Related papers: Kalkayotl: A cluster distance inference code
Large spectroscopic surveys aim to consistently compute stellar parameters of very diverse stars while minimizing systematic errors. We explore the use of stellar clusters as benchmarks to verify the precision of spectroscopic parameters in…
The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the accuracy of our knowledge of close stellar passage distances in the pre-GAIA era.We used the most precise astrometric and kinematic data available at the moment and prepared a list of 40 stars…
The present work aims to build a new statistical distance scale for planetary nebulae (PNe) based on a rigorous calibration sample. The distances of the calibration sample are derived from the trigonometric parallax method using the recent…
Stars form predominantly in groups usually denoted as clusters or associations. The observed stellar groups display a broad spectrum of masses, sizes and other properties, so it is often assumed that there is no underlying structure in this…
Context. The Gaia satellite will measure highly accurate absolute parallaxes of hundreds of millions of stars by comparing the parallactic displacements in the two fields of view of the optical instrument. The requirements on the stability…
We used the "primary dataset" of Gaia Data Release 1 (DR1) to search for parallax measurements of central stars (CSs) of Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe), to determine PN distances. We found that a trigonometric parallax is available for 16…
We report the distances of molecular clouds at high Galactic latitudes (|b|>10$^\circ$) derived from parallax and G band extinction (A$_{\rm G}$) measurements in the second Gaia data release, Gaia DR2. Aided by Bayesian analyses, we…
The systematic offset of Gaia parallaxes has been widely reported with Gaia's second data release, and it is expected to persist in future Gaia data. In order to use Gaia parallaxes to infer distances to high precision, we develop a…
The second data release of \it Gaia \rm revealed a parallax zero point offset of $-0.029$~mas based on quasars. The value depended on the position on the sky, and also likely on magnitude and colour. The offset and its dependence on other…
Gaia parallax measurements for stars with poor astrometric fits -- as evidenced by high renormalized unit weight error (RUWE) -- are often assumed to be unreliable, but the extent and nature of their biases remain poorly quantified. High…
Context: Unresolved binaries in star clusters can bias stellar and cluster mass estimates, making their proper treatment essential for studying cluster dynamics and evolution. Aims: We aim to develop a fast and robust framework for jointly…
Open clusters are convenient probes of the structure and history of the Galactic disk. They are also fundamental to stellar evolution studies. The second Gaia data release contains precise astrometry at the sub-milliarcsecond level and…
We present a Bayesian inference approach to estimating the cumulative mass profile and mean squared velocity profile of a globular cluster given the spatial and kinematic information of its stars. Mock globular clusters with a range of…
The present status of the distance scale to Galactic globular clusters is reviewed. Six distance determination techniques which are deemed to be most reliable are discussed in depth. These different techniques are used to calibrate the…
We discuss the impact that Gaia, a European Space Agency (ESA) cornerstone mission that has been in scientific operations since July 2014, is expected to have on the definition of the cosmic distance ladder and the study of resolved stellar…
Star clusters are interesting laboratories to study star formation, single and binary stellar evolution, and stellar dynamics. We have used the exquisite data from $Gaia$'s data release 3 (DR3) to study 21 relatively rich and nearby open…
In this paper we gauge the potentiality of Gaia in the distance scale calibration of planetary nebulae (PNe) by assessing the impact of DR1 parallaxes of central stars of Galactic PNe (CSPNe) against known physical relations. For selected…
We review the implications of the Gaia Data Release 2 catalogue for studying the dynamics of Milky Way globular clusters, focusing on two separate topics. The first one is the analysis of the full 6-dimensional phase-space distribution of…
We determine the color excesses, photometric distances, ages, astrometric parallaxes and proper motions for 94 open clusters in the northern part of the Milky Way. We estimate the color excesses and photometric distances based on the data…
A well constrained estimate of the distance remains one of the main factors to properly interpret the observations of accreting X-ray pulsars. Since these objects are typically well studied, multiple distance estimates obtained with…