Related papers: Weighing the Sun with five photographs
ASTROD (Astrodynamical Space Test of Relativity using Optical Devices) mission concept is to conduct high-precision measurement of relativistic effects,solar-system parameters and gravitational waves. In this paper, we first extend the…
The mutual orbital alignment in multiple planetary systems is an important parameter for understanding their formation. There are a number of elaborate techniques to determine the alignment parameters using photometric or spectroscopic…
In this work, a liquid model of the Sun is presented wherein the entire solar mass is viewed as a high density/high energy plasma. This model challenges our current understanding of the densities associated with the internal layers of the…
Interest among astronomers in the detection of extra-solar planets is accelerating with the growing realization that it may soon be technically feasible. The ongoing renaissance in telescope construction and the anticipated launches of new…
The field of exoplanetary science has experienced a recent surge of new systems that is largely due to the precision photometry provided by the Kepler mission. The latest discoveries have included compact planetary systems in which the…
We define and analyze the photometric orbit (PhO) of an extrasolar planet observed in reflected light. In our definition, the PhO is a Keplerian entity with six parameters: semimajor axis, eccentricity, mean anomaly at some particular time,…
The Solar System includes two planets --- Mercury and Mars --- significantly less massive than Earth, and all evidence indicates that planets of similar size orbit many stars. In fact, one of the first exoplanets to be discovered is a…
Owing to the remarkable photometric precision of space observatories like Kepler, stellar and planetary systems beyond our own are now being characterized en masse for the first time. These characterizations are pivotal for endeavors such…
The anomalous chemical abundances and the structure of the Edgewood-Kuiper belt observed in the solar system constrain the initial mass and radius of the star cluster in which the sun was born to $M\simeq500$ to 3000 \msun and $R\simeq 1$…
Two methods are used to observationally determine the solar radius: One is the observation of the intensity profile at the limb, the other one uses f-mode frequencies to derive a 'seismic' solar radius which is then corrected to optical…
Precise starlight positions near the sun were measured during the 21 August 2017 total solar eclipse in order to measure their gravitational deflections. The equipment, procedures, and analysis are described in detail. A portable refractor,…
In order to avoid collisions with space debris, the near Earth orbit must be continuously scanned by either ground- or spaced-based facilities. For the low Earth orbit, radar telescopes are the workhorse for this task, especially due to…
In this manuscript we show that the geometrical localization mechanism implies a four dimensional mass for the photon. The consistence of the model provides a mass given exactly by $m_{\gamma}=\sqrt{R}/4$ where $R$ is the Ricci scalar. As a…
We present a calculation of the Sun's motion through the Milky Way Galaxy over the last 500 million years. The integration is based upon estimates of the Sun's current position and speed from measurements with Hipparcos and upon a realistic…
We study image formation with the solar gravitational lens (SGL). We consider a point source that is positioned at a large but finite distance from the Sun. We assume that an optical telescope is positioned in the image plane, in the focal…
We measure the mass and radius of the star and planet in the TrES-2 system using 2.7 years of observations by the Kepler spacecraft. The light curve shows evidence for ellipsoidal variations and Doppler beaming on a period consistent with…
High-precision astrometry on sub-micro-arcsecond level in angular resolution requires accurate determination of the trajectory of a light-signal from the celestial light source through the gravitational field of the Solar system toward the…
A body in Solar orbit beyond the Kuiper belt exhibits an annual parallax that exceeds its apparent proper motion by up to many orders of magnitude. Apparent motion of this body along the parallactic ellipse will deflect the angular position…
Determining whether Earth-like planets are common or rare looms as a touchstone in the question of life in the universe. We searched for Earth-size planets that cross in front of their host stars by examining the brightness measurements of…
We derive closed formulas for the mass and spin parameters of a Kerr black hole in terms of a minimal quantity of observational data: the red-/blue-shifts of photons emitted by massive particles (stars) moving on geodesics around the black…