Related papers: The Cepheid Galactic Internet
The GAIA satellite will provide unprecedented phase-space information for our Galaxy and enable a new era of Galactic dynamics. We may soon see successful realizations of Galactoseismology, i.e., inferring the characteristics of the…
We present nonlinear theoretical results concerning the predicted pulsation behaviour of stellar models suitable for the sample of Cepheids belonging to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) star cluster NGC 1866. The blue and red edges of the…
I shall review the latest results for the presence of diffuse light in nearby clusters, and the evidence of ongoing star formation in an intracluster Virgo field. I shall discuss how intracluster planetary nebulae can be used as excellent…
Classical Cepheids are the archetype of the standard candle, thanks to the period-luminosity relation which allows to measure their intrinsic brightness. They are also relatively young and bright, potentially making them excellent tracers…
The All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) data, covering nearly 70% of the whole sky south of declination +28 deg, were recently used to discover about 300 Beta Cephei stars brighter than V~11.5 mag. As this means a nearly fourfold increase in…
The question of whether intelligent life exists elsewhere is one of the fundamental unknowns about our Universe. Over the past decade more than 200 extra-solar planets have been discovered, providing new urgency for addressing this question…
Rate of period change $\dot{P}$ for a Cepheid is shown to be a parameter that is capable of indicating the instability strip crossing mode for individual objects, and, in conjunction with light amplitude, likely location within the…
Preliminary results on the detection of a conspicuous number of variable stars in the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822 are presented. We stress the need for packages specifically designed to the search of variables in distant galaxies and/or…
A general review is given of the calibration of the Cepheid distance scale, with particular reference to its use in the determination of H0. Emphasis is placed on the advantage of using a galactic calibration of the Cepheid scale, rather…
For over 50 years, astronomers have searched the skies for evidence of electromagnetic signals from extraterrestrial civilizations that have reached or surpassed our level of technological development. Although often overlooked or given as…
XZ Ceti is the only known anomalous Cepheid in the Galactic field. Being the nearest and brightest such variable star, a detailed study of XZ Ceti may shed light on the behaviour of anomalous Cepheids whose representatives have been mostly…
The next generation of exoplanet space photometry missions proposed by both NASA and ESA promise to discover small transiting planets around the nearest and brightest main-sequence stars. The physical and rotational properties of these…
I present a review of recent observational work on Cepheid variables and eclipsing binaries in our Galaxy, the Magellanic Clouds, and other members of the Local Group.
Radio SETI experiments aim to test the hypothesis that extraterrestrial civilizations emit detectable signals from communication, propulsion, or other technologies. The unprecedented capabilities of next generation radio telescopes,…
In the cm-wavelength range, an extraterrestrial electromagnetic narrow band (sine wave) beacon is an excellent choice to get alien attention across interstellar distances because 1) it is not strongly affected by interstellar /…
We have performed a search for variable stars in the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822 using wide-field multi-epoch VI photometry down to a limiting magnitude $V$ $\sim$ 22. Apart from the Cepheid variables in this galaxy already reported in…
The orbital period is a measure of the size of a contact binary star, and can be combined with color to predict its luminosity to a fraction of stellar magnitude. This novel application of contact binary systems currently has limitations…
More than a century ago, Henrietta Leavitt discovered the first Cepheids in the Magellanic Clouds together with the famous period-luminosity relationship revealed by these stars, which soon after revolutionized our view of the Universe.…
The Cepheid Period-Luminosity law is a key rung on the extragalactic distance ladder. However, numerous Cepheids are known to undergo period variations. Monitoring, refining, and understanding these period variations allows us to better…
A galaxy's orientation is one of its most basic observable properties. Astronomers once assumed that galaxies are randomly oriented in space, however it is now clear that some have preferred orientations with respect to their surroundings.…