Related papers: Astrometric limits set by surface structure, binar…
We have developed a perturbative approach to microlensing due to an extrasolar planetary lens. In particular, we have found analytic formulae for triple images. We have used the formulae to investigate the astrometric microlensing due to…
Context. Astrometric microlensing is an excellent tool to determine the mass of a stellar object. By measuring the astrometric shift of a background source star in combination with precise predictions of its unlensed position and of the…
If gravitational microlensing occurs in a binary-source system, both source components are magnified, and the resulting light curve deviates from the standard one of a single source event. However, in most cases only one source component is…
Context. Asymptotic Giant Branch stars are characterised by complex stellar surface dynamics that affect the measurements and amplify the uncertainties on stellar parameters. The resulting motion of the stellar photo-center could have…
Using a simple model based on the characteristics of sunspots and faculae in solar active regions, the effects of surface brightness inhomogeneities on the position of the photocentre of the disk of a solar-like, magnetically active star,…
Gravitational microlensing is a new technique for studying the surfaces of distant stars. A point mass lens, usually a low-mass star from the disk, will typically resolve the surface of a red giant in the Galactic bulge, as well as amplify…
Parallax measurements allow distances to celestial objects to be determined. Coupled with measurement of their position on the celestial sphere, it gives a full three-dimensional picture of the location of the objects relative to the…
The gravitational redshift induced by stellar surface gravity is notoriously difficult to measure for non-degenerate stars, since its amplitude is small in comparison with the typical Doppler shift induced by stellar radial velocity. In…
If it is hypothesised that there is no dark matter then some alternative gravitational theory must take the place of general relativity (GR) on the largest scales. Dynamical measurements can be used to investigate the nature of such a…
The wealth of information in the Gaia catalogue of exoplanets will constitute a fundamental contribution to several hot topics of the astrophysics of planetary systems. I briefly review the potential impact of Gaia micro-arsec astrometry in…
Recently, gravitational microlensing has been investigated in the framework of the weak field limit of fourth order gravity theory. However, solar system data (i.e. planetary periods and light bending) can be used to put strong constraints…
Astrometric perturbations of critical curves in strong lens systems are thought to be one of the most promising probes of substructures down to small-mass scales. While a smooth mass distribution creates a symmetric geometry of critical…
Due to their extremely small luminosity compared to the stars they orbit, planets outside our own Solar System are extraordinarily difficult to detect directly in optical light. Careful photometric monitoring of distant stars, however, can…
With several detections, the technique of gravitational microlensing has proven useful for studying planets that orbit stars at Galactic distances, and it can even be applied to detect planets in neighbouring galaxies. So far, planet…
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), owing to their great distances and compact sizes, serve as fundamental anchors for defining the celestial reference frame. With about 1.9 million AGNs observed in Gaia DR3 at optical precision comparable to…
Microlensing detections of cool planets are important for the construction of an unbiased sample to estimate the frequency of planets beyond the snow line, which is where giant planets are thought to form according to the core accretion…
Precision astrometry offers a way to probe new physics. By measuring the angular position of light sources at unprecedented precision, astrometry could probe minuscule fluctuations of underlying spacetime. This work explores the possibility…
Only certain galaxies are included in surveys: those bright and large enough to be detectable as extended sources. Because gravitational lensing can make galaxies appear both brighter and larger, the presence of foreground inhomogeneities…
A stochastic gravitational wave background causes the apparent positions of distant sources to fluctuate, with angular deflections of order the characteristic strain amplitude of the gravitational waves. These fluctuations may be detectable…
Isolated black holes (BHs) and neutron stars (NSs) are largely undetectable across the electromagnetic spectrum. For this reason, our only real prospect of observing these isolated compact remnants is via microlensing; a feat recently…