Related papers: Unusually Weak Diffuse Interstellar Bands toward H…
Context: There have been many attempts to identify families of diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) with perfectly correlating band strengths. Although major efforts have been made to classify broadly based DIB families and important insights…
KIC 12557548 b is first of a growing class of intriguing disintegrating planet candidates, which lose mass in the form of a metal rich vapor that condenses into dust particles. Here, we follow up two perplexing observations of the system:…
Debris disks or belts are important signposts for the presence of colliding planetesimals and, therefore, for ongoing planet formation and evolution processes in young planetary systems. Imaging of debris material at small separations from…
Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and archival International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) data were used to search for structure in the ultraviolet interstellar extinction curve. Between 1250 and 3200 A, in addition to the…
We study the behavior of eight diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) in different interstellar environments, as characterized by the fraction of hydrogen in molecular form [$f$(H$_2$)], with comparisons to the corresponding behavior of various…
The IRAS 100 micron image of the GRB 970228 field shows that the amount of galactic dust in this direction is substantial and varies on arcminute angular scales. From an analysis of the observed surface density of galaxies in the $2.6'…
We report detection of an extended mid-infrared emission from \iras 18576+0341 (AFGL 2298). The object shows a dusty circumstellar shell that has diameter of $\age 7\arcsec$ at 10.3 and 18.0 $\um$. The dust nebula shows two emission peaks…
We present a comprehensive and sensitive unbiased survey of interstellar features in the near-UV range (3050-3700 {\AA}). We combined a large number of VLT/UVES archival observations of a sample of highly reddened early type stars --…
Deep H$\alpha$ images of a faint emission complex 4.0 x 5.5 degrees in angular extent and located far off the Galactic plane at l = 70.0 degrees, b=-21.5 degrees reveal numerous thin filaments suggestive of a supernova remnant's shock…
Extremely broad emission wings at H$\beta$ and H$\alpha$ have been found in VFTS data for five very luminous BA supergiants in or near 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The profiles of both lines are extremely asymmetrical, which we…
We present the results based on the optical $R$-band polarization observations of 280 stars distributed towards the dark globule LDN\,1225. {\it Gaia} data release 2 parallaxes along with the polarization data of $\sim$200 stars have been…
We present simultaneous multi-color optical photometry using ULTRACAM of the transiting exoplanet KIC 12557548 b (also known as KIC 1255 b). This reveals, for the first time, the color dependence of the transit depth. Our g and z transits…
Context: Nearly one century after their discovery, the carrier(s) of Diffuse Interstellar Bands is/are still unknown and there are few sightlines studied in detail for a large number of DIBs. Aims: We want to study the ISM sightlines…
(Abridged) We have used the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) to search for H_2 absorption in five starburst galaxies: NGC 1705, NGC 3310, NGC 4214, M83 (NGC 5236), and NGC 5253. We tentatively detect weak absorption by H_2 in…
We studied in detail the optical spectrum of the post-AGB star HD56126 (IRAS07134+1005). We use high resolution spectra (R=25000 and 60000) obtained with the echelle spectrographs of the 6-m telescope. About one and a half thousand…
DIBs are ubiquitous in stellar spectra. Traditionally, they have been studied through their extraction from hot stars, because of their smooth continuum. In an era where there are several going-on or planned massive Galactic surveys using…
Using the correlation between the equivalent width of the diffuse interstellar band (DIB) at 8620 A and the interstellar reddening reported by Munari (2000) GAIA could directly trace the interstellar extinction throughout the Galaxy. We…
We report the discovery of a peculiar L dwarf from the UKIDSS LAS, ULAS J222711-004547. The very red infrared photometry (MKO J-K = 2.79$\pm$0.06, WISE W1-W2 = 0.65$\pm$0.05) of ULAS J222711-004547 makes it one of the reddest brown dwarfs…
A careful examination of Red Rectangle bands which have been considered as diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) in emission shows that a few are likely to be artifacts in the spectrum. Some others result from atmospheric extinction.…
Prompted by peculiar spectroscopic variability observed in SDSS/APOGEE $H$-band spectra, we monitored the Be star HD 55606 using optical spectroscopy and found that it is an exotic double-lined spectroscopic binary (SB2) consisting of a Be…