Related papers: Measuring the Sizes, Shapes, Surface Features and …
Submillimeter interferometry has the potential to image supermassive black holes on event horizon scales, providing tests of the theory of general relativity and increasing our understanding of black hole accretion processes. The Event…
This paper examines options for orbit configurations for a space interferometer. In contrast to previously presented concepts for space very long baseline interferometry, we propose a combination of regular and retrograde near-Earth…
The equilibrium figure of dwarf planet Haumea is studied to determine if the observed shape is compatible with a differentiated hydrostatic body. Three groups of interior models of Haumea are assumed, all with a rocky core and a…
We investigate interferometric techniques to estimate the deflection angle of an optical beam and compare them to the direct detection of the beam deflection. We show that quantum metrology methods lead to a unifying treatment for both…
We present positions, proper motions, and near-infrared photometry for 966 known objects with spectral types later than M observed as part of the the UKIRT Hemisphere Survey (UHS). We augment the photometry and astrometry from UHS with…
We investigate the prospects for characterizing extrasolar giant planets by measuring planetary oblateness from transit photometry and inferring planetary rotational periods. The rotation rates of planets in the solar system vary widely,…
The thermal emission of transneptunian objects (TNO) and Centaurs has been observed at mid- and far-infrared wavelengths - with the biggest contributions coming from the Spitzer and Herschel space observatories-, and the brightest ones also…
Stars appear darker at their limbs than at their disk centers because at the limb we are viewing the higher and cooler layers of stellar photospheres. Limb darkening derived from state-of-the-art stellar atmosphere models systematically…
Context. Sunlight scattered from the surface of an airless body is generally partially polarized, and the corresponding polarization state includes information about the scattering surface, such as albedo, surface grain sizes, composition,…
Objects in the Kuiper belt are small and far away thus difficult to study in detail even with the best telescopes available at earth. For much of the early history of the Kuiper belt, studies of the compositions of these objects were…
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…
Halometry---mapping out the spectrum, location, and kinematics of nonluminous structures inside the Galactic halo---can be realized via variable weak gravitational lensing of the apparent motions of stars and other luminous background…
[abridged] Our knowledge of the inner structure of embedded massive young stellar objects is still quite limited. We attempt here to overcome the spatial resolution limitations of conventional thermal infrared imaging. We employed…
Intermediate-mass stars are often fast rotators, and hence are centrifugally flattened and affected by gravity darkening. To analyse this kind of stars properly, one must turn to 2D models to compute the visible radiative flux and to take…
Future missions like Roman, HabEx, and LUVOIR will directly image exoplanets in reflected light. While current near infrared direct imaging searches are only sensitive to young, self-luminous planets whose brightness is independent of their…
Optical interferometry provides us with a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of stellar structure and evolution. Through direct observation of rotationally distorted photospheres at sub-milliarcsecond scales, we are now able to…
The parabolic structure of the secondary or conjugate spectra of pulsars is often the result of isolated one-dimensional (or at least highly anisotropic) lenses in the ISM. The curvature of these features contains information about the…
A theory of position of massive bodies is proposed that results in an observable quantum behavior of geometry at the Planck scale, $t_P$. Departures from classical world lines in flat spacetime are described by Planckian noncommuting…
Stellar occultations are an ideal way to characterize the physical and orbital properties of trans-Neptunian binary systems. In this research note, we detail the prediction and observation of a stellar occultation observed with NASA's IRTF…
Distant objects in the solar system are crucial to better understand the history and evolution of its outskirts. The stellar occultation technique allows the determination of their sizes and shapes with kilometric accuracy, a detailed…