Related papers: Astrometric limits set by surface structure, binar…
During some gravitational lensing events, the lens transits the face of the star. This causes a shift in the apparent radial velocity of the star which is proportional to its rotation speed. It also changes the magnification relative to…
Stars are not smooth. Their photosphere is covered by a granulation pattern associated with the heat transport by convection. The convection-related surface structures have different size, depth, and temporal variations with respect to the…
A passing gravitational wave causes a deflection in the apparent astrometric positions of distant stars. The effect of the speed of the gravitational wave on this astrometric shift is discussed. A stochastic background of gravitational…
Gravitational microlensing finds planets through their gravitational influence on the light coming from a more distant background star. The presence of the planet is then inferred from the tell-tale brightness variations of the background…
If a source star is gravitationally microlensed by a multiple lens system, the resulting light curve can have significant deviations from the standard form of a single lens event. The chance to produce significant deviations becomes…
The simple physics of microlensing provides a well-understood tool with which to probe the atmospheres of distant stars in the Galaxy and Local Group with high magnification and resolution. Recent results in measuring stellar surface…
The known nearby stars, moving in front of the background of distant stars and galaxies, create 'weak gravitational lensing' variations in their positions. These variations may be measurable with the HST, and they may allow a direct mass…
Gravitational microlensing provides a new technique for studying the surfaces of distant stars. Microlensing events are detected in real time and can be followed up with precision photometry and spectroscopy. This method is particularly…
We present a new method to identify and probe planetary companions of stars in the Galactic Bulge and Magellanic Clouds using gravitational microlensing. While spectroscopic studies of these planets is well beyond current observational…
Astrometry provides the foundation for astrophysics. Accurate positions are required for the association of sources detected at different times or wavelengths, and distances are essential to estimate the size, luminosity, mass, and ages of…
The combination of visual and spectroscopic orbits in binary systems enables precise distance measurements without additional assumptions, making them ideal for examining the parallax zero-point offset (PZPO) at bright magnitudes (G < 13)…
Precision astrometry from the second Gaia data release has allowed astronomers to predict 5,787 microlensing events, with 528 of these having maximums within the extended Gaia mission (J2014.5 - J2026.5). Future analysis of the Gaia…
Microlensing has established itself as a powerful new method for the detection of baryonic dark matter in the Galaxy. The theory of microlensing is sketched and its similarity with the optical effect of twinkling is explained. The bulk of…
One of the greatest challenges facing gravitational wave astronomy in the low frequency band is the confusion noise generated by the vast numbers of unresolved galactic and extra galactic binary systems. Estimates of the binary confusion…
Following previous suggestions of other researchers, this paper discusses the prospects for astrometric observation of MACHO gravitational microlensing events. We derive the expected astrometric observables for a simple microlensing event…
We compared positions of the Gaia first data release (DR1) secondary data set at its faint limit with CCD positions of stars in 20 fields observed with the VLT/FORS2 camera. The FORS2 position uncertainties are smaller than one…
There are at least four unexplained anomalies connected with astrometric data. Perhaps the most disturbing is the fact that when a spacecraft on a flyby trajectory approaches the Earth within 2000 km or less, it often experiences a change…
We introduce a new method of searching for and characterizing extra-solar planets. We show that by monitoring the center-of-light motion of microlensing alerts using the next generation of high precision astrometric instruments the…
Ultra-cool dwarfs are very low-mass stars or brown dwarfs and because of their faintness they are difficult targets for radial velocity and transit planet searches. High-precision astrometry is one way to efficiently discover planets around…
Estimating a distance by inverting a parallax is only valid in the absence of noise. As most stars in the Gaia catalogue will have non-negligible fractional parallax errors, we must treat distance estimation as a constrained inference…