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The Disappearance of the Progenitors of Supernovae 1993J and 2003gd

Smartt, Stephen J.; Maund, Justyn R.

Using images from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini Telescope, we confirmed the disappearance of the progenitors of two type II supernovae (SNe) and evaluated the presence of other stars associated with them. We found that the progenitor of SN 2003gd, an M-supergiant star, is no longer observed at the SN location and determined its intrins…

A Population of Compact Elliptical Galaxies Detected with the Virtual Observatory

Revaz, Yves; Micol, Alberto; Chilingarian, Igor +5 more

Compact elliptical galaxies are characterized by small sizes and high stellar densities. They are thought to form through tidal stripping of massive progenitors. However, only a handful of them were known, preventing us from understanding the role played by this mechanism in galaxy evolution. We present a population of 21 compact elliptical galaxi…

The Shape and Surface Variation of 2 Pallas from the Hubble Space Telescope

Russell, C. T.; Stern, S. A.; Mutchler, M. J. +8 more

We obtained Hubble Space Telescope images of 2 Pallas in September 2007 that reveal distinct color and albedo variations across the surface of this large asteroid. Pallas’s shape is an ellipsoid with radii of 291 (±9), 278 (±9), and 250 (±9) kilometers, implying a density of 2400 (±250) kilograms per cubic meter—a value consistent with a body that…