Related papers: Untangling the White Dwarf Luminosity Functions
We derive the disk I-band luminosity function from the Zheng et al. sample of \~1400 disk M dwarfs observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. We adopt a Galactic-height-dependent color-magnitude relation to account for the metallicity…
Weak gravitational lensing of distant galaxies can probe the total projected mass distribution of foreground gravitational structures on all scales and has been used successfully to map the projected mass distribution of rich intermediate…
The selective light absorption in space has been raised in astronomical literature. The substance producing the absorption must have some mass; thus the question is how large it is. We develop a dynamical model of the Milky Way system,…
The redshift dependence of the luminosity density in certain wavebands (e.g. UV and H-alpha) can be used to infer the history of star formation in the populations of galaxies producing this luminosity. This history is a useful datum in…
We use star counts from 13 deep HST fields imaged with the {\it Wide Field Camera - 2} in order to constrain the amount of dark matter in the Galaxy that can be in the form of low-mass main sequence stars or white-dwarfs. Based on the…
White dwarf stars are the most common endpoint of stellar evolution. Therefore, these old, numerous and compact objects provide valuable information on the late stages of stellar evolution, the physics of dense plasma and the structure and…
More than half of the volume of our Universe is occupied by cosmic voids. The lensing magnification effect from those under-dense regions is generally thought to give a small dimming contribution: objects on the far side of a void are…
White dwarfs (WDs) can be used as laboratories to test strong gravity and high-density regimes, once their equation of state is not so uncertain as the one of neutron stars. This makes them also a useful tool to constrain dark-matter…
We develop a method for interpreting faint galaxy data which focuses on the integrated light radiated from the galaxy population as a whole. The emission history of the universe at ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared wavelengths is…
Assuming spherical symmetry and dynamical equilibrium within a given gravitational potential, a dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy's globally averaged stellar velocity dispersion depends entirely on the shape of its stellar density profile.…
We present a detailed analysis of the effect of an observationally determined dark matter (DM) velocity distribution function (VDF) of the Milky Way (MW) on DM direct detection rates. We go beyond local kinematic tracers and use rotation…
Given the importance of white dwarfs (WDs) in many fields of modern astrophysics, the precise knowledge of the actual degree of accuracy of the associated theoretical predictions is a primary task. In the first paper of a series dedicated…
The determination of the galaxy luminosity function is an active and fundamental field in observational cosmology. In this paper we propose a cost effective way of measuring galaxy luminosity functions at faint magnitudes. Our technique…
The discoveries of anomalous compact objects challenge our understanding of the standard theory of stellar structures and evolution. They serve as an excellent laboratory to search for new physics. Earlier studies on spherically symmetric…
The analysis of optical images of galaxy-galaxy strong gravitational lensing systems can provide important information about the distribution of dark matter at small scales. However, the modeling and statistical analysis of these images is…
Low-mass satellites around Milky Way (MW)-like galaxies are important probes of small scale structure and galaxy formation. However, confirmation of satellite candidates with distance measurements remains a key barrier to fast progress in…
Accurate measurement of galaxy structures is a prerequisite for quantitative investigation of galaxy properties or evolution. Yet, the impact of galaxy inclination and dust on commonly used metrics of galaxy structure is poorly quantified.…
We report Spitzer/IRAC photometry of WD J0959-0200, a white dwarf that displays excess infrared radiation from a disk, likely produced by a tidally disrupted planetesimal. We find that in 2010, the fluxes in both 3.6 $\mu$m and 4.5 $\mu$m…
Drawing from the Chandra archive and using a carefully selected set of nearby dwarf galaxies, we present a calibrated high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) luminosity function in the low-mass galaxy regime and search for an already hinted at…
We present a new method for determining Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) properties in future tonne scale direct detection experiments which accounts for uncertainties in the Milky Way (MW) smooth dark matter distribution. Using…