Related papers: End-cretaceous cooling and mass extinction driven …
The distance dependence of interstellar extinction in the direction of the Aquila Rift is investigated using 473 stars observed in the Vilnius photometric system. Front edge of the dark clouds in the area is found to be at 225$\pm$55 pc and…
(abridged) Infrared excesses associated with debris disk host stars detected so far peak at wavelengths around ~100{\mu}m or shorter. However, six out of 31 excess sources in the Herschel OTKP DUNES have been seen to show significant - and…
Impacts by rocky and icy bodies are thought to have played a key role in shaping the composition of solar system objects, including the Earth's habitability. Hence, it is likely that they play a similar role in exoplanetary systems. We…
With XMM-Newton and the Spitzer Space Telescope, we obtain upper bounds to the X-ray fluxes from G29-38 and GD 362, and the 70 micron flux from G29-38. These data provide indirect evidence that G29-38 is accreting from a tidally-disrupted…
(abridged) We develop the mid-infrared extinction (MIREX) mapping technique of Butler & Tan (2009, Paper I), presenting a new method to correct for the Galactic foreground emission based on observed saturation in independent cores. Using…
We examine the uncertainties in current planetary models and we quantify their impact on the planet cooling histories and mass-radius relationships. These uncertainties include (i) the differences between the various equations of state used…
We present results from the combination of two Chandra pointings of the central region of the cluster of galaxies A3667. From the data analysis of the first pointing Vikhlinin et al. reported the discovery of a prominent cold front which is…
Rapid cooling of planetesimal cores has been inferred for several iron meteorite parent bodies based on metallographic cooling rates, and linked to the loss of their insulating mantles during impacts. However, the timing of these disruptive…
Globally disruptive events include asteroid/comet impacts, large igneous provinces and glaciations, all of which have been considered as contributors to mass extinctions. Understanding the overall relationship between the timings of the…
The hypothesis of a companion object (Nemesis) orbiting the Sun was motivated by the claim of a terrestrial extinction periodicity, thought to be mediated by comet showers. The orbit of a distant companion to the Sun is expected to be…
We determine the mid-infrared (MIR, $\sim$5~\mu m--22~\mu m) extinction towards the Galactic center using MIRI/MRS integral field unit (IFU) observations of the central $3''\times3''$ region (near 5~\mu m) to $7''\times7''$ region (near…
We present the results based on multiwavelength imaging observations of the prominent dust lane starburst galaxy NGC 1482 aimed to investigate the extinction properties of dust existing in the extreme environment. (B-V) colour-index map…
In our solar system, Mars-sized protoplanets frequently collided with each other during the last stage of terrestrial planet formation called the giant impact stage. Giant impacts eject a large amount of material from the colliding…
There remain many open questions relating to the depletion of elements into dust, e.g., exactly how are C and O incorporated into dust in dense clouds and, in particular, what drives the disappearance of oxygen in the denser interstellar…
(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…
Neutralino dark matter leads to the formation of numerous earth mass dark matter haloes at redshifts z\approx 60 (Diemand et al. 2005). These abundant CDM micro-haloes have cuspy density profiles that can easily withstand the Galactic tidal…
We report results of a near--infrared imaging survey of L977, a dark cloud in Cygnus seen in projection against the plane of the Milky Way. We use measurements of the near--infrared color excess and positions of the 1628 brightest stars in…
Tidal disruption and subsequent accretion of planetesimals by white dwarfs can reveal the elemental abundances of rocky bodies in exoplanetary systems. Those abundances provide information on the composition of the nebula from which the…
I summarize the results of 15 years of research on the surface abundances of stars in globular clusters. Globular-cluster stars afford a unique view of the physical processes that shape the surface abundances of stars on and beyond the…
Although statistical evidence is not overwhelming, possible support for an approximately 35 million year periodicity in the crater record on Earth could indicate a nonrandom underlying enhancement of meteorite impacts at regular intervals.…