Search Publications
Temperature stability in the sub-milliHertz band with LISA Pathfinder
Mendes, L.; Russano, G.; Lloro, I. +79 more
LISA Pathfinder (LPF) was a technology pioneering mission designed to test key technologies required for gravitational wave detection in space. In the low frequency regime (milliHertz and below), where space-based gravitational wave observatories will operate, temperature fluctuations play a crucial role since they can couple into the interferomet…
Wide binary companions to massive stars and their use in constraining natal kicks
Igoshev, Andrei P.; Perets, Hagai B.
The origin of ultrawide massive binaries (orbital separations 103-2 × 105 au) and their properties are neither well characterized nor understood. Here we use the second Gaia data release to search for wide astrometric companions to Galactic O-B5 stars which share similar parallax and proper motion with the primaries. Using th…
Calibration of the mixing-length theory for structures of helium-dominated atmosphere white dwarfs
Ludwig, H. -G.; Fontaine, G.; Tremblay, P. -E. +5 more
We perform a calibration of the mixing-length parameter at the bottom boundary of the convection zone for helium-dominated atmospheres of white dwarfs. This calibration is based on a grid of 3D DB (pure-helium) and DBA (helium-dominated with traces of hydrogen) model atmospheres computed with the CO5BOLD radiation-hydrodynamics code, and a grid of…
Three candidate globular clusters discovered in the Galactic bulge
Minniti, D.; Camargo, D.
This work reports the discovery of three new globular clusters (GCs) towards the Galactic bulge - Camargo 1107, 1108, and 1109. The discovery was made using the WISE, 2MASS, VVV, and Gaia-DR2 photometry. The new findings are old (12.0-13.5 Gyr) and metal-poor GCs ([Fe/H] < -1.5 dex) located in the bulge area close to the Milky Way (MW) mid-plan…
X-ray scaling relations from a complete sample of the richest maxBCG clusters
Jones, Christine; Vikhlinin, Alexey; Nagai, Daisuke +5 more
We use a complete sample of 38 richest maxBCG clusters to study the ICM-galaxy scaling relations and the halo mass selection properties of the maxBCG algorithm, based on X-ray and optical observations. The clusters are selected from the two largest bins of optical richness in the Planck stacking work with the maxBCG richness N200 ≥ 78. …
The wavelength dependence of interstellar polarization in the Local Hot Bubble
Wyatt, Mark C.; Bailey, Jeremy; Cotton, Daniel V. +6 more
The properties of dust in the interstellar medium (ISM) nearest the Sun are poorly understood because the low column densities of dust toward nearby stars induce little photometric reddening, rendering the grains largely undetectable. Stellar polarimetry offers one pathway to deducing the properties of this diffuse material. Here we present multi-…
Hypervelocity stars from star clusters hosting intermediate-mass black holes
Fragione, Giacomo; Gualandris, Alessia
Hypervelocity stars (HVSs) represent a unique population of stars in the Galaxy reflecting properties of the whole Galactic potential. Determining their origin is of fundamental importance to constrain the shape and mass of the dark halo. The leading scenario for the ejection of HVSs is an encounter with the supermassive black hole in the Galactic…
Linear bias forecasts for emission line cosmological surveys
Merson, Alexander; Smith, Alex; Benson, Andrew +2 more
We forecast the linear bias for Hα-emitting galaxies at high redshift. To simulate a Euclid-like and a WFIRST-like survey, we place galaxies into a large-volume dark matter halo lightcone by sampling a library of luminosity-dependent halo occupation distributions (HODs), which is constructed using a physically motivated galaxy formation model. We …
A Gaia view of the two OB associations Cygnus OB2 and Carina OB1: the signature of their formation process
Lim, Beomdu; Nazé, Yaël; Gosset, Eric +1 more
OB associations are the prime star-forming sites in galaxies. However, the detailed formation process of such stellar systems still remains a mystery. In this context, identifying the presence of substructures may help in tracing the footprints of their formation process. Here, we present a kinematic study of the two massive OB associations Cygnus…
The compact multiple system HIP 41431
Molnár, L.; Latham, D. W.; Tokovinin, A. +4 more
The nearby (50 pc) K7V dwarf HIP 41431 (EPIC 212096658) is a compact three-tier hierarchy. Three K7V stars with similar masses, from 0.61 to 0.63 solar, make a triple-lined spectroscopic system where the inner binary with a period of 2.9 d is eclipsing, and the outer companion on a 59-d orbit exerts strong dynamical influence revealed by the eclip…