Related papers: A Preliminary Observational Search for Circumbinar…
The circumgalactic medium (CGM) remains one of the least constrained components of galaxies and as such has significant potential for advancing galaxy formation theories. In this work, we vary the extragalactic ultraviolet background for a…
We report follow-up studies of 35 recently-discovered cataclysmic variables (CVs), 32 of which were found in large, automated synoptic sky surveys. The objects were selected for observational tractability. For 34 of the objects we present…
Many high-state non-magnetic cataclysmic variables (CVs) exhibit blue-shifted absorption or P-Cygni profiles associated with ultraviolet (UV) resonance lines. These features imply the existence of powerful accretion disk winds in CVs. Here,…
Over 50 circumbinary exoplanets have been discovered in recent years, with several of them being gas giants on wide orbits ($>10$AU). The aim of this work is to investigate whether these planets can form through circumbinary disc…
The disk-outflow connection is thought to play a key role in extracting excess angular momentum from a forming proto-star. Though jet rotation has been observed in a few objects, no rotation of molecular outflows has been unambiguously…
Using interferometric data from BIMA observations, combined with detailed modeling in Fourier space of the physical structures predicted by models, we constrain the circumstellar envelope parameters for four Class 0 young stellar objects,…
[Abridged] The study of disc kinematics has recently opened up as a promising method to detect unseen planets. However, a systematic, statistically meaningful analysis of such an approach remains missing. The aim of this work is to devise…
We perform high-resolution, grid-based hydrodynamics simulations of gaseous rings viscously spreading into disks around equal-mass, circular binaries. We find that all systems suppress accretion onto the binary when the gas is relatively…
The magnetic cataclysmic variables (MCVs) present a wealth of observational diagnostics for studying accretion flows interacting with a magnetosphere. Spin-period pulsations from the rotation of the white dwarf are seen in optical light, in…
We investigate the flow of material from highly misaligned and polar circumbinary discs that feed the formation of circumstellar discs around each binary component. With three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations we consider equal mass…
Turbulence is thought to be a key driver of the evolution of protoplanetary disks, regulating the mass accretion process, the transport of angular momentum, and the growth of dust particles. We intend to determine the magnitude of the…
Hydrodynamical simulations show that circumbinary disks become eccentric, even when the binary is circular. Here we demonstrate that, in steady state, the disk's eccentricity behaves as a long-lived free mode trapped by turning points that…
Transiting planets manifest themselves by a periodic dimming of their host star by a fixed amount. On the other hand, light curves of transiting circumbinary (CB) planets are expected to be neither periodic nor to have a single depth while…
A central hypothesis in the theory of cataclysmic variable (CV) evolution is the need to explain the observed lack of accreting systems in the ~2-3 h orbital period range, known as the period gap. The standard model, disrupted magnetic…
We report on successes and failures in searching for positive superhumps in cataclysmic variables, and show the superhumping fraction as a function of orbital period. Basically, all short-period systems do, all long-period systems don't,…
Grain growth in circumstellar disks is expected to be the first step towards the formation of planetary systems. There is now evidence for grain growth in several disks around young stars. Radially resolved images of grain growth in…
A deep (R ~ 19.5) photographic Halpha Survey of the southern Galactic Plane was recently completed using the UK Schmidt Telescope at the AAO. In addition, we have recently started a similar, CCD-based survey of the northern Galactic Plane…
We have completed a systematic survey for disks around young brown dwarfs and very low mass stars. By choosing a well-defined sample and by obtaining sensitive thermal IR observations, we can make an unbiased measurement of the disk…
Transition disks (TDs) are intermediate stage circumstellar disks characterized by an inner gap within the disk structure. To test whether these gaps may have been formed by closely orbiting, previously undetected stellar companions, we…
Although a large number of orbital periods of cataclysmic variable stars (CVs) have been measured, comparison of period and luminosity distributions with evolutionary theory is affected by strong selection effects. A test has been…