Related papers: D/H Measurements
We present recent observations from the HST-Cosmic Origins Spectrograph aimed at characterizing the auroral emission from the extrasolar planet HD209458b. We obtained medium-resolution (R~18-20,000) far-ultraviolet (1150-1700A) spectra at…
Young massive stars are usually found embedded in dense and massive molecular clumps and are known for being highly obscured and distant. During their formation process, deuteration is regarded as a potentially good indicator of the…
Advances in experimental techniques make it possible to map the high redshift Universe in three dimensions at high fidelity in the near future. This will increase the observed volume by many-fold, while providing unprecedented access to…
The re-emergence of the 0.99 $\mu$m FeH feature in brown dwarfs of early- to mid-T spectral type has been suggested as evidence for cloud disruption where flux from deep, hot regions below the Fe cloud deck can emerge. The same mechanism…
We report results from a survey of neutral fluorine (F I) in the interstellar medium. Data from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) were used to analyze 26 lines of sight lying both in the galactic disk and halo, including…
We present a sample of 75 extinction curves derived from FUSE far-ultraviolet spectra supplemented by existing IUE spectra. The extinction curves were created using the standard pair method based on a new set of dereddened FUSE+IUE…
We report preliminary results of a deep near-infrared search for methane-absorbing brown dwarfs; almost five years after the discovery of Gl 229b, there are only a few confirmed examples of this type of object. New J band, wide-field…
We study deuterium fractionation in two massive starless/early-stage cores C1-N and C1-S in Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) G028.37+00.07, first identified by Tan et al. (2013) with ALMA. Line emission from multiple transitions of $\rm N_2H^+$…
The observed cosmic abundances of light elements are most consistent with each other, and with the predictions of big bang nucleosynthesis,if, contrary to the usual assumption, galactic chemical evolution reduces $(D+\ ^3He)/H$ with time.…
White dwarf studies carry significant implications across multiple fields of astrophysics, including exoplanets, supernova explosions, and cosmological investigations. Thus, accurate determinations of their fundamental parameters (Teff and…
The products of primordial nucleosynthesis and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons are relics from the early evolution of the Universe whose observations probe the standard model of cosmology and provide windows on new physics…
Ultraviolet spectrographs aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) have proved their value as sensitive probes of the low-density intergalactic medium (IGM) at low redshifts (z < 0.1).…
Gaseous and dust debris disks around white dwarfs (WDs) are formed from tidally disrupted planetary bodies. This offers an opportunity to determine the composition of exoplanetary material by measuring element abundances in the accreting…
I present a brief review on the determination of the primordial helium abundance by unit mass, Yp. I discuss the importance of the primordial helium abundance in: (a) cosmology, (b) testing the standard big bang nucleosynthesis, (c)…
With abundances and 2{\sigma} upper limits of fluorine (F) in seven metal-poor field giants, nucleosynthesis of stellar F at low metallicity is discussed. The measurements are derived from the HF(1-0) R9 line at 23358{\AA} using…
The combination of detections of anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation and observations of the large-scale distribution of galaxies probes the primordial density fluctuations of the universe on spatial scales varying by…
Hot white dwarf stars are the ideal probe for a relationship between the fine-structure constant and strong gravitational fields, providing us with an opportunity for a direct observational test. We study a sample of hot white dwarf stars,…
The cosmic origin of fluorine is still not well constrained. Several nucleosynthetic channels at different phases of stellar evolution have been suggested, but these must be constrained by observations. For this, the fluorine abundance…
Deuterons are the most abundant secondary cosmic ray species in the Galaxy, but their study has been severely limited due to experimental challenges. In an era with new experiments and high-precision measurements in cosmic rays, having a…
The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe, the dynamics of the supernovae that produced the heavy elements necessary for life, and whether protons eventually decay -- these mysteries at the forefront of particle…