Related papers: Three-dimensional extinction mapping and selection…
We present a new model for extinction in which species evolve in bursts or `avalanches', during which they become on average more susceptible to environmental stresses such as harsh climates and so are more easily rendered extinct. Results…
The forthcoming generation of galaxy redshift surveys will sample the large-scale structure of the Universe over unprecedented volumes with high-density tracers. This advancement will make robust measurements of three-point clustering…
The weak gravitational lensing distortion of distant galaxy images (defined as sources) probes the projected large-scale matter distribution in the Universe. To improve quality in the 3D mass mapping using 3D-lensing, we combine the lensing…
To measure the mass of foreground objects with weak gravitational lensing, one needs to estimate the redshift distribution of lensed background sources. This is commonly done in an empirical fashion, i.e. with a reference sample of galaxies…
Interstellar dust affects astronomical observations through absorption and reddening, yet this extinction is also a powerful tool for studying interstellar matter in galaxies. 3D reconstructions of dust extinction and density in the Milky…
Extinction is the elephant in the room that almost everyone tries to avoid when analyzing optical/IR data: astronomers tend to find a quick fix for it that the referee will accept, but that does not mean such a solution is correct or even…
The finite sensitivity of instruments or detection methods means that data sets in many areas of astronomy, for example cosmological or exoplanet surveys, are necessarily systematically incomplete. Such data sets, where the population being…
Estimates of interstellar extinction are essential in a broad range of astronomical research. In the last decades, several maps and models of the large scale interstellar extinction in the Galaxy have been published. However, these maps and…
Absorption of light is one of the main selection effects limiting our ability to detect celestial sources, and ultimately, appearance of the sky across most of the electromagnetic spectrum. Recent advances in quantity and quality of…
(abridged) The dust content of the universe is primarily explored via its interaction with stellar photons, producing interstellar extinction. However, owing to the physical extension of the observing beam, observations may detect scattered…
In an era when we are charting multiple planets per system, one might wonder the extent to which "missing" (or failing to detect) a planet can skew our interpretation of the system architecture. We address this question with a simple…
Statistical analyses of large surveys for transiting planets such as the Kepler mission must account for systematic errors and biases. Transit detection depends not only on the planet's radius and orbital period, but also on host star…
Mass extinction is a phenomenon in the history of life on Earth when a considerable number of species go extinct over a relatively short period of time. The magnitude of extinction varies between the events, the most well known are the…
We identify and study a previously unknown systematic effect on cosmic shear measurements, caused by the selection of galaxies used for shape measurement, in particular the rejection of close (blended) galaxy pairs. We use ray-tracing…
Observational biases distort our view of nature, such that the patterns we see within a surveyed population of interest are often unrepresentative of the truth we seek. Transiting planets currently represent the most informative data set on…
Light rays from a multiply imaged quasar usually sample different path lengths across the deflector. Extinction in the lensing galaxy may thus lead to a differential obscuration and reddening between the observed macro-lensed QSO images.…
We quantify the effects of Galactic extinction on the derived luminosity and diameter functions and on the density field of a redshift sample. Galaxy magnitudes are more affected by extinction than are diameters, although the effect on the…
One of the main problems of observational cosmology is to determine the range in which a reliable measurement of galaxy correlations is possible. This corresponds to determine the shape of the correlation function, its possible evolution…
Recently, different dispersion strategies in population models subject to geometric catastrophes have been considered as strategies to improve the chance of po\-pu\-lation's survival. Such dispersion strategies have been contrasted with the…
We present a non-parametric model for inferring the three-dimensional (3D) distribution of dust density in the Milky Way. Our approach uses the extinction measured towards stars at different locations in the Galaxy at approximately known…