Related papers: High Precision Calibration Pairs for Southern Luck…
We outline the construction of an updated version of the New Luyten Two-Tenths (NLTT) catalog of high proper motion stars, which will contain improved astrometry and photometry for the vast majority of the ~59,000 stars in NLTT. The bright…
We present a new method for detecting and correcting systematic errors in the distances to stars when both proper motions and line-of-sight velocities are available. The method, which is applicable for samples of 200 or more stars that have…
Improved quantum sensing of photons from astronomical objects could provide high resolution observations in the optical benefiting numerous fields, including general relativity, dark matter studies, and cosmology. It has been recently…
I study the importance of the accurate calibration of photometric systems in order to produce meaningful comparisons between the observed colors + magnitudes and model SEDs. Possible sources of errors are discussed and two examples are…
The clustering of quasars on small scales yields fundamental constraints on models of quasar evolution and the buildup of supermassive black holes. This paper describes the first systematic survey to discover high redshift binary quasars.…
This white paper summarizes the conclusions of the Snowmass White Paper "Spectroscopic Needs for Imaging Dark Energy Experiments" (arXiv:1309.5384) which are relevant to the calibration of LSST photometric redshifts; i.e., the accurate…
Accurate visualization of double star astrometric data is essential for effective analysis and interpretation. This article presents a Python toolkit designed for astronomers who need to plot measurements from diverse sources -- historical,…
In many fields of robotics, knowing the relative position and orientation between two sensors is a mandatory precondition to operate with multiple sensing modalities. In this context, the pair LiDAR-RGB cameras offer complementary features:…
This manuscript provides a new framework for calibration of optical instruments, in particular mobile cameras, using large-scale circular black and white target fields. New methods were introduced for (i) matching targets between images;…
Stellar mass plays a central role in our understanding of star formation and aging. Stellar astronomy is largely based on two maps, both dependent on mass, either indirectly or directly: the Hertzprung-Russell Diagram (HRD) and the…
The photometry data base of the second phase of the OGLE microlensing experiment, OGLE-II, is a rich source of information about the kinematics and structure of the Galaxy. In this work we use the OGLE-II proper motion catalogue to identify…
A sample of 14 pre-main sequence visual binary systems in southern star-forming regions were imaged at 2 um with the Keck I telescope to search for tertiary companions, scattered-light disks, and compact nebulae at linear scales of 5-100…
We discuss techniques that allow for long coherence times in laser spectroscopy experiments with two trapped ions. We show that for this purpose not only entangled ions prepared in decoherence-free subspaces can be used but also a pair of…
We want to study whether the astrometric and photometric accuracies obtained for the Carte du Ciel plates digitized with a commercial digital camera are high enough for scientific exploitation of the plates. We use a digital camera Canon…
It is widely believed that adaptive optics only has a role in correcting turbulent wavefronts on large telescopes using very bright reference stars. Unfortunately these are very scarce and many astronomical targets require wavefront…
Large-scale surveys will provide spectroscopy for $\sim$50 million resolved stars in the Milky Way and Local Group. However, these data will have a high degree of heterogeneity and most will be low-resolution ($R<10000$), posing challenges…
It is pointed out that there are now known four very close pairs of QSOs with separations < 5 arcsec and very different redshifts. Several estimates of the probability that they are accidental configurations range between 10^{-7} and 3.5 x…
The most accurate stellar astrophysical parameters were collected from the solutions of the light and the radial velocity curves of 257 detached double-lined eclipsing binaries in the Milky Way. The catalogue contains masses, radii, surface…
We discuss the construction of a photometric redshift catalogue of Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), emphasizing the principal steps necessary for constructing such a catalogue -- (i) photometrically…
SkyMapper is amongst the first of a new generation of dedicated, wide-field survey telescopes. The 1.3m SkyMapper telescope features a 5.7 square degree field-of-view Cassegrain imager and will see first light in late 2007. The primary goal…