Related papers: Spatial variation in the fine-structure constant -…
Echelle spectrographs currently provide some of the most precise and detailed spectra in astronomy, the interpretation of which sometimes depends on the wavelength calibration accuracy. In some applications, such as constraining…
The Cosmic Radio Dipole is of fundamental interest to cosmology. Recent studies revealed open questions about the nature of the observed Cosmic Radio Dipole. We use simulated source count maps to test a linear and a quadratic estimator for…
The optical properties of particulate-matter aerosols, within the context of exoplanet and brown dwarf atmospheres, are compared using three different models: Mie theory, Modified Mean Field (MMF) Theory, and Discrete Dipole Approximation…
We use the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy data from Planck to constrain the spatial fluctuations of the fine-structure constant \alpha. Through Thompson scattering of CMB photons, spatial anisotropies of \alpha lead to…
We report Very-Long-Baseline Array (VLBA) observations at 2.3, 8.4, and 15.4 GHz towards nine GHz-Peaked Spectrum (GPS) sources. One Seyfert 1 galaxy, one Seyfert 2 galaxy, three radio galaxies, and four quasars were included in our survey.…
We measure long (2200-4000 ang) and short (1450-2200 ang) wavelength spectral slopes \alpha (F_\nu proportional to \nu^\alpha) for quasar spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The long and short wavelength slopes are computed from 3646…
We have obtained follow-up observations of the quasar pair LBQS 0107-025A,B and new observations of the nearby quasar LBQS 0107-0232 with the Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph. Extended wavelength coverage of LBQS 0107-025A…
There have been recent reports of unexpectedly large velocity dipole in the NRAO VLA Sky Survey data. We investigate whether the excess in the NVSS dipole reported can be of cosmological origin. We assume a long wavelength inhomogeneous…
The average flux decrement shortward the Ly$_{\alpha}$ emission, due to the well-known ``forest'' of absorptions, has been measured in the spectra of 8 quasars. Quasi-simultaneous optical and IUE observations of the two low redshift quasars…
We consider a long range scalar force that mainly couples to dark matter and unstable Standard Model states, like the muon, with tiny strength. Probing this type of force would present a challenge to observations. We point out that the…
The extensive ground-based spectroscopy campaign from the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS), and the deep multi-wavelength photometry in three very well observed extragalactic fields (ECDFS, COSMOS, VVDS), allow us to investigate physical…
Motivated by the detection of a significant dipole structure in the arrival directions of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays above 8 EeV reported by the Pierre Auger Observatory (Auger), we search for a large-scale anisotropy using data collected…
We present an analysis of HI Lyman-alpha emission in deep VLT/MUSE observations of two highly magnified and extended galaxies at z=3.5 and 4.03, including a newly discovered, almost complete Einstein ring. While these Lyman-alpha haloes are…
Observations of the large-scale structure (LSS) implicitly assume an ideal FLRW observer with the ambient structure having no influence on the observer. However, due to correlations in the LSS, cosmological observables are dependent on the…
The strong intervening absorption system at redshift 1.15 towards the very bright quasar HE 0515$-$4414 is the most studied absorber for measuring possible cosmological variations in the fine-structure constant, $\alpha$. We observed HE…
It is considered that quasars evolve into normal galaxies by means of expansion of matter. The order of magnitude of the expansion velocity can be estimated. The Doppler shift caused by such expansion explains the supposed variation of the…
We start with a brief account of the latest analysis of the Oklo phenomenon providing the still most stringent constraint on time-variability of the fine- structure constant $\alpha$. Comparing this with the recent result from the…
In the present work the part of the quasar UV-optical bump within the wavelength range 1210-1450\AA\ was studied with the help of composite spectra compiled from the samples of SDSS DR7 spectra with the similar spectral index…
Modeling the mass distribution of galaxy-scale strong gravitational lenses is a task of increasing difficulty. The high-resolution and depth of imaging data now available render simple analytical forms ineffective at capturing lens…
In present paper we evaluate the fine structure constant variation, that should take place as the Universe expands and its curvature is changed adiabatically. Such variation of the fine structure constant is attributed to an energy losses…