Related papers: Exploiting the open clusters in the Kepler and CoR…
Ground-based observations are a strong tool for asteroseismic studies and even in the era of asteroseismic space missions they continue to play an important role. I will report on the activities of the CoRoT/SWG Ground-Based Observations…
The timing method, using either stellar pulsations or eclipse timing of close binaries as a clock, is proving to be an efficient way to detect planets around stars that have evolved beyond the red giant branch. In this article we present a…
Asteroseismology of stars in clusters has been a long-sought goal because the assumption of a common age, distance and initial chemical composition allows strong tests of the theory of stellar evolution. We report results from the first 34…
In this contribution I will discuss fundamental stellar parameters as determined from young star clusters; specifically those with ages less than or approximately equal to that of the Pleiades. I will focus primarily on the use of stellar…
The Kepler mission has provided a treasure trove of eclipsing binaries (EBs), observed at extremely high photometric precision, nearly continuously for several years. We are carrying out a survey of ~100 of these EBs to derive dynamical…
Asteroseismology, the study of stellar oscillations, provides high-precision measurements of masses and ages for red giants. Scaling relations are a powerful tool for measuring fundamental stellar parameters, and the derived radii are in…
We present the first results of the application of supervised classification methods to the Kepler Q1 long-cadence light curves of a subsample of 2288 stars measured in the asteroseismology program of the mission. The methods, originally…
We use both the conventional and more recently developed methods of cluster analysis to study the data of extra-solar planets. Using the data set with planetary mass M, orbital period P, and orbital eccentricity e, we investigate the…
We aim to characterize the current status of knowledge on the accuracy of open-cluster parameters such as the age, reddening and distance. These astrophysical quantities are often used to study the global characteristics of the Milky Way…
The Kepler space telescope has proven to be a gold mine for the study of variable stars. Unfortunately, Kepler only returns a handful of pixels surrounding each star on the target list, which omits a large number of stars in the Kepler…
The evolution of star clusters is studied using N-body simulations in which the evolution of single stars and binaries are taken self-consistently into account. Initial conditions are chosen to represent relatively young Galactic open…
Given the importance of clusters to the fields of cosmology and galaxy evolution, it is critical to understand how the cluster detection process affects (biases) ones scientific conclusions derived from a given cluster sample. I review the…
Detached eclipsing binaries are very useful objects for calibrating theoretical stellar models and checking their predictions. Detached eclipsing binaries in open clusters are particularly important because of the additional constraints on…
Open clusters are the only example of single-age, single initial chemical composition populations in the Galaxy, and they play an important role in the study of the formation and evolution of the Galactic disk. In addition, they have been…
In the context of the space-based mission CoRoT, devoted to asteroseismology and search for planet transits, we analyse the accuracy of fundamental stellar parameters (mass, radius, luminosity) that can be obtained from asteroseismological…
In March 2009, NASA will launch the Kepler satellite -- a mission designed to discover habitable Earth-like planets around distant Sun-like stars. The method that Kepler will use to detect distant worlds will only reveal the size of the…
Context. Discovery of new variability classes in large surveys using multivariate statistics techniques such as clustering, relies heavily on the correct understanding of the distribution of known classes as point processes in parameter…
Massive stars exhibit a perplexing mismatch between their inferred masses from different observational techniques, posing a significant challenge to our understanding of stellar evolution and structure. This discrepancy is believed to be…
Traditional studies of stellar clusters in external galaxies use surface photometry and therefore focus on systems that are still bright and compact enough to be separated from the stellar background. Consequently, the latter stages of…
Binary systems anchor many of the fundamental relations relied upon in asteroseismology. Masses and radii are rarely constrained better than when measured via orbital dynamics and eclipse depths. Pulsating binaries have much to offer. They…