Related papers: Millions of Multiples: Detecting and Characterizin…
We developed two different point spread function (PSF) analysis techniques for discovering wide separation binary asteroids in wide field surveys. We then applied these techniques to images of main belt asteroids in the 4 to 60 km size…
Wide binaries play a crucial role in analyzing the birth environment of stars and the dynamical evolution of clusters. When wide binaries are located at greater distances, their companions may overlap in the observed images, becoming…
In addition to constructing a Galactic matter mass function free from the bias induced by the hydrogen-burning limit, gravitational microlensing allows one to construct a mass function which is less affected by the problem of unresolved…
Young, intermediate-mass stars are experiencing renewed interest as targets for direct-imaging planet searches. However, these types of stars are part of multiple systems more often than not. Close stellar companions affect the formation…
Microlensing is one of the most promising methods of reconstructing the stellar mass function down to masses even below the hydrogen-burning limit. The fundamental limit to this technique is the presence of unresolved binaries, which can in…
Binary stars can inflate the observed velocity dispersion of stars in dark matter dominated systems such as ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs). However, the population of binaries in UFDs is poorly constrained by observations, with preferred…
Using shape measurement techniques developed for weak lensing surveys we have identified three new ultracool binaries in the Pan-STARRS1 survey. Binary companions which are not completely resolved can still alter the shapes of stellar…
Binaries containing compact objects, if viewed close to edge on, can produce periodic brightening events under certain conditions on the masses, radii, and binary separation. Such flares are caused by one object gravitational lensing the…
Measuring a weak gravitational lensing signal to the level required by the next generation of space-based surveys demands exquisite reconstruction of the point-spread function (PSF). However, unresolved binary stars can significantly…
A technique is described for the detection and measurement of close binary systems whose images are unresolved. The method is based on analysis of the moment of inertia tensor of the image, from which the product of the binary flux ratio…
Binaries in the Kuiper Belt are common. Here we present our analysis of the Solar System Origins Legacy Survey (SSOLS) to show that using a PSF-fitting method can roughly double the number of binaries identified in that dataset. Out of 198…
We use a geometric method to derive (two-dimensional) separation functions amongst pairs of objects within populations of specified position function $\mathrm{d} N/\mathrm{d} \vec{R}$. We present analytic solutions for separation functions…
Binaries play key roles in determining stellar parameters and exploring stellar evolution models. We build a catalog of 88 eclipsing binaries with spectroscopic information, taking advantage of observations from both the Large Sky Area…
Moderately close binaries are a special class of targets for planet searches. From a theoretical standpoint, their hospitality to giant planets is uncertain and debated. From an observational standpoint, many of these systems present…
Over the past decade, the number of known wide binary systems has exponentially expanded thanks to the release of data from the Gaia Mission. Some of these wide binary systems are actually higher-order multiples, where one of the components…
We report the discovery of 14 low-mass binary systems containing mid-M to mid-L dwarf companions with separations larger than 250 AU. We also report the independent discovery of 9 other systems with similar characteristics that were…
Binaries are typically excluded from direct imaging exoplanet surveys. However, the recent findings of Kepler and radial velocity programs show that planets can and do form in binary systems. Here, we suggest that visual binaries offer…
The internal structure of dark matter halos on sub-galactic scales remains a key open question, particularly in the context of the core-cusp problem. Ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs), owing to their extreme dark matter dominance, provide a…
Many problems in contemporary astrophysics---from understanding the formation of black holes to untangling the chemical evolution of galaxies---rely on knowledge about binary stars. This, in turn, depends on discovery and characterization…
This thesis focuses on the statistical properties of wide binary (WB) star systems in the Galactic field. For the present study we select a homogeneous sample covering about 675 square degrees in the direction of the NGP. It contains nearly…