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We show that surface waves along interstellar current sheets closely aligned with the line of sight lead to pulsar scintillation properties consistent with those observed. This mechanism naturally produces the length and density scales of…
Self-lensing (SL) represents a powerful technique for detecting compact objects in binary systems through gravitational microlensing effects, when a compact companion transits in front of its luminous partner. We present the first…
In this work, we render in real-time glittery materials caused by discrete flakes on the surface. To achieve this, one has to count the number of flakes reflecting the light towards the camera within every texel covered by a given pixel…
We show that chirping gravitational waves in the LIGO frequency band $f=1 - 5000$ Hz can be gravitationally diffracted by the Sun, due to the coincidence of its Fresnel length $r_F \propto \sqrt{1\, {\rm AU}/f}$ and the solar radius…
Dark matter in the Universe consisting of macroscopic objects such as primordial black holes may cause gravitational lensing of distant objects. The magnification associated with lensing will lead to additional scatter in the received flux…
It is expected that the next generation of high-contrast imaging instruments will deliver the first unresolved image of an extrasolar planet. The emitted thermal infrared light from the planet should show no phase effect assuming the planet…
Large light deflection angles are produced in the strong gravitational field regions around neutron stars and black holes. In the case of binary systems, part of the photons emitted from the companion star towards the collapsed object are…
Although many methods of detecting extra-solar planets have been proposed and successful implementation of some of these methods enabled a rapidly increasing number of exoplanet detections, little has been discussed about the method of…
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence by looking for signals from advanced technological civilizations has been ongoing for some decades. We suggest that it could possibly be made more efficient by focusing on stars from which the…
Exoplanet imaging using the solar gravitational lens is an enticing prospect. The fundamental physical properties of the lens, including its angular resolution and light amplification, promise exceptional capabilities. These expectations,…
Program SHELLSPEC is designed to calculate light-curves, spectra and images of interacting binaries and extrasolar planets immersed in a moving circumstellar environment which is optically thin. It solves simple radiative transfer along the…
For many pulsars, the scattering structures responsible for scintillation are typically dominated by a single, thin screen along the line of sight, which persists for years or decades. In recent years, an increasing number of doubly-lensed…
Among various techniques to search for extra-solar planets, microlensing has some unique characteristics. Contrary to all other methods which favour nearby objects, microlensing is sensitive to planets around stars at distances of several…
Gravitational microlensing is one of the methods to detect exoplanets; planets outside our solar system. Here we focus on theoretical modeling of three lens systems and in particular circumbinary systems. Circumbinary systems include two…
Stellar occultations have been used to search for Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud objects. We propose a search for interstellar objects based on the characteristic durations ($\sim 0.1 \mathrm{s}$) of their stellar occultation signals and high…
Pulsar scintillation can be used to measure small scale structure in the Galaxy, but little is known about the specific interstellar medium features that cause scintillation. We searched for interstellar medium counterparts to all…
Reflections from objects in Earth orbit can produce sub-second, star-like optical flashes similar to astrophysical transients. Reflections have historically caused false alarms for transient surveys, but the population has not been…
The double diffraction of white light can produce a thin-prism-like image in certain conditions by using ordinary diffraction gratings. The diffractive deviation of rays happens mainly in one direction because the diffracting elements are…
We propose convergent plasma lenses, possibly from current sheets, as a generic solution to strong interstellar scattering. These lenses resolve the overpressure problem by geometric alignment as noted by Goldreich and Shridhar (2006). They…
We use seven year's worth of observations from the Catalina Sky Survey and the Siding Spring Survey covering most of the northern and southern hemisphere at galactic latitudes higher than 20 degrees to search for serendipitously imaged…