Related papers: A method to determine distances to molecular cloud…
Hipparcos parallax measurements of stars in the Pleiades notoriously result in a cluster distance of 118 pc; ~10% shorter than the `classical' results of MS-fitting. In an earlier paper we developed a purely empirical MS-fitting method to…
With current near-infrared (NIR) instruments the near-infrared light scattered from interstellar clouds can be mapped over large areas. The surface brightness carries information on the line-of-sight dust column density. Therefore,…
We present the analysis of three colour optical/near-infrared images, in IJK, taken for the DENIS project. The region considered covers 17.4 square deg and lies within |l|<5 deg, |b|<1.5 deg. The adopted methods for deriving photometry and…
The objective of this paper is to construct a catalog providing the dust properties and the star formation efficiency (SFE) of the molecular clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We use the infrared (IR) data obtained with the Spitzer…
Classical Cepheids are well-known and widely used distance indicators. As distance and extinction are usually degenerate, it is important to develop suitable methods to robustly anchor the distance scale. Here, we introduce a near-infrared…
Using the PMO-13.7 m millimeter telescope at Delingha in China, we have conducted a large-scale simultaneous survey of $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O $J=1-0$ emission toward the sky region centered at $l$=$209.7^\circ$,…
We use the Expanding Photosphere Method to determine distances to 10 type II supernovae. The effects of asymmetries, extinction, and flux dilution are explored. Using empirical evidence and time-independent, spherical models which treat H…
Knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of Galactic molecular clouds is important for understanding how clouds are affected by processes such as turbulence and magnetic fields and how this structure effects star formation within them.…
[Abridged] Though the exact role of infrared dark clouds in the formation process is still somewhat unclear, they seem to provide useful laboratories to study the very early stages of clustered star formation. Infrared dark clouds have been…
The distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) can be directly determined by measuring three of its properties, its radial-velocity field, its mean proper motion, and the position angle \phi_ph of its photometric line of nodes.…
As demonstrated with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), Pan-STARRS, and most recently with Gaia data, broadband near-UV to near-IR stellar photometry can be used to estimate distance, metallicity, and interstellar dust extinction along…
Accurate determinations of atmospheric parameters (effective temperature $T_{\rm eff}$, surface gravity log $g$ and metallicity [Fe/H]) and distances for large complete samples are of vital importance for various Galactic studies. We have…
We present results of an extensive mapping survey of N2H+(1-0) in about 60 low mass cloud cores already mapped in the NH3(1,1) inversion transition line. The survey has been carried out at the FCRAO antenna with an angular resolution about…
The I-band brightness of clump stars has been used recently to determine the distance to the bulge, the LMC and SMC, and to M31. It was assumed to be a standard candle based on the observational fact that it is independent of (V-I)-colour…
Our work presents an independent calibration of the J-region Asymptotic Giant Branch (JAGB) method using Infrared Survey Facility (IRSF) photometric data and a custom luminosity function profile to determine JAGB mean magnitudes for nine…
Photoelectric magnitudes and color indices in the Vilnius seven-color system for 152 stars are used to investigate the interstellar extinction in the area of the Aries molecular cloud MBM 12, coinciding with the L1454 and L1457 dust clouds.…
We present measurements of interstellar H_2 absorption lines in the continuum spectra of seven early-type stars in the Galactic disk at distances between 1 and 4 kpc. Five of these stars provide lines of sight through the Sagittarius spiral…
We present infra-red (JHK) photometry of 52 isolated Be stars of spectral types O9--B9 and luminosity classes III--V. We describe a new method of reduction, enabling separation of interstellar reddening and circumstellar excess. Using this…
We present a new system of narrow band filters in the near infrared that can be used to classify stars and brown dwarfs. This set of four filters, spanning the H band, can be used to identify molecular features unique to brown dwarfs, such…
We present a large-scale combination of near-infrared (near-IR) interstellar polarization data from background starlight with polarized emission data at submillimeter (sub-mm) wavelengths for the Vela C molecular cloud. The near-IR data…