Related papers: The Main-Belt Comets: The Pan-STARRS1 Perspective
Context. Mars-crossing asteroids (MCs) are a dynamically unstable group between the main belt and the near-Earth populations. Characterising the physical properties of a large sample of MCs can help to understand the original sources of…
The Pan-Planets survey observed an area of 42 sq deg. in the galactic disk for about 165 hours. The main scientific goal of the project is the detection of transiting planets around M dwarfs. We establish an efficient procedure for…
We conducted a survey for infrared excess emission from 16 nearby main sequence shell stars using the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. Shell stars are early-type stars with narrow absorption…
The CoRoT satellite is collecting precise time-resolved photometry for tens of asteroseismology targets. To ensure a correct interpretation of the CoRoT data, the atmospheric parameters, chemical compositions, and rotational velocities of…
We present the first results of a volume-limited survey of main sequence (MS) magnetic chemically peculiar (mCP) stars. The sample consists of all identified intermediate-mass MS stars (mCP and non-mCP) within a heliocentric distance of…
We present the results of a search for potential transit signals in the first three quarters of photometry data acquired by the Kepler Mission. The targets of the search include 151,722 stars which were observed over the full interval and…
Motivated by observational searches for sub-parsec supermassive black hole binaries (SBHBs) we develop a modular analytic model to determine the likelihood for detection of SBHBs by ongoing spectroscopic surveys. The model combines the…
The discovery of interstellar comet 2I/Borisov offered the unique opportunity to obtain a detailed analysis of an object coming from another planetary system, and leaving behind material in our interplanetary space. We continuously observed…
In order to detect and characterise cold extended circumstellar dust originating from collisions of planetesimal bodies in disks, belts, or rings at Kuiper-Belt distances (30-50 AU or beyond) sensitive submillimetre observations are…
We combine ground- and space-based observations of long-period comet C/2021 O3 (Panstarrs) (perihelion distance 0.287 au) in order to investigate its reported near-perihelion destruction. Pre-perihelion photometric observations show a…
In June 2021 the discovery of an unusual comet C/2014 UN271 Bernardinelli-Bernstein has been announced. Its cometary activity beyond Uranus orbit also has refreshed interest in similar objects, including C/2017K2 PanSTARRS. Another…
We describe Castalia, a proposed mission to rendezvous with a Main Belt Comet (MBC), 133P/Elst-Pizarro. MBCs are a recently discovered population of apparently icy bodies within the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, which may…
We present a systematic search for periodically varying quasars and supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) candidates in the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) Medium Deep Survey's MD09 field. From a color-selected sample of 670 quasars extracted from a…
Flares and CMEs can have deleterious effects on their surroundings: they can erode atmospheres of orbiting planets over time and also have high importance in stellar evolution. Most of the CME detections in the literature are single events…
While having a comet-like appearance, P/2012 F5 (Gibbs) has an orbit native to the Main Asteroid Belt, and physically is a km-sized asteroid which recently (mid 2011) experienced an impulsive mass ejection event. Here we report new…
Splitting of the nuclei of comets into multiple components has been frequently observed but, to date, no main-belt asteroid has been observed to break-up. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, we find that main-belt asteroid P/2013 R3 consists…
In this paper, we present a detailed analysis of a potential asteroid candidate, ISP0010, using images provided by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope as part of our participation in the International Astronomical Search Collaboration campaign. IASC…
Debris disks are extrasolar analogs to our own Kuiper Belt and they are detected around at least 17% of nearby Sun-like stars. The morphology and dynamics of a disk encode information about its history, as well as that of any exoplanets…
As a recently recognized class of objects exhibiting apparently cometary (sublimation-driven) activity yet orbiting completely within the main asteroid belt, main-belt comets (MBCs) have revealed the existence of present-day ice in small…
Red (S > 10%/0.1 micron) spectral slopes are common among Centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) in the outer solar system. Interior to and co-orbital with Jupiter, the red (S approx. = 10%/0.1 micron) slopes of D-type main-belt and…