Related papers: Blue Supergiants as a Tool for Extragalactic Dista…
The discovery of distant sources of very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays with hard energy spectra enabled to derive strong upper limits on the density of the extragalactic background light (EBL). These limits are close to the lower limits…
Stellar limb darkening is the observed variation in brightness of a star between its centre and edge (or limb) when viewed in the plane of the sky. Stellar brightness is maximal at the centre and then decreases radially and monotonically…
The Next Generation Very Large Array will have excellent sensitivity for detecting the thermal emission from massive stars and from red giants. This will allow direct imaging of the winds for a large number of hot massive stars. It will…
Lasting anywhere from a few milliseconds to several minutes, GRBs shine hundreds of times brighter than a typical supernova, making them briefly the brightest source of cosmic gamma-ray photons in the observable Universe. This thesis…
We study the luminous blue variable candidate J004229.87+410551.8 in the Andromeda Galaxy. Earlier, the star displayed a spectral anomaly: although a hot emission spectrum had been detected, it had strong CaII H and K absorption lines.…
Low resolution ESO VLT/FORS spectra of blue supergiant stars are analyzed to determine stellar metallicities (based on elements such as Fe, Ti, Mg) in the extended disk of the spiral galaxy NGC3621. Mildly subsolar metallicity (-0.30 dex)…
Determining the physical properties of microlensing events depends on having accurate angular sizes of the source star. Using long-baseline optical interferometry we are able to measure the angular sizes of nearby stars with uncertainties…
We calculate the intensity and photon spectrum of the intergalactic background light (IBL) as a function of redshift using an approach based on observational data obtained in many different wavelength bands from local to deep galaxy…
The phenomenology of a subclass of High Mass X-ray Binaries hosting a blue supergiant companion, the so-called Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs), is reviewed. Their number is growing, mainly thanks to the discoveries performed by the…
The physical characterization of exoplanets will require to take spectra at several orbital positions. For that purpose, a direct imaging capability is necessary. Direct imaging requires an efficient stellar suppression mechanism,…
Known bright S stars, recognized as such by their enhanced s-process abundances and C/O ratio, are typically members of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) or the red giant branch (RGB). Few modern digital spectra for these objects have been…
Given their location on the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram, thoroughly characterized subgiant stars can place stringent constraints on a wide range of astrophysical problems. Accordingly, they are prime asteroseismic targets for the…
Gamma rays with energy above 10 GeV interact with optical-UV photons resulting in pair production. Therefore, a large sample of high redshift sources of these gamma rays can be used to probe the extragalactic background starlight (EBL) by…
Direct measurements of the spectra of extrasolar giant planets are the keys to determining their physical and chemical nature. The goal of theory is to provide the tools and context with which such data are understood. It is only by putting…
Accurate distances to celestial objects are key to establishing the age and energy density of the Universe and the nature of dark energy. A distance measure using active galactic nuclei (AGN) has been sought for more than forty years, as…
The interpretation of observations over different wavelength domains, which now exist over a large fraction of the sky, will be used to determine relationships between a nebula and its' illuminating source. The illuminating source of a high…
The extragalactic background light (EBL) contains important information about stellar and galaxy evolution. It leaves imprint on the very high energy $\gamma$-ray spectra from sources at cosmological distances due to the process of pair…
Extragalactic relativistic jets are engines able to carry out to large distances a huge amount of power, not only in the form of radiation, but especially in the form of kinetic energy of matter and fields. As such, they can be thought as…
Extragalactic planetary nebulae (xPNe) in galaxies beyond the Local Universe serve as discrete tracers for studying the element abundances and kinematics of galaxies covering a wide range of morphologies and masses at a variety of angular…
We calculate models of stellar evolution for very massive stars and include the effects of modified gravity to investigate the influence on the physical properties of blue supergiant stars and their use as extragalactic distance indicators.…