Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are considered to be carriers of the unidentified infrared bands, which are ubiquitously observed in the Universe. PAHs are mainly formed around evolved carbon-rich stars and injected into interstellar space. Planetary nebulae (PNe), a late stage of low- and intermediate stellar mass evolution, are suitable objects to investigate the formation and evolution of PAHs. The shortest PAH feature is located in 3.3 μm, which is important to examine the excitation and size distribution of PAHs. While the number of samples had been limited before, the high sensitivity of AKARI/IRC has drastically increased the number of samples. We obtained the 2-5 μm spectra of Galactic PNe with AKARI/IRC and compiled a near-infrared spectral catalog, containing 73 PNe. We investigate the detection rate and the evolution of the PAH features. The characteristics of the catalog are illustrated and the origin of the evolution of the PAH features is discussed.

Polarbear is a ground-based experiment located in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. The experiment is designed to measure the Cosmic Microwave Background B-mode polarization at several arcminute resolution. The CMB B-mode polarization on degree angular scales is a unique signature of primordial gravitational waves from cosmic in ation and B-mode signal on sub-degree scales is induced by the gravitational lensing from large-scale structure. Science observations began in early 2012 with an array of 1,274 polarization sensitive antenna-couple Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers at 150 GHz. We published the first CMB-only measurement of the B-mode polarization on sub-degree scales induced by gravitational lensing in December 2013 followed by the first measurement of the B-mode power spectrum on those scales in March 2014. In this proceedings, we review the physics of CMB B-modes and then describe the Polarbear experiment, observations, and recent results.

The Eclipsing Binaries Minima (BIMA) Monitoring Project is a CCD-based photometric observational program initiated by Bosscha Observatory - Lembang, Indonesia in June 2012. Since December 2012 the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) has joined the BIMA Project as the main partner. This project aims to build an open-database of eclipsing binary minima and to establish the orbital period of each system and its variations. The project is conducted on the basis of multisite monitoring observations of eclipsing binaries with magnitudes less than 19 mag. Dierential photometry methods have been applied throughout the observations. Data reduction was performed using IRAF. The observations were carried out in BVRI bands using three dierent small telescopes situated in Indonesia, Thailand, and Chile. Computer programs have been developed for calculating the time of minima. To date, more than 140 eclipsing binaries have been observed. From them 71 minima have been determined. We present and discuss the O-C diagrams for some eclipsing binary systems.

Using the Submillimeter Array (SMA), we identified two bright hot subcores, MM1a and MM1b (size ~ 1" and mass ~ 0.5 M⊙) separated by about 1.600, in the 230 GHz continuum emission toward the massive star-forming region DR21(OH). Both display typical hot core characteristics but have slightly different chemical properties. For example, highly saturated species show stronger emission toward MM1a and seem to be evaporating directly from the grain mantles. In contrast, simple sulfur-bearing species have brighter emission at MM1b. These features indicate that MM1a is at an earlier stage than MM1b, and the small-scale chemical differences between these two cores may result from the age difference of the order of 104 104 years.

Many observations have found evidence of the presence of a large number of heavily obscured Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). However, the nature of this population is only poorly understood because heavy obscuration by dust prevents one from finding them at optical wavelengths. Mid-infrared AGN searches can overcome this obstacle by penetrating through dust and by detecting direct emission from the dust torus. Thus, we can identify most of the AGN population, including type-2 and buried AGNs. Using the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky survey, we performed an AGN search in the nearby universe. Utilizing the 2MASS photometry, we selected mid-infrared-excess sources and carried out near-infrared spectroscopic observations in the AKARI Phase 3. During these follow-up observations, we have found three galaxies that show strong near-infrared red continuum from hot dust with a temperature of about 500 K, but do not show any AGN features in other wavelengths. The most suitable explanation of near-infrared continuum is the presence of central AGNs. Therefore, we conclude that they are AGNs obscured by dust. We performed X-ray observations of the two galaxies with SUZAKU. No detections in the 0.4-10 keV suggest that the column density may be much higher than NH=1023.5cm−2 . Comparing the masses of the host galaxies with those of the SDSS AGNs, we find that the host galaxies of the dusty AGNs discovered with AKARI are less massive populations than those of optically selected AGNs.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) are investigated by means of the unidentified infrared (UIR) bands. Continuous near- to mid-infrared spectra of PNe are obtained with the AKARI/IRC and the Spitzer/IRS. All 19 PNe in the present study show prominent dust emissions and we investigate the variation in the intensity ratios among the UIR bands. The ionization fraction and the size distribution of PAHs in PNe are derived using the UIR band ratios. We find that the ionization fraction of PAHs in PNe is around 0.0-0.6 and that small PAHs are scarce. The present result indicates a systematic trend of the 3.4 μm aliphatic feature to become weak as the PAH ionization fraction increases.

We have collected dozens of mid-infrared spectra showing UIR bands from diffuse Galactic emitting regions with the AKARI's Infrared Camera (IRC) onboard AKARI, as part of the ISMGN Mission Program. The datasets cover various directions in the inner Galactic Plane ( |l| < 70 deg), in the outer Galactic Plane ( |l| > 70 deg), and in the off-Plane ( |b| > 2 deg). The variations in the UIR band ratios are examined in terms of the radiation environments judged from the far-infrared ( 50 − 170 μm ) spectral energy distribution (SED) made with AKARI/FIS All Sky Survey data at each slit position where mid-IR spectra were obtained. We have found that the band ratios of 6.2 μm / 11.2 μm and 7.7 μm / 11.2 μm toward the inner Galaxy are systematically higher than those toward the outer Galaxy and off the Galactic plane. Likely causes of the variations in properties of UIR bands in diffuse emission on a Galactic scale are discussed in this paper.

The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) is a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) treasury project. The COSMOS aims to perform a 2 square degree imaging survey of an equatorial field in I(F814W) band, using the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Such a wide field survey, combined with ground-based photometric and spectroscopic data, is essential to understand the interplay between large scale structure, evolution and formation of galaxies and dark matter. In 2004, we have obtained high-quality, broad band images of the COSMOS field (B, V, r', i', and z') using Suprime-Cam on the Subaru Telescope, and we have started our new optical multi-band program, COSMOS-21 in 2005. Here, we present a brief summary of the current status of the COSMOS project together with contributions from the Subaru Telescope. Our future Subaru program, COSMOS-21, is also discussed briefly.