Related papers: Observing Compact Stars with AstroSat

For the first time in human history, technologies have matured sufficiently to enable a mission capable of discovering and characterizing habitable planets like Earth orbiting sunlike stars other than the Sun. At the same time, such a…

Astrometry as a technique has so far proved of limited utility when employed as either a follow-up tool or to independently search for planetary mass companions orbiting nearby stars. However, this is bound to change during the next decade.…

We report on recent progress in our theoretical understanding of X-ray binaries, which has largely been driven by new observations, and illustrate the interplay between theory and observations considering as examples intermediate-mass X-ray…

CubeSats and small satellites are emerging as low-cost tools for performing science and exploration in deep space. These new classes of satellite exploit the latest advancement in miniaturization of electronics, power systems, and…

The second Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS-2) CubeSat, which begins its flight in late 2018, builds on the success of MinXSS-1, which flew from 2016-05-16 to 2017-05-06. The science instrument is more advanced -- now capable of…

Gaps in space weather observations that can be addressed with small satellites are identified. Potential improvements in solar inputs to space weather models, space radiation control, estimations of energy budget of the upper Earth's…

Scope of this contribution is twofold. First, it describes the potential of the global astrometry mission Gaia for detecting and measuring planetary systems based on detailed double-blind mode simulations and on the most recent predictions…

This is a White Paper in support of the mission concept of the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT), proposed as a medium-sized ESA mission. We discuss the potential of LOFT for the study of high-mass X-ray binaries and ultra-luminous…

We present here a new robotic telescope called TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope). Equipped with a high-quality CCD camera mounted on a 0.6 meter light weight optical tube, TRAPPIST has been installed in April…

The Chandra X-ray Observatory has completed a remarkable twenty years in orbit. A large part of the science program of Chandra during this time has involved the study of stars and their planetary systems. This primer aims to give the reader…

The observational basis for asteroseismology is being dramatically strengthened, through more than two years of data from the CoRoT satellite, the flood of data coming from the Kepler mission and, in the slightly longer term, from dedicated…

Here, we summarize the ongoing activities of an international bilateral research project entitled "Belgo-Indian Network for Astronomy and astrophysics (BINA)" running jointly since 2014 by the astronomers of various Indian and Belgian…

The new astronomical technique of gravitational microlensing enables measurements of high precision to be made in certain circumstances. Useful advances have been made in the fields of galactic astronomy, stellar astronomy and planetary…

HST observations have contributed significantly to our knowledge on the behaviour of Isolated Neutron Stars (INSs) as optical emitters. First, HST has been instrumental both to discover new optical counterparts (PSR B1055-52, PSR B1929+10,…

High-mass X-ray binary systems are powered by the stellar wind of their donor stars. The X-ray state of Cygnus X-1 is correlated with the properties of the wind which defines the environment of mass accretion. Chandra-HETGS observations…

The most successful method used so far to search for extrasolar planets is the radial velocity technique, where periodical shifts on the measured emission from a star provide evidence for an orbiting planet. This method has been used on…

Moderately close binaries are a special class of targets for planet searches. From a theoretical standpoint, their hospitality to giant planets is uncertain and debated. From an observational standpoint, many of these systems present…

On March 27, 2019, India tested its first anti-satellite (ASAT) missile against its own "live" satellite, Microsat-R, launched on 24 January, 2019, as part of "Mission Shakti". The test parameters were chosen with extreme caution to…

The Star Watch extreme-precision astrometry mission (0.1 - 1.0 uas) builds on technology developed, and validated, during the SIM (Space Interferometry Mission) project. The sole science instrument is an optical interferometer with 50-cm…

Aims. Since launched on 2021 March 22, the 1U-sized CubeSat GRBAlpha operates and collects scientific data on high-energy transients, making it the smallest astrophysical space observatory to date. GRBAlpha is an in-obit demonstration of a…