Related papers: IRSI-DARWIN: How to see through the interplanetary…
We present the first results of mid-infrared (MIR) ultra-deep observations towards the lensing cluster Abell 2390 using the ISOCAM infrared camera on-board ESA's Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) satellite. They reveal a large number of…
X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) in the 0.2-2 keV band is a crucial component in multi-wavelength studies of dust mineralogy, size, and shape -- parameters that are necessary for interpreting astronomical observations and building…
We revisit the possibility of detecting an extrasolar planet around a background star as it crosses the fold caustic of a foreground binary lens. During such an event, the planet's flux can be magnified by a factor of ~100 or more. The…
This review describes our current understanding of interstellar extinction. This differ substantially from the ideas of the 20th century. With infrared surveys of hundreds of millions of stars over the entire sky, such as 2MASS,…
Interstellar dust plays a crucial role in gas cooling and molecule formation, influencing galaxy evolution. However, the composition and structure of dust in distant galaxies are still poorly understood. We have started a JWST MIRI MRS…
Interstellar dust permeates our Galaxy and plays an important role in many physical processes in the diffuse and dense regions of the interstellar medium. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy, coupled with modelling based on laboratory dust…
We demonstrate that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) can detect infrared (IR) excess from the blended light spectral energy distribution of spatially unresolved terrestrial exoplanets orbiting nearby white dwarfs. We find that JWST is…
The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) is a high-contrast imager and integral field spectrograph that will enable the study of exoplanets and circumstellar disks at visible wavelengths. Ground-based…
Intensity interferometry permits very long optical baselines and the observation of sub-milliarcsecond structures. Using planned kilometric arrays of air Cherenkov telescopes at short wavelengths, intensity interferometry may increase the…
A comparison of the COBE, Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) all-sky survey with the locations of known galaxies in the IRAS Catalog of Extragalactic Objects and the Center for Astrophysics Catalog of Galaxies led to the…
ISO observations at 200 micron have modified our view of the dust component in spiral galaxies. For a sample of seven resolved spirals we have retrieved a mean temperature of 20K, about 10K lower than previous estimates based on IRAS data…
We investigate the nature of the innermost regions of seven circumstellar disks around pre-main-sequence stars. Our object sample contains disks apparently at various stages of their evolution. Both single stars and spatially resolved…
Interstellar dust is still a dominant uncertainty in Astronomy, limiting precision in e.g., cosmological distance estimates and models of how light is re-processed within a galaxy. When a foreground galaxy serendipitously overlaps a more…
Direct photometric measurements of the cosmic optical background (COB) provide an important point of comparison to both other measurement methodologies and models of cosmic structure formation, and permit a cosmic consistency test with the…
Debris discs are a consequence of the planet formation process and constitute the fingerprints of planetesimal systems. Their solar system's counterparts are the asteroid and Edgeworth-Kuiper belts. The DUNES survey aims at detecting…
White dwarfs whose atmospheres are polluted by terrestrial-like planetary debris have become a powerful and unique tool to study evolved planetary systems. This paper presents results for an unbiased Spitzer IRAC search for circumstellar…
In order to directly image an extrasolar planet, the large contrast between a star and a companion planet must be overcome. White Dwarfs (WDs) are the remnants of stars > 1 M_sun and are orders of magnitude dimmer, making searches for…
We have developed a near-infrared spectrometer designed to measure the absolute intensity of the Solar 854.2 nm CaII Fraunhofer line, scattered by interplanetary dust, in the Zodiacal light spectrum. Based on the known equivalent line width…
We present basic observational strategies for ASTRO-F (also known as the Imaging Infra Red Surveyor (IRIS)) to be launched in 2004 by the Japanese Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). We examine 2 survey scenarios, a deep…
(Abridged) Out-of-the-ecliptic trajectories that are beneficial to space observatories such as the Terrestrial Planet Finder and other potential mid-IR missions are introduced. These novel trajectories result in significantly reduced…