Related papers: The Connection Between Pulsation, Mass Loss and Ci…
Over the past decade, the Secret Lives of Cepheids (SLiC) program has been carried out at Villanova University to study aspects and behaviors of classical Cepheids that are still not well-understood. In this, the first of several planned…
The nature of type II Cepheids and anomalous Cepheids is still not well known and their evolutionary channels leave many unanswered questions. We use complete collection of classical pulsating stars in the Magellanic Clouds discovered by…
Recent space-borne and ground-based observations provide photometric measurements as time series. The effect of interstellar dust extinction in the near-infrared range is only 10% of that measured in the V band. However, the sensitivity of…
A systematic investigation of dust emission associated with the ionized gas has so far been performed only in our Galaxy and for wavelengths longer than 60 {\mu}m. Newly available Spitzer data now offer the opportunity to carry out a…
We perform a detailed analysis of Cepheids in NGC 4258, Magellanic Clouds and Milky Way in order to verify the reliability of the theoretical scenario based on a large set of nonlinear convective pulsation models. We derive Wesenheit…
The study of the gas in the envelopes surrounding asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars through observations in the millimetre wavelength range provides information about the history and nature of these molecular factories. Here we present…
With the aim of investigating the presence of molecular and dust clumps linked to two star forming regions identified in the expanding molecular envelope of the stellar wind bubble RCW78, we analyzed the distribution of the molecular gas…
Long-period variables (LPVs) and Miras are highly evolved stars at the upper region of the asymptotic giant branch. They exhibit a pronounced variability of their luminosity with a more or less well defined period and suffer large mass loss…
Observational evidence seems to indicate that the depletion of interstellar carbon into dust shows rather wide variations and that carbon undergoes rather rapid recycling in the interstellar medium (ISM). Small hydrocarbon grains are…
We revisit the problem of the positive correlation between age and Galactocentric distance seen in Galactic Classical Cepheids, which at first sight may seem counter-intuitive in the context of inside-out galaxy formation. To explain it, we…
Two problems about the faintest Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) Cepheids are addressed. On one hand evolutionary tracks fail to cross the Cepheid Instability Strip for the highest magnitudes (i.e. I-mag~17) where Cepheids are observed;…
To properly quantify possible residual systematic errors affecting the Classical Cepheid distance scale, a detailed theoretical scenario is recommended. By extending the set of nonlinear convective pulsation models published for $Z=0.02$…
We present the study of the metallicity dependence of the Fourier amplitude ratios R_21 and R_31 for the light curves of short-period Galactic classical Cepheids in B, V, R_C and I_C bands. Based on the available photometric and…
Mass-loss rates currently in use for hot, massive stars have recently been seriously questioned, mainly because of the effects of wind clumping. We investigate the impact of clumping on diagnostic ultraviolet resonance and optical…
Distances measured using Cepheid variable stars have been essential for establishing the cosmological distance scale and the value of the Hubble constant. These stars have remained the primary extragalactic distance indicator since 1929…
We investigate the connection between dust and gas in the nearby edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 891. High resolution Herschel PACS and SPIRE 70, 100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 $\mu$m images are combined with JCMT SCUBA 850 $\mu$m observations to…
Near-infrared color-excess and extinction ratios are essential for establishing the cosmic distance scale and probing the Galaxy, particularly when analyzing targets attenuated by significant dust. A robust determination of those ratios…
We review the use of Cepheids as distance indicators with particular emphasis on the methods which have been applied to HST observations of Cepheids. The calibration of the period-luminosity relations is examined in detail and we identify…
The characteristics of the inner Galaxy remain obscured by significant dust extinction, and hence infrared surveys are useful to find young Cepheids whose distances and ages can be accurately determined. A near-infrared photometric and…
Preliminary constraints are placed on a cluster of YSOs (J2000 02:54:31.4 +69:20:32.5) discovered in the field of the classical Cepheid SU Cas. WISE 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 um images reveal that the cluster deviates from spherical symmetry and…