Related papers: An updated maximum likelihood approach to open clu…

Several studies have been presented in the last few years applying some kind of automatic processing of data to estimate the fundamental parameters of open clusters. These parameters are later on employed in larger scale analyses, for…

In this article, we present a morphological study of the well-known extended sized open clusters in the sky, Melotte 22 (Pleiades) and Melotte 25 (Hyades) with J, H, and Ks regions due to Gaia DR2 and PPMXL catalogues. Based on proper…

Context. Open clusters are groups of coeval stars sharing properties such as distance and metallicity, and they are key to understanding stellar evolution. Aims. Our main goal is to study the evolution of open clusters with a special focus…

We present a new technique for estimating the distance to young open clusters. The method requires accurate measurement of the axial rotation period of late-type members of the cluster: rotation periods are first combined with projected…

CONTEXT. Gaia EDR3 has produced parallaxes for 1.468x10^9 sources but there are calibration issues that require corrections to the published values and uncertainties. AIMS. We want to characterize the behavior of the uncertainties of the…

We used the "primary dataset" of Gaia Data Release 1 (DR1) to search for parallax measurements of central stars (CSs) of Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe), to determine PN distances. We found that a trigonometric parallax is available for 16…

The second Gaia data release (GDR2) provides precise five-parameter astrometric data (positions, proper motions and parallaxes) for an unprecedented amount of sources (more than $1.3$ billion, mostly stars). The use of this wealth of…

We first review the current knowledge of Hipparcos systematic and random errors, in particular small-scale correlations. Then, assuming Gaussian parallax errors and using examples from the recent Hipparcos literature, we show how random…

In this study we follow up our recent paper (Monteiro et al. 2020) and present a homogeneous sample of fundamental parameters of open clusters in our Galaxy, entirely based on Gaia DR2 data. We used published membership probability of the…

Using parallaxes from Gaia DR2, we estimate the distance to the globular clusters 47 Tuc and NGC 362, taking advantage of the background stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud and quasars to account for various parallax systematics. We found…

We derive the distance and structure of the Perseus molecular cloud by combining trigonometric parallaxes from Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations, taken as part of the GOBELINS survey, and Gaia Data Release 2. Based on our VLBA…

Establishing the period--Wesenheit relation requires independent and accurate distance measurements of classical Cepheids (DCEPs). The precise distance provided by an associated open cluster independently calibrates the period--Wesenheit…

Hipparcos parallaxes have recently become available for a sample of Galactic Cepheids, and we have used these new distances to calibrate the Cepheid period-luminosity (PL) relation at six wavelengths (BVIJHK). Comparing these calibrations…

Observations of clusters suffer from issues such as completeness, projection effects, resolving individual stars and extinction. As such, how accurate are measurements and conclusions are likely to be? Here, we take cluster simulations…

We have combined Gaia astrometry with Gaia-ESO Survey radial velocities to measure the 3D rotation of the open cluster NGC 2516. We compiled a sample of 430 members with astrometry and spectroscopy and use these to determine a distance to…

The Gaia astrophysical parameters inference system (Apsis) provides astrophysical parameter estimates for several to 100s of millions of stars. We aim to benchmark Gaia DR3 Apsis. We have compiled about 1500 bona fide single stars in the…

Astrometric surveys such as Gaia and LSST will measure parallaxes for hundreds of millions of stars. Yet they will not measure a single distance. Rather, a distance must be estimated from a parallax. In this didactic article, I show that…

We combine extinction maps from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) with Hipparcos and Tycho parallaxes to obtain reliable and high-precision estimates of the distance to the Ophiuchus and Lupus dark complexes. Our analysis, based on a…

The LM method, designed to exploit the Hipparcos data to obtain luminosity calibrations, is applied to derive luminosity calibrations for RR Lyrae and classical Cepheids. From these calibrations the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud…

Estimating a distance by inverting a parallax is only valid in the absence of noise. As most stars in the Gaia catalogue will have non-negligible fractional parallax errors, we must treat distance estimation as a constrained inference…