Related papers: Direct Extragalactic Distance Determination Using …
We use the radiation transfer simulation of Xilouris et al. (1999) to constrain the quantity of dust in three nearby spiral galaxies (NGC 4013, NGC 5907 and NGC 891). The predicted visual optical depth from the model is compared with the…
The detection of new clusters of galaxies or the study of known clusters of galaxies in X-rays can be complicated by the presence of X-ray point sources, the majority of which will be active galactic nuclei (AGN). This can be addressed by…
Measuring distances to galaxies, determining their chemical composition, investigating the nature of their stellar populations and the absorbing properties of their interstellar medium are fundamental activities in modern extragalactic…
The determination of the densities of intergalactic photons from the FIR to the UV produced by stellar emission and dust reradiation at various redshifts can provide an independent measure of the star formation history of the universe. High…
X-ray cluster measurements interpreted with a universal baryon/gas mass fraction can theoretically serve as a cosmological distance probe. We examine issues of cosmological sensitivity for current (e.g. Chandra X-ray Observatory,…
Extragalactic X-ray surveys are exceptionally powerful tools for studying the evolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies, by detecting large numbers of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and star-forming galaxies over a wide…
We have developed a new model that uses a cellular approach to calculate radiative transfer of starlight through dusty media. The model is designed to be user friendly enough to be distributed as a tool for use by the general astronomical…
Studies using the GRB brightness as a distance indicator require a measure of brightness with a small intrinsic dispersion (close to a standard candle). There is unfortunately no general agreement on the definition of such a quantity. We…
We have conducted Chandra observations of ~2560 square arcmin (~131 kpc^2) of of M31, and find that the most luminous X-ray sources in our fields are in globular clusters (GCs). Of the 28 GC X-ray sources in our fields, 17 are newly…
We provide the Chandra source list for the last ~quarter of the area covered by the Galactic Bulge Survey (GBS). The GBS targets two strips of 6\degr x 1\degr (12 square degrees in total), one above (1\degr<b<2\degr) and one below…
Extended X-ray emission can be studied either spatially (through its surface brightness profile) or spectrally (by analyzing the spectrum at various locations in the field). Both techniques have advantages and disadvantages, and when the…
The properties of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows are used to investigate the location of star formation activity through the history of the Universe. This approach is motivated by the following: (i) GRBs are thought to be…
X-ray photons scattered by the interstellar medium carry information about dust distribution, dust grain model, scattering cross section, and the distance of the source; they also take longer time than unscattered photons to reach the…
Using a cross-correlation method, we study the X-ray halo of Cyg X-3. Two components of dust distributions are needed to explain the time lags derived by the cross-correlation method. Assuming the distance as 1.7 kpc for Cygnus OB2…
We searched for X-ray shadowing toward two infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) using the MOS detectors on XMM-Newton to learn about the Galactic distribution of X-ray emitting plasma. IRDCs make ideal X-ray shadowing targets of 3/4 kev photons due…
We present a method to estimate the total gas column density, dust-to-gas and dust-to-metal ratios of distant galaxies from rest-frame optical spectra. The technique exploits the sensitivity of certain optical lines to changes in depletion…
We propose a method of distance determination based on the internal structure and dynamics of disk galaxies. The method relies on the universal luminosity profile of a stellar disk represented by an exponential law. Calibrating nearby…
X-ray observations of galaxies have grown from a curiosity into a full-fledged field of astronomy. These observations provide unique information on black holes, binary stars, and the hot phase of the ISM, which can be used to constrain the…
It is usual, in gamma-ray burst (GRB) studies, to compare the average properties of bright and faint GRBs, with the assumption that brightness classes reflect distance classes. When brightness is intented to reflect the distance to the…
X-ray scattering is a powerful probe of the optical constants and grain size distribution of interstellar dust. Bright, transient sources are excellent tools for this, since they fade rapidly, leaving only the expanding scattered x-ray…