γ -ray detected non-blazar AGN. Most notably, all VHE γ -ray detected radio galaxies are either of Fanaroff-Riley type 1 or their classification is uncertain. The LHAASO detection of the low-luminosity AGN NGC 4278 constitutes an unexpected first discovery of VHE γ -ray emission from a not jet-dominated AGN.

Binary interactions are commonplace among massive stars, giving rise observed phenomena such as X-ray binaries, stripped stars & supernovae, and gravitational-wave sources. The multiplicity properties of massive stars thus represent a fundamental observable to calibrate, test, and benchmark models of single-star and binary evolution. In these proceedings, I provide a modern summary of the observed properties of massive binaries across various metallicities, and discuss open problems in the field.

Our analysis of Chandra X-ray data for over 27,000 pre-main sequence (PMS) stellar members of various young Galactic star-forming regions and open clusters suggests that, compared to the present-day Sun, the convective dynamo responsible for generating magnetic fields in PMS stars demonstrates much higher levels of surface activity: large spot areas, magnetic fluxes, baseline and flare X-ray luminosities, and magnetic loop sizes. The convective dynamo mechanism enables the production of X-ray super-flares (with X-ray energies Ex ranging from 1034 to 1036 erg) and mega-flares (Ex>1036 erg) in fully convective (Hayashi track) PMS stars, far surpassing the capabilities of the contemporary Sun. Moreover, it leads to frequent weaker X-ray flares (Ex<1034 erg) with an occurrence rate more than a million times higher than in older solar-type main sequence stars. Furthermore, we present two other PMS dynamo-related findings. First, we find no observational evidence of strong, long-term cyclical activity in PMS stars driven by convective dynamos. Second, our research offers tentative evidence for a transition from a convective dynamo to a solar-type tachoclinal dynamo as radiative cores develop in solar-mass stars at ages between 10 and 25 million years.

Our Galaxy is by far the best studied in the Universe, and it has long been regarded as a benchmark for understanding galaxy evolution. However, the Milky Way is only one galaxy, and it is crucial to link Galactic and extra-galactic research to understand the formation and evolution of disk galaxies. Currently, it is difficult to compare galactic and extra-galactic observations directly: Galactic studies focus on individual stars, while extra-galactic are derived from integrated light. We present a novel approach to generate an integral field spectrograph (IFS) data cube of the Milky Way using theoretical models and catalogues of Galactic populations. This enables a direct comparison of the Galaxy with external systems to identify key signatures of formation processes, such as the detailed chemodynamic structure of disks, the velocity dispersion profile, the radial and vertical age gradients, and the mass fraction of the [α/Fe]-rich versus [α/Fe]-poor populations.

We present a review of our search for massive runaway stars in the Milky Way using Gaia DR3, and provide insights into their runaway formation mechanisms.

The most luminous objects in our universe, gamma-ray bursts, can spectacularly outshine millions of galaxies while they are active. The emission from these objects - brightest in gamma-rays but covering the entire electromagnetic spectrum - is believed to come from dissipation processes in a relativistic jet, launched by a highly spinning black hole-accretion disk system left over after a cataclysmic event associated with stellar collapse or the merger of two compact objects. There are a number of fascinating and surprising mysteries that remain in understanding the progenitors of (and physics behind) these brilliant events. In this talk, we presented a multi-code effort to model gamma-ray bursts across many scales in length and time. We described recent progress in unveiling the physical processes that power these extreme objects, from the launch of the relativistic jet, to the microphysics of the dissipation processes, to new exciting results on their circumstellar environments and progenitor systems. Finally, we showed how different intrinsic properties of these systems evolve as a function of redshift, and how we can use them to learn about massive stellar evolution over cosmic time.

The Europlanet Telescope Network (EPN-TN), launched in 2020, is a network of small and medium-size telescopes. The EPN-TN currently comprises 17 observatories with 46 telescopes ranging from 2 m to 30 cm in size. The network is open for new infrastructures. Observatories from Africa are particularly welcome. In 2024, the network is entering a new sustainable operation phase after the end of European Commission’s funding via the Europlanet 2024-Reseach Infrastructure project. The network is fostering the international collaboration. Majority of the observatories provide free of charge observing time for the collaborative projects. The overview of the network and success stories are presented.

Vast new surveys of galaxy redshifts and velocities, currently under way or planned, will increase the number of peculiar velocity measurements by nearly two orders of magnitude, from a few tens of thousands to nearly a million. This leap in sample size, combined with improvements in methods for measuring and analysing distances and peculiar velocities, will make z+v -surveys a powerful and precise tool for studying the distribution of dark matter, measuring the growth rate of structure on the largest scales in the low-redshift Universe, and testing both the Cosmological Principle and General Relativity.

Interacting supernovae provide key insights into the mass-loss processes of massive stars and their circumstellar environments. By analyzing their photometric and spectroscopic properties, we can study the complex interactions between ejected material and circumstellar material (CSM). This paper highlights the diversity of interacting SNe, including Types IIn, Ibn, and Icn, and explores the challenges in understanding progenitor systems, CSM structures, and late-time evolution. Advances in high-cadence observations and modeling are crucial for improving our knowledge of these stellar explosions.