Related papers: Kuiper Belt Object Occultations: Expected Rates, F…
We use optical data on 10 Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) to investigate their rotational properties. Of the 10, three (30%) exhibit light variations with amplitude delta_m >= 0.15 mag, and 1 out of 10 (10%) has delta_m >= 0.40 mag, which is in…
We present the technical design, construction and testing of the Colibri telescope array at Elginfield Observatory near London, Ontario, Canada. Three 50-cm telescopes are arranged in a triangular array and are separated by 110-160 metres.…
Space observatories such as $\textit{Kepler}$ have provided data that can potentially revolutionise our understanding of stars. Through detailed asteroseismic analyses we are capable of determining fundamental stellar parameters and reveal…
Optical microlensing surveys are restricted from detecting events near the Galactic plane and center, where the event rate is thought to be the highest, due to the high optical extinction of these fields. In the near-infrared (NIR),…
An occulter is a large diffracting screen which may be flown in conjunction with a telescope to image extrasolar planets. The edge is shaped to minimize the diffracted light in a region beyond the occulter, and a telescope may be placed in…
We performed a statistical analysis of the astrometric errors for the major asteroid surveys. We analyzed the astrometric residuals as a function of observation epoch, observed brightness and rate of motion, finding that astrometric errors…
Dynamical mass estimates for the main asteroid belt and the trans-Neptunian Kuiper belt have been found from their gravitational influence on the motion of planets. Discrete rotating models consisting of moving material points have been…
We introduce a novel algorithm, $\textit{COD}$ -- Compact Opacity Distribution, for shape reconstruction of a celestial body that has been observed to occult a star, using the photometric time-series observations of the occultation.…
Astrophysical false positives due to stellar eclipsing binaries pose one of the greatest challenges to ground-based surveys for transiting Hot Jupiters. We have used known properties of multiple star systems and Hot Jupiter systems to…
A proposed Vera C. Rubin Observatory Deep Drilling micro-survey of the Kuiper Belt will investigate key properties of the distant solar system. Utilizing 30 hours of Rubin time across six 5-hour visits over one year starting in summer 2026,…
High resolution (lambda / Delta-lambda = 50,000) K-band spectra of massive, embedded, young stellar objects are presented. The present sample consists of four massive young stars located in nascent clusters powering Galactic giant H II…
Opacity calculations are basic ingredients of stellar modelling. They play a crucial role in the interpretation of acoustic modes detected by SoHO, COROT and KEPLER. In this review we present our activities on both theoretical and…
We present a catalog of 30 stars that are candidates for KH 15D-like binary systems, in which the observed brightness variations are caused by a circumbinary dusty disk that periodically obscures at least one of the stellar components as it…
Almost all of the $>600$ known Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) have been discovered within 50 AU of the Sun. One possible explanation for the observed lack of KBOs beyond 50 AU is that the distant Kuiper belt is dynamically very cold, and thus…
This work investigates the use of stellar occultation measurements to enhance the orbit determination performance of the Lunar Meteoroid Impact Observer (LUMIO) mission, operating from a quasi-Halo orbit around the Earth-Moon L2 point.…
The recent launch of the Kepler space telescope brings the opportunity to study oscillations systematically in large numbers of solar-like stars. In the framework of the asteroFLAG project, we have developed an automated pipeline to…
Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and Centaurs are remnants of our planetary system formation, and their physical properties have invaluable information for evolutionary theories. Stellar occultation is a ground-based method for studying these…
Technological advances in instrumentation have led to an exponential increase in exoplanet detection and scrutiny of stellar features such as spots and faculae. While the spots and faculae enable us to understand the stellar dynamics,…
In ultra-fast astronomical observations featuring fast transients on sub-$\mu$s time scales, the conventional Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) threshold, often fixed at $5\sigma$, becomes inadequate as observational window timescales shorten,…
Detecting if and when objects change is difficult in passive sub-diffraction imaging of dynamic scenes. We consider the best possible tradeoff between responsivity and accuracy for detecting a change from one arbitrary object model to…