Related papers: Robust high-contrast companion detection from inte…

Context. Thanks to more than 20 years of monitoring, the radial velocity (RV) method has detected long-period companions (P > 10yr) around several dozens of stars. Yet, the true nature of these companions remains unclear because of the…

We have made {\it XMM-Newton\/} observations of 14 Galactic Cepheids that have candidate resolved ($\geq$5$\arcsec$) companion stars based on our earlier {\it HST\/} WFC3 imaging survey. Main-sequence stars that are young enough to be…

The study of the multiplicity of massive stars gives hints on their formation processes and their evolutionary paths, which are still not fully understood. Large separation binaries (>50 milliseconds of arc, mas) can be probed by…

(abridged) Context. Wide binaries are a potential pathway for the formation of hot Jupiters. The binary fraction among host stars is an important discriminator between competing formation theories, but has not been well characterised.…

We present the results of an adaptive optics survey for faint companions among Galactic O-type star systems (V < 8) using the Advanced Electro-Optical System (AEOS) 3.6-meter telescope on Haleakala. We surveyed these O star systems in…

We develop Bayesian statistical methods for discovering and assigning probabilities to non-random (e.g., physical) stellar companions. These companions are either presently bound or were previously bound. The probabilities depend on…

Spectral characterization of sub-stellar companions is essential to understand their composition and formation processes. However, the large contrast ratio of the brightness of each object to that of its parent star limits our ability to…

The direct detection of binary systems in wide-field surveys is limited by the size of the stars' point-spread-functions (PSFs). A search for elongated objects can find closer companions, but is limited by the precision to which the PSF…

We present the first results from an ongoing survey for multiplicity among the bright stars using the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer (NPOI). We first present a summary of NPOI observations of known multiple systems, including the…

We have conducted an imaging survey with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera~3 (WFC3) of 70 Galactic Cepheids, typically within 1~kpc, with the aim of finding resolved physical companions. The WFC3 field typically covers the 0.1 pc…

In the past decade, HCI surveys provided new insights about the frequency and properties of substellar companions at separation larger than 5 au. In this context, our study aims to detect and characterise potential exoplanets and brown…

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…

Cepheids in multiple systems provide information on the outcome of the formation of massive stars. They can also lead to exotic end-stage objects. This study concludes our survey of 70 galactic Cepheids using the {\it Hubble Space…

X-ray binaries provide exceptional laboratories for understanding the physics of matter under the most extreme conditions. Until recently, there were few, if any, observational constraints on the circumbinary environments of X-ray binaries…

The technique of simultaneous spectral differential imaging (SSDI) is used to image directly brown dwarfs and exoplanets around nearby stars. An analytical PSF model is first presented with numerical simulations to estimate the PSF noise…

With the development of extreme high contrast ground-based adaptive optics instruments and space missions aimed at detecting and characterizing Jupiter- and terrestrial-mass planets, it is critical that each target star be thoroughly vetted…

A near-infrared camera in use at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) and at the 1.6-m telescope of the Observatoire du Mont-Megantic is described. The camera is based on a Hawaii-1 1024x1024 HgCdTe array detector. Its main feature is…

We obtained high-resolution, high-contrast optical imaging in the SDSS $i'$ band with the LuckyCam camera mounted on the 2.56m Nordic Optical Telescope, to search for faint stellar companions to 16 stars harbouring transiting exoplanets.…

Long baseline interferometry is now able to resolve the pulsational change of the angular diameter of a significant number of Cepheids in the solar neighborhood. This allows the application of a new version of the Baade-Wesselink (BW)…

Massive stars like company. However, low-mass companions have remained extremely difficult to detect at angular separations ($\rho$) smaller than 1" (~1000-3000 au considering typical distance to nearby massive stars) given the large…