Related papers: Detection Technique for Artificially-Illuminated O…
A photon of wavelength lambda ~1 micron interacting with a dust grain of radius a_p ~ 1 mm (a "pebble") undergoes scattering in the forward direction, largely within a small characteristic diffraction angle theta_s ~ lambda/a_p ~ 100".…
The subtle influence of gravitational waves on the apparent positioning of celestial bodies offers novel observational windows. We calculate the expected astrometric signal induced by an isotropic Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background…
The practice of measuring galaxy distances from their spatial fluctuations in surface brightness is now a decade old. While several past articles have included some review material, this is the first intended as a comprehensive review of…
Context . Initially designed to detect and characterise exoplanets, extreme adaptive optics (AO) systems open a new window onto the Solar System by resolving its small bodies. Nonetheless, their study remains limited by the accuracy of the…
Light curve modulations in the sample of Kepler planet candidates allows the disentangling of the nature of the transiting object by photometrically measuring its mass. This is possible by detecting the effects of the gravitational pull of…
The population of artificial satellites and space debris orbiting the Earth imposes non-negligible constraints on both space operations and ground-based optical and radio astronomy. The ongoing deployment of several satellite…
Given the possible repetitive nature of fast radio bursts (FRBs), their cosmological origin, and their high occurrence, detection of strongly lensed sources due to intervening galaxy lenses is possible with forthcoming radio surveys. We…
The World Space Observatory is an unconventional space project proceeding via distributed studies. The present design, verified for feasibilty, consists of a 1.7-meter telescope operating at the second Largangian point of the Earth-Sun…
Motivated by the possibility that a coronagraph will be put on WFIRST/AFTA, we explore the direct detectability of extrasolar giant planets (EGPs) in the optical. We quantify a planet's detectability by the fraction of its orbit for which…
We present the results of a wide-field survey for distant Sedna-like bodies in the outer solar system using the 1.2-m Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory. We searched ~12,000 square degrees down to a mean limiting magnitude of…
(Abridged) The solar system gas giant planets are oblate due to their rapid rotation. A measurement of the planet's projected oblateness would constrain the planet's rotational period. Planets that are synchronously rotating with their…
It is expected that the European Space Agency mission Gaia will make possible to determine coordinates in the optical domain of more than 500000 quasars. In 2006, a radio astrometry project was launched with the overall goal to make…
We investigate what can be learned about a population of distant KBOs by studying the statistical properties of their light curves. Whereas others have successfully inferred the properties of individual, highly variable KBOs, we show that…
We are developing a stable and precise spectrograph for the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) named "iLocater." The instrument comprises three principal components: a cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph that operates in the YJ-bands…
Context: We use phase curves of small bodies to measure absolute magnitudes and, together with complementary theoretical and laboratory results, to understand their surfaces' micro and macroscopic properties. Although we can observe…
Solar System observations that serve as analogs for exoplanet remote sensing data can provide important opportunities to validate ideas and models related to exoplanet environments. Critically, and unlike true exoplanet observations, Solar…
The Astronomical Observatory of the University of Coimbra has a huge collection of solar images, acquired daily since 1926. From the beginning, only spectroheliograms in the CaiiK line has been recorded, and since 1989 in the H_alpha line…
A star's luminosity increases as it evolves along the Main Sequence (MS), which inevitably results in a higher surface temperature for planets in orbit around the star. Technologically advanced civilizations may tackle this issue by…
The observation data for artificial celestial body 43096, which had been obtained during 2006-2012 within the framework of international project "The Scientific Network of Optical Instruments for Astrometric and Photometric Observations" -…
We calculate the surface temperature and the resulting brightness of sub-relativistic objects moving through the Solar system due to collisional heating by gas and radiative heating by solar radiation. The thermal emission from objects of…