Related papers: Multiplicity of Galactic Luminous Blue Variable st…
With the aim of investigating the binary population of the 700 Myr old Praesepe cluster, we have observed 149 G and K-type cluster members using adaptive optics. We detected 26 binary systems with an angular separation ranging from less…
We present a high-contrast imaging survey of intermediate-mass (1.75--4.5 $M_\odot$) stars to search for the most extreme stellar binaries, i.e., for the lowest mass stellar companions. Using adaptive optics at the Lick and Gemini…
Surveys in the Milky Way and Large Magellanic Cloud revealed that the majority of massive stars will interact with companions during their lives. However, knowledge of the binary properties of massive stars at low metallicity, which…
We used the OGLE-II and OGLE-III photometry of red giants in the Large Magellanic Cloud to select and study objects revealing ellipsoidal variability. We detected 1546 candidates for long period ellipsoidal variables and 121 eclipsing…
We present the first search for binary companions of Massive Young Stellar Objects (MYSOs) using AO-assisted $K$ band observations, with NaCo at the VLT. We have surveyed 32 MYSOs from the RMS catalogue, probing the widest companions, with…
(Abridged) Low-luminosity, active star-forming blue compact galaxies (BCGs) are excellent laboratories for investigating the process of star formation on galactic scales and probing the interplay between massive stars and the surrounding…
We present the first systematic spectropolarimetric study of Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds, in order to investigate the geometries of their winds. We find that at least half of our sample show…
Wide binaries with hot subdwarf-B (sdB) primaries and main sequence companions are thought to form only through stable Roche lobe overflow (RLOF) of the sdB progenitor near the tip of the red giant branch (RGB). We present the orbital…
Period-luminosity (PL) relations of variable red giants in the Large (LMC) and Small Magellanic Clouds (SMC) are presented. The PL diagrams are plotted in three planes: logP-K_S, logP-W_{JK}, and logP-W_I. Fourteen PL sequences are…
I review here the results of the first RV survey for spectroscopic companions to very young brown dwarfs (BDs) and (very) low-mass stars in the ChaI star-forming cloud with UVES at the VLT. This survey studies the binary fraction in an as…
We have undertaken a near-IR spectral survey of stars associated with compact nebulae recently revealed by the Spitzer and WISE imaging surveys. These circumstellar nebulae, produced by massive evolved stars, display a variety of symmetries…
We present Lick Natural Guide Star Adaptive Optics observations of the L8 brown dwarf Gliese 337C, which is resolved for the first time into two closely separated (0"53+/-0"03), nearly equal magnitude components with a K_s flux ratio of…
Statistics of orbital parameters of binary stars as well as statistics of their physical characteristics bear traces of star formation history. However, statistical investigations of binaries are complicated by lacking or incomplete…
We present optical lightcurves of variable stars consistent with the positions of X-ray sources identified with the Chandra X-ray Observatory for the Chandra Galactic Bulge Survey. Using data from the Mosaic-II instrument on the Blanco 4m…
Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) are believed to be evolved, extremely massive stars close to the Eddington Limit and hence prone to bouts of large-scale, unstable mass loss. I discuss current understanding of the evolutionary state of these…
Multiplicity is a key statistic for understanding the formation of very low mass (VLM) stars and brown dwarfs. Currently, the separation distribution of VLM binaries remains poorly constrained at small separations ($\leq$ 1 AU), leading to…
We investigate the hypothesis that stars form in aggregates of binary systems and that the dynamical evolution of these aggregates leads to the observed properties of binary stars in the Galactic field. We assume that the initial…
We examine parallaxes and distances for Galactic luminous blue variables (LBVs) in Gaia DR2. The sample includes 11 LBVs and 14 LBV candidates. For about half of the sample, DR2 distances are either similar to commonly adopted literature…
The radial profile of binary fraction may vary with environment and is of significant importance for studying the formation mechanisms of binary stars and their dynamical evolution within globular clusters (GCs) and galaxies. However,…
The shaping of the nebula is currently one of the outstanding unsolved problems in planetary nebula (PN) research. Several mechanisms have been proposed, most of which require a binary companion. However, direct evidence for a binary…