We present coarse but robust star-formation histories (SFHs) derived from spectrophotometric data of the Carnegie-Spitzer-IMACS Survey, for 22,494 galaxies at 0.3 < z < 0.9 with stellar masses of 10(9)M(circle dot) to 10(12)M(circle dot). Our study moves beyond "average" SFHs and distribution functions of specific star-formation rates (sSFRs) to individually measured SFHs for tens of thousands of galaxies. By comparing star-formation rates (SFRs) with timescales of 10(10), 10(9), and 10(8) years, we find a wide diversity of SFHs: "old galaxies" that formed most or all of their stars early,. galaxies that formed stars with declining or constant SFRs over a Hubble time, and genuinely "young galaxies" that formed most of their stars since z = 1 This sequence is one of decreasing stellar mass, but remarkably, each type is found over a mass range of a factor of 10. Conversely, galaxies at any given mass follow a wide range of SFHs, leading us to conclude that. (1) halo mass does not uniquely determine SFHs,. (2) there is no "typical" evolutionary track, and (3) "abundance matching" has limitations as a tool for inferring physics. Our observations imply that SFHs are set at an early epoch, and that-for most galaxies-the decline and cessation of star formation occurs over a Hubble time, without distinct "quenching" events. SFH diversity is inconsistent with models where galaxy mass, at any given epoch, grows simply along relations between SFR and stellar mass, but is consistent with a two-parameter lognormal form, lending credence to this model from a new and independent perspective.

We report the discovery of eight new giant planets, and updated orbits for four known planets, orbiting dwarf and subgiant stars using the CORALIE, HARPS, and MIKE instruments as part of the Calan-Hertfordshire Extrasolar Planet Search. The planets have masses in the range 1.1-5.4 M-J's, orbital periods from 40 to 2900 d, and eccentricities from 0.0 to 0.6. They include a double-planet system orbiting the most massive star in our sample (HD147873), two eccentric giant planets (HD128356b and HD154672b), and a rare 14 Herculis analogue (HD224538b). We highlight some population correlations from the sample of radial velocity detected planets orbiting nearby stars, including the mass function exponential distribution, confirmation of the growing body of evidence that low-mass planets tend to be found orbiting more metal-poor stars than giant planets, and a possible period-metallicity correlation for planets with masses > 0.1 M-J, based on a metallicity difference of 0.16 dex between the population of planets with orbital periods less than 100 d and those with orbital periods greater than 100 d.

We describe a new method to derive clean, iodine-free spectra directly from observations acquired using high-resolution echelle spectrographs equipped with iodine cells. The main motivation to obtain iodine-free spectra is to use portions of the spectrum that are superimposed with the dense forest of iodine absorption lines, in order to retrieve lines that can be used to monitor the magnetic activity of the star, helping to validate candidate planets. In short, we provide a straightforward methodology to clean the spectra using the forward model used to derive radial velocities, the line spread function information plus the stellar spectrum without iodine to reconstruct and subtract the iodine spectrum from the observations. We show our results using observations of the star tau Ceti acquired with the Planet Finder Spectrograph (PFS), High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES), and University College London Echelle Spectrograph (UCLES), reaching an iodine-free spectrum correction at the similar to 1% rms level. We additionally discuss the limitations and further applications of the method.

In the first part of this paper, four different Cassegrain optical systems with their correctors are designed and studied for multi-object fiber slit spectroscopic survey. The aperture in 6.5 m and field of view 3 degrees are taken for these optical systems. Assuming observation wavelength range is 0.365-0.95 mu m, the maximum zenith distance for observing is 60 degrees, the maximum diameter of these lenses is 1.66 m, the altitude of the telescope site is 2500 m, two correctors are composed of 4-piece lenses and the other two are 5-piece lenses. The results obtained are: f-ratio about 3.7, the image quality for all four systems with EE80D <= 0.60 '', the linear diameter of the focal surface is about 1.2 m and 11 000 fibers can be set on it. Considering the limit of size of fused silica and optical glass, the maximum diameter for lens is about 1.7 m. Such a 6.5 m telescope is about the largest one if using the above correctors. Considering the multi-object spectroscopic survey is greatly important, we also studied some telescope optical systems having their aperture near or larger than 10 m used for the multi-object fiber spectroscopic survey. Such ideas are introduced in the last section of this paper.

We present a new in situ, multiple electron-multiplier LA-ICP-MS technique for the analysis of boron isotopes (delta(11)B) at < I parts per thousand 2sigma precision and at the nanogram level. Sample materials analyzed were all natural and synthetic glasses, spanning a range of boron concentrations from 0.39 to 30.2 ppm and B-11/B-10 values from 4.0254 to 4.0799 (delta(11)B - 6.08 parts per thousand to + 7.35 parts per thousand). The in situ analyses were duplicated at higher concentrations by solution analyses of chemically separated boron using conventional nebulization on the same ICP-MS system.

The majority of the Klipspringer eclogitic diamonds display complex crystal zonation with zones of N- and H-rich cubic diamond alternating with zones of N-poor octahedral diamond. These growth features were likely related to different levels of carbon supersaturation in the diamond forming fluid(s). The diamonds are younger than their host rock and formed through differential flux of fluids into the eclogite.

Two decades of diamond research in southern Africa allow the age and average composition (C isotope and N abundance) of diamonds and the dominant paragenesis (peridotitic versus eclogitic) of their syngenetic silicate and sulfide inclusions to be reviewed on a cratonwide scale. Individual eclogitic sulfide inclusions in diamonds from the Kimberley area kimberlites, Koffiefontein, Orapa and Jwaneng have Re-Os isotopic ages that range from similar to2.9 Ga to the Proterozoic and display little correspondence with the prominent variations in the P-wave velocity (+/-1%) that the mantle lithosphere shows at depths within the diamond stability field (150 to 225km). Silicate inclusions in diamonds and their host diamond compositions for the above kimberlites, Finsch, Jagersfontein, Roberts Victor, Premier, Venetia and Letlhakane show a regional relationship to the seismic velocity of the lithosphere. Mantle lithosphere with slower P-wave velocity relative to the craton average correlates with a greater proportion of eclogitic versus peridotitic silicate inclusions in diamond, a greater incidence of younger Sm-Nd ages of silicate inclusions, a greater proportion of diamonds with lighter C isotopic composition, and a lower percentage of low-N diamonds. The converse is true for diamonds from higher velocity mantle. The oldest formation ages of diamonds support a model whereby mantle that became part of the keel of the oldest continental nuclei was created by middle Archean (similar to3.3 to similar to3.2 Ga or older) mantle depletion events with high degrees of melting and early harzburgite formation. The predominance of eclogitic sulfide inclusions in the similar to2.9 Ga age population links late Archean subduction-accretion events involving an oceanic lithosphere component to craton stabilization. These events resulted in a widely-distributed, late Archean generation of eclogitic diamonds in an amalgamated craton. Subsequent Proterozoic tectonic and magmatic events altered the composition of the continental lithosphere and added new lherzolitic and eclogitic diamonds to the already extensive Archean diamond suite.