Related papers: An eclipsing binary distance to the Large Magellan…
Mira variables in globular clusters can provide an accurate and precise absolute calibration of their period-luminosity relations (PLRs) to independently anchor the cosmic distance scale and determine the Hubble constant. We present…
The advent of large scale multi-epoch surveys raises the need for automated light curve (LC) processing. This is particularly true for eclipsing binaries (EBs), which form one of the most populated types of variable objects. The Gaia…
We present a detailed investigation of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) disk using classical Cepheids. Our analysis is based on optical (I,V; OGLE-IV), near-infrared (NIR: J,H,Ks) and mid-infrared (MIR: w1; WISE) mean magnitudes. By…
One of the main objectives of the Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey (CLASS) collaboration has been to find gravitational lens (GL) systems at radio wavelengths that are suitable for the determination of time delays between image pairs. The survey…
The present status of the distance scale to Galactic globular clusters is reviewed. Six distance determination techniques which are deemed to be most reliable are discussed in depth. These different techniques are used to calibrate the…
Measured time delays between the images of a gravitationally lensed source can lead to a determination of the Hubble constant ($H_o$), but only if the lensing mass distribution is well understood. The inability to sufficiently constrain…
Open clusters, which have age, abundance, and extinction information from studies of main-sequence turn off stars, are the ideal location in which to determine the mass-luminosity-radius relation for low-mass stars. We have undertaken a…
We investigate the possibility of determining whether microlensing objects towards the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) are in a Galactic thick disc, or are in a Galactic halo, by using parallax measurements with an Earth-radius scale baseline.…
The main aim of the present paper is the very first analysis of the binary-orbit precession out of our Galaxy. The light curves of an eclipsing binary MACHO 82.8043.171 in the Large Magellanic cloud (LMC) were studied in order to analyse…
We present a simultaneous analysis of 18 galaxy lenses with time delay measurements. For each lens we derive mass maps using pixelated simultaneous modeling with shared Hubble constant. We estimate the Hubble constant to be 66_{-4}^{+6}…
The potential of gravitational lenses for providing direct, physical measurements of the Hubble constant, free from systematic errors associated with the traditional distance ladder, has long been recognized. However, it is only recently…
Eclipsing binary star systems provide the most accurate method of measuring both the masses and radii of stars. Moreover, they enable testing tidal synchronization and circularization theories, as well as constraining models of stellar…
The most recent Hubble constant ($H_0)$ estimates from local methods (z << 1), $H_0=73.8\pm 2.4$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, and the one from high redshifts $H_0=67.3\pm 1.2$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, are discrepant at $2.4 \sigma$ confidence…
With the prevalence of wide-field, time-domain photometric sky surveys, the number of eclipsing white dwarf systems being discovered is increasing dramatically. An efficient method to follow these up will be key to determining any…
We determine the distances to 18 galaxy clusters with redshifts ranging from z~0.14 to z~0.78 from a maximum likelihood joint analysis of 30 GHz interferometric Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) and X-ray observations. We model the…
The first 100 brightest eclipsing systems from the Small Magellanic Cloud were studied for their period changes. The photometric data from the surveys OGLE-II, OGLE-III, OGLE-IV and MACHO were combined with our new CCD observations obtained…
Accurate distances are fundamental to interpreting many measured properties of galaxies. Surprisingly, many of the best-studied spiral galaxies in the Local Volume have distance uncertainties that are much larger than can be achieved with…
We present proper motions for the Large & Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC & SMC) based on three epochs of \textit{Hubble Space Telescope} data, spanning a $\sim 7$ yr baseline, and centered on fields with background QSOs. The first two epochs,…
The Hubble Frontier Fields data, along with multiple data sets obtained by other telescopes, have provided some of the most extensive constraints on cluster lenses to date. Multiple lens modeling teams analyzed the fields and made public a…
In this work, we constrain the Hubble constant parameter, $H_0$, using a combination of the Pantheon sample and galaxy clusters (GC) measurements from minimal cosmological assumptions. Assuming the validity of the cosmic distance duality…