Search Publications

Optimized Trajectories to the Nearest Stars Using Lightweight High-velocity Photon Sails
DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/aa813f Bibcode: 2017AJ....154..115H

Heller, René; Hippke, Michael; Kervella, Pierre

New means of interstellar travel are now being considered by various research teams, assuming lightweight spaceships to be accelerated via either laser or solar radiation to a significant fraction of the speed of light (c). We recently showed that gravitational assists can be combined with the stellar photon pressure to decelerate an incoming ligh…

2017 The Astronomical Journal
Gaia 24
An artificial neural network to discover hypervelocity stars: candidates in Gaia DR1/TGAS
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stx1304 Bibcode: 2017MNRAS.470.1388M

Rossi, E. M.; Brown, A. G. A.; Kordopatis, G. +5 more

The paucity of hypervelocity stars (HVSs) known to date has severely hampered their potential to investigate the stellar population of the Galactic Centre and the Galactic potential. The first Gaia data release (DR1, 2016 September 14) gives an opportunity to increase the current sample. The challenge is the disparity between the expected number o…

2017 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gaia 24
A Helioseismic Perspective on the Depth of the Minimum Between Solar Cycles 23 and 24
DOI: 10.1007/s11207-017-1068-5 Bibcode: 2017SoPh..292...67B

Broomhall, A. -M.

The minimum in the solar-activity cycle observed between Cycles 23 and 24 is generally regarded as being unusually deep and long. This minimum is being followed by a cycle with one of the smallest amplitudes in recent history. We perform an in-depth analysis of this minimum with helioseismology. We use Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) data …

2017 Solar Physics
SOHO 24
Polyaromatic disordered carbon grains as carriers of the UV bump: Far-UV to mid-IR spectroscopy of laboratory analogs
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201730712 Bibcode: 2017A&A...607A..73G

Dartois, E.; Giuliani, A.; Pino, T. +3 more

Context. A multiwavelength study of laboratory carbons with varying degrees of hydrogenation and sp2 hybridization is required to characterize the structure of the carbonaceous carriers of interstellar and circumstellar extinction.
Aims: We study the spectral properties of carbonaceous dust analogs from the far-ultraviolet to the m…

2017 Astronomy and Astrophysics
IUE 24
Comparison between the Logotropic and ΛCDM models at the cosmological scale
DOI: 10.1088/1475-7516/2017/05/018 Bibcode: 2017JCAP...05..018C

Kumar, Suresh; Chavanis, Pierre-Henri

We perform a detailed comparison between the Logotropic model [P.H. Chavanis, Eur. Phys. J. Plus, 130 (2015)] and the ΛCDM model. These two models behave similarly at large (cosmological) scales up to the present. Differences will appear only in the far future, in about 25 Gyrs, when the Logotropic Universe becomes phantom while the ΛCDM Universe …

2017 Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Planck 24
Reaching the peak of the quasar spectral energy distribution - II. Exploring the accretion disc, dusty torus and host galaxy
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stw2666 Bibcode: 2017MNRAS.465..358C

Done, Chris; Elvis, Martin; McDowell, Jonathan C. +3 more

We continue our study of the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 11 active galactic nuclei (AGN) at 1.5 < z < 2.2, with optical-near-infrared (NIR) spectra, X-ray data and mid-IR photometry. In a previous paper, we presented the observations and models; in this paper, we explore the parameter space of these models. We first quantify unce…

2017 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
XMM-Newton 24
Observations and Modelling of the Pre-flare Period of the 29 March 2014 X1 Flare
DOI: 10.1007/s11207-017-1064-9 Bibcode: 2017SoPh..292...38W

Long, D. M.; Harra, L. K.; Matthews, S. A. +3 more

On 29 March 2014, NOAA Active Region (AR) 12017 produced an X1 flare that was simultaneously observed by an unprecedented number of observatories. We have investigated the pre-flare period of this flare from 14:00 UT until 19:00 UT using joint observations made by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrometer (IRIS) and the Hinode Extreme Ultraviolet …

2017 Solar Physics
Hinode IRIS 24
Recovering galaxy cluster gas density profiles with XMM-Newton and Chandra
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201731689 Bibcode: 2017A&A...608A..88B

Arnaud, M.; Pointecouteau, E.; Pratt, G. W. +6 more

We examined the reconstruction of galaxy cluster radial density profiles obtained from Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observations, using high quality data for a sample of twelve objects covering a range of morphologies and redshifts. By comparing the results obtained from the two observatories and by varying key aspects of the analysis procedure, w…

2017 Astronomy and Astrophysics
Planck XMM-Newton 24
Witnessing the reionization history using Cosmic Microwave Background observation from Planck
DOI: 10.1088/1475-7516/2017/11/028 Bibcode: 2017JCAP...11..028H

Hazra, Dhiraj Kumar; Smoot, George F.

We constrain the history of reionization using the data from Planck 2015 Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropy observations. We also use prior constraints on the reionization history at redshifts ~7-8 obtained from Lyman-α emission observations. Using the free electron fractions at different redshifts as free pa…

2017 Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Planck 24
The Mars diffuse aurora: A model of ultraviolet and visible emissions
DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2017.01.037 Bibcode: 2017Icar..288..284G

Gérard, J. -C.; Soret, L.; Shematovich, V. I. +2 more

A new type of Martian aurora, characterized by an extended spatial distribution, an altitude lower than the discrete aurora and electron precipitation up to 200 keV has been observed following solar activity on several occasions from the MAVEN spacecraft. We describe the results of Monte Carlo simulations of the production of several ultraviolet a…

2017 Icarus
MEx 24