Related papers: A Deep HST Study of the Globular Cluster NGC 6397:…
So far, most of the about 5700 exoplanets have been discovered mainly with radial velocity and transit methods. These techniques are sensitive to planets in close orbits, not being able to probe large star--planet separations. $\mu$-lensing…
Ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs) are the faintest known galaxies and due to their incredibly low surface brightness, it is difficult to find them beyond the Local Group. We report a serendipitous discovery of an UFD, Fornax UFD1, in the…
During Cycle 14 a total of 113 HST orbits were secured to observe five isolated dwarf galaxies, namely Tucana, LGS3, LeoA, IC1613, and Cetus. The aim of the project is a full characterization of the stellar content of these galaxies, in…
The technique of simultaneous spectral differential imaging (SSDI) is used to image directly brown dwarfs and exoplanets around nearby stars. An analytical PSF model is first presented with numerical simulations to estimate the PSF noise…
We present the results of a detailed UV-optical study of the nearby dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 4214 using multifilter HST/WFPC2+STIS photometry. The stellar extinction is found to be quite patchy, with some areas having values of…
We used data from the HST UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters to select the Blue Straggler Star (BSS) population in four intermediate/high density systems (namely NGC 2808, NGC 6388, NGC 6541 and NGC 7078) through a "UV-guided…
One of the main scientific drivers of the Space InfraRed Telescope Facility (SIRTF) is the search for brown dwarfs and extrasolar superplanets. We discuss observational strategies for identification of these objects, and conclude that an…
We report results of the Chandra deep imaging observation of the closest post-core collapse globular cluster, NGC 6397. Some 25 sources are detected within 2 arcmin of the cluster center of which about 20 are likely cluster members with L_x…
We present the results of our search for faint Local Group dwarf galaxies in compact high-velocity clouds (HVCs). We used digitized Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS) data to examine 1 square degree of sky around each of ~250 northern…
The investigation of distant galaxy formation and evolution is a powerful tool to constrain dark matter scenarios, supporting and in some cases surpassing other astrophysical and experimental probes. The recent completion of the Hubble…
Nearby stars offer prime opportunities for exoplanet discovery and characterization through various detection methods. By combining HCI, RV, and astrometry, it is possible to better constrain the presence of substellar companions, as each…
Dwarf galaxies are important tracers of small-scale cosmological structure, yet much of our knowledge about these systems comes from the limited sample of dwarf galaxies within the Local Group. To make a comprehensive inventory of dwarf…
[abridged] Aims. We observed the outer parts of NGC 1569 and NGC 4449, two of the closest and strongest dwarf starburst galaxies in the local universe, to characterize their stellar density and populations, and obtain new insights into the…
Direct imaging of circumstellar disks at high angular resolution is mandatory to provide morphological information that bring constraints on their properties, in particular the spatial distribution of dust. New techniques combining…
We report the first comprehensive census of the satellite dwarf galaxies around NGC 55 ($2.1$ Mpc) as a part of the DECam Local Volume Exploration DEEP (DELVE-DEEP) survey. NGC 55 is one of four isolated, Magellanic analogs in the Local…
We examine the theoretical implications of a population of low-mass helium-core white dwarfs in globular clusters. In particular, we focus on the observed population in the core of NGC 6397, where several low-mass white dwarf canditates…
The JWST NIRSpec integral field unit (IFU) presents a unique opportunity to observe directly imaged exoplanets from 3-5 um at moderate spectral resolution (R~2,700) and thereby better constrain the composition, disequilibrium chemistry, and…
We establish an extragalactic, zero-motion frame of reference within the deepest optical image of a globular star cluster, an HST 123-orbit exposure of M4 (GO 8679, cycle 9). The line of sight beyond M4 (l,b (deg) = 351,16) intersects the…
We present complimentary techniques to find emission-line targets and measure their properties in a semi-automated fashion from grism observations obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. The first…
We study the quiescent ultra-diffuse galaxy FCC 224 in the Fornax cluster using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, motivated by peculiar properties of its globular cluster (GC) system revealed in shallower imaging. The surface brightness…