Related papers: Variable stars, distance scale, globular clusters
We discuss in detail the pulsation properties of variable stars in globular clusters (GCs) and in Local Group (LG) dwarf galaxies. Data available in the literature strongly support the evidence that we still lack a complete census of…
We developed software for detection of variable stars using CCD photometry. It works with "varfind data" that could be exported after processing CCD frames using C-Munipack. Our goals were maximum automation and support of large fields of…
Small number statistics may heavily affect the structure of the broadening function in integrated spectra of galactic globular cluster centers. As a consequence, it is a priori unknown how closely line broadening measure- ments gauge the…
New CCD photometry of NGC 6366 has lead to the discovery of some variable stars. Two possible Anomalous Cepheids (or Pop II Cepheids), three long period variables, one SX Phe and one eclipsing binary have been found. Also a list of 10…
Pulsating variable stars can be powerful tools to study the structure, formation and evolution of galaxies. I discuss the role that the Magellanic Clouds' pulsating variables play in our understanding of the whole Magellanic System, in…
A dynamical characterization of dark matter dominated dwarf galaxies from their observed effects on galactic disks (i.e. Galactoseismology) has remained an elusive goal. Here, we present preliminary results from spectroscopic observations…
Velocity dispersions have been employed as a method to measure masses of clusters. To complement this conventional method, we explore the possibility of constraining cluster masses from the stacked phase space distribution of galaxies at…
Thermal radiation in particulate media has been extensively modeled by solving the radiative transport equation with effective radiative properties or with statistical ray tracing techniques. While effective for static particles, this…
I concisely review the history, applications, and recent developments pertaining to radial velocity (RV) observations of classical pulsating stars. The focus lies on type-I (classical) Cepheids, although the historical overview and most…
Models of modified gravity offer promising alternatives to the concordance $\Lambda$CDM cosmology to explain the late-time acceleration of the universe. A popular such model is $f(R)$ gravity, in which the Ricci scalar in the…
High spectral resolution and long exposure times are providing unprecedented levels of data quality of massive stars at X-ray wavelengths. A key diagnostic of the X-ray emitting plasma are the fir lines for He-like triplets. In particular,…
We review the current status of classical Cepheid and RR Lyrae distance scales. We discuss the most recent theoretical and empirical findings together with pros and cons of different methods. The use of Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars as…
We present a measurement of average histograms of line-of-sight velocities over pairs of galaxies and galaxy clusters. Since the histogram can be measured at different galaxy-cluster separations, this observable is commonly referred to as…
The Kepler spacecraft is providing photometric time series with micro-magnitude precision for thousands of variable stars. The continuous time-series of unprecedented time span open up opportunities to study the pulsational variability in…
A seven-parameter distribution function (DF) is fitted to $20\,000$ RR-Lyrae stars for which only astrometric data are available. The observational data are predicted by the DF in conjunction with the gravitational potential of a…
The stellar evolution theory of massive stars remains uncalibrated with high-precision photometric observational data mainly due to a small number of luminous stars that are monitored from space. Automated all-sky surveys have revealed…
In this paper a homomorphic filtering scheme is proposed to improve the estimation of the planet/star radius ratio in astronomical transit signals. The idea is to reduce the effect of the short-term earth atmosphere variations. A two-step…
Developments of this far-reaching research field are summarized from an observational point of view, mentioning important and interesting phenomena discovered recently by photometry of stellar oscillations of any kind. A special emphasis is…
The determination of pulsation velocities from observed spectra of Cepheids is needed for the Baade-Wesselink calibration of these primary distance markers. The applicability of the Fourier-disentangling technique for the determination of…
Galaxy clusters are important targets for peculiar velocity studies as a direct comparison of the various distance indicators can be made. The potential problem of an environmental effect biasing the distances to clusters of different…