Related papers: Astronomy and the Fall of Babylon
Astrophysical studies require a knowledge of very accurate positions, motions and distances of stars. A brief overview is given of the significance and development of astrometry by ESA's two astrometric satellites, Hipparcos and Gaia,…
Some highlights are given of the IAU Symposium 334, Rediscovering our Galaxy, held in Potsdam, in July 2017: from the first stars fossil records found in the halo, the carbon-enhanced metal poor CEMP-no, to the cosmological simulations…
According to classical tradition, Thales of Miletus predicted the total solar eclipse that took place on 28 May 585 BCE. Even if some authors have flatly denied the possibility of such a prediction, others have struggled to find cycles…
In a classic 1982 paper in this journal, Jean Meeus used a statistical approach for finding the mean frequency of a total and an annular eclipse of the Sun at a given place on the surface of the Earth. In this current paper we tackle the…
A growing number of close binary stars are being discovered among central stars of planetary nebulae. Recent and ongoing surveys are finding new systems and contributing to our knowledge of the evolution of close binary systems. The push to…
Many observers in the past gave detailed descriptions of the telescopic aspect of Venus during its extremely rare transits across the Solar disk. In particular, at the ingress and egress, the portion of the planet's disk outside the Solar…
We present the result of the survey of sunspots and auroras in ${\it Q\bar{\imath}ngsh\check{\imath}ga\check{o}}$, the draft chronicle of ${\it Q\bar{\imath}ng}$ dynasty, for the period of 1559-1912 CE, as a sequel of the series of works…
AN Cam is a little-studied eclipsing binary containing somewhat evolved components in an orbit with a period of 21.0 d and an eccentricity of 0.47. A spectroscopic orbit based on photoelectric radial velocities was published in 1977. AN Cam…
Near the end of the 16th century Wilhelm IV, Landgraf von Hessen-Kassel, set up an observatory with the main goal to increase the accuracy of stellar positions primarily for use in astrology and for calendar purposes. A new star catalogue…
Over the last 20 years, supernovae have become a key tool to constrain the expansion history of the Universe through the construction of Hubble diagrams, using luminosity distances to supernovae belonging to the "Ia" subtype. This technique…
The discovery of the Diary of Merer (papyri Wadi al-Jarf) allows us to see the Egyptian calendar applied in a logbook. The diary is dated to the 26th year of reign of Khufu and describes Merer and his crew transporting the limestone blocks…
Intersection with the debris of a large (50-100 km) short-period comet during the Upper Palaeolithic provides a satisfactory explanation for the catastrophe of celestial origin which has been postulated to have occurred around 12900 BP, and…
Perhaps more than other physical sciences, astronomy is frequently statistical in nature. The objects under study are inaccessible to direct manipulation in the laboratory, so the astronomer is restricted to observing a few external…
In the last two decades, Bayesian inference has become commonplace in astronomy. At the same time, the choice of algorithms, terminology, notation, and interpretation of Bayesian inference varies from one sub-field of astronomy to the next,…
The modern usage of the words astronomy and astrology is traced back to distinctions, largely ignored in recent scholarship. Three interpretations of celestial phenomena (in a geometric, a substantialist and a prognostic versions) coexisted…
Current status and results of the experiment on recording neutrino bursts are presented. The observation time (since 1980) is 24.7 years. The upper bound of collapse frequency in our Galaxy is 0.093 $y^{-1}$ (90% CL).
Astronomical solutions provide calculated orbital and rotational parameters of solar system bodies based on the dynamics and physics of the solar system. Application of astronomical solutions in the Earth sciences has revolutionized our…
Recent analyses of Kepler space telescope data reveal that transiting planets with orbital periods shorter than about 2-3 days are generally observed around late-type stars with rotation periods longer than about 5-10 days. We investigate…
The historical Hungarian auroral record extends from 1523 to 1960 and is longer than the sunspot record. Harmonic analysis reveals four major multidecadal secular cycles forming an approximate harmonic set at periods of 42.85, 57.13, 85.7…
This writeup is an introduction to neutrino astronomy, addressed to astronomers and written by astroparticle physicists. While the focus is on achievements and goals in neutrino astronomy, rather than on the aspects connected to particle…