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By the use of homotopy perturbation method-Pad\'e (HPM-Pad\'e) technique, a new analytical approximation of luminosity distance in the flat universe is proposed, which has the advantage of significant improvement for accuracy in…
Measuring the orbits of directly-imaged exoplanets requires precise astrometry at the milliarcsec level over long periods of time due to their wide separation to the stars ($\gtrsim$10 au) and long orbital period ($\gtrsim$20 yr). To reach…
Narrow emission-line galaxies can be distinguished in the well-known BPT diagrams through narrow emission line properties. However, there are no boundaries visible to the naked eye between type-2 AGN and HII galaxies in BPT diagrams,…
Asteroseismology has been extremely successful in determining the properties of stars in different evolutionary stages with a remarkable level of precision. However, to fully exploit its potential, robust methods for estimating stellar…
We present optical and near-infrared (NIR, $YJH$-band) observations of 42 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) discovered by the untargeted intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) survey. This new data-set covers a broad range of redshifts and…
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are considered standardizable candles and are therefore important probes of the universe's expansion history and cosmic distances. In comparison to the optical and IR photometric observations, NIR light curves of…
As the fields of optical microscopy, semiconductor technology and fundamental science increasingly aim for precision at or below the nanoscale, there is a burgeoning demand for sub-nanometric displacement and position sensing. We show that…
To learn about a physical system of interest, experimental results must be able to discriminate among models. We introduce a geometrical measure to quantify the distance between models for pseudoscalar-meson photoproduction in amplitude…
Great investments of observing time have been dedicated to the study of nearby spiral galaxies with diverse goals ranging from understanding the star formation process to characterizing their dark matter distributions. Accurate distances…
I present an overview of optical observations (mostly spectra) of Type II supernovae. SNe II are defined by the presence of hydrogen, and exhibit a very wide variety of properties. SNe II-L tend to show evidence of late-time interaction…
We reconsider calibration of statistical distance scales for planetary nebulae, examining precision and systematic error for various distance methods used as well as the scales themselves. A different calibration strategy, one based on…
The good match of the type Ia supernova (SNIa) Hubble Diagram to the prediction of a not-unreasonable cosmological world model shows that measurements of standard stars and their comparison with point sources down to m=25 mag is good to…
The advantages of a near-infrared variant of the Barnes-Evans method for estimating distances to Cepheid variables are described and quantified. A surface brightness-color relation for $K$ photometry and the $(V-K)_0$ color index is…
Motivated by the fact that calibrated light curves of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have become a major tool to determine the expansion history of the Universe, considerable attention has been given to, both, observations and models of these…
We use the newly published 28 observational Hubble parameter data ($H(z)$) and current largest SNe Ia samples (Union2.1) to test whether the universe is transparent. Three cosmological-model-independent methods (nearby SNe Ia method,…
The ultimate fate of the universe, infinite expansion or a big crunch, can be determined by measuring the redshifts, apparent brightnesses, and intrinsic luminosities of very distant supernovae. Recent developments have provided tools that…
A new method is proposed for directly measuring the expansion rate of the universe through very precise measurement of the fluence of extremely stable sources. The method is based on the definition of the luminosity distance and its change…
In the recent years, interferometric arrays of optical telescopes have reached sizes of the order of 100m, but they have yet to produce high-resolution images. The analysis of image formation now shows that such images are obtainable…
Measured spectral shifts due to intrinsic stellar variability (e.g., pulsations, granulation) and activity (e.g., spots, plages) are the largest source of error for extreme precision radial velocity (EPRV) exoplanet detection. Several…
Preliminary results of a search for distant clusters of galaxies using the recently released I-band data obtained by the ESO Imaging Survey are presented. In this first installment of the survey, data covering about 3 square degrees in…