18958265
Expected Detection and False Alarm Rates for Transiting Jovian Planets
Ground-based searches for transiting Jupiter-sized planets have so far produced few detections of planets but many of stellar systems with eclipse depths, durations, and orbital periods that resemble those expected from planets. The detection rates prove to be consistent with our present knowledge of binary and multiple-star systems and of Jovian-mass extrasolar planets. Space-based searches for transiting Earth-sized planets will be largely unaffected by the false alarm sources that afflict ground-based searches, except for distant eclipsing binaries whose light is strongly diluted by that of a foreground star. A by-product of the rate estimation is evidence that the period distribution of extrasolar planets is depressed for periods between 5 and 200 days.
15724697
The Hubble Deep Field South - STIS imaging
We present the imaging observations made with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) of the Hubble Deep Field South. The field was imaged in four bandpasses: a clear CCD bandpass for 156 ks, a long-pass filter for 22–25 ks pixel-1 typical exposure, a near-UV bandpass for 23 ks, and a far-UV bandpass for 52 ks. The clear, visible image is the deepest observation ever made in the UV-optical wavelength region, reaching a 10 σ AB magnitude of 29.4 for an object of area 0.2 arcsec2. The field contains QSO J2233-606, the target of the STIS spectroscopy, and extends 50'' × 50'' for the visible images, and 25'' × 25'' for the ultraviolet images. We present the images, catalog of objects, and galaxy counts obtained in the field.
119288725
Observational detection of eclipses of J5 Amalthea by the Galilean satellites
Aims. We carried out observations of the small jovian satellite Amalthea (J5) as it was being eclipsed by the Galilean satellites near the 2009 equinox of Jupiter in order to apply the technique of mutual event photometry to the astrometric determination of this satellite’s position. Methods. The observations were carried out during the period 06/2009−09/2009 from the island of Maui, Hawaii and Siding Spring, Australia with the 2m Faulkes Telescopes North and South respectively. We observed in the near-infrared part of the spectrum using a PanStarrs-Z filter with Jupiter near the edge of the field in order to mitigate against the glare from the planet. Frames were acquired at rates >1/min during eclipse times predicted using recent JPL ephemerides for the satellites. Following subtraction of the sky background from these frames, differential aperture photometry was carried out on Amalthea and a nearby field star. Results. We have obtained three lightcurves which show a clear drop in the flux from Amalthea, indicating that an eclipse took place as predicted. These were model-fitted to yield best estimates of the time of maximum flux drop and the impact parameter. These are consistent with Amalthea’s ephemeris but indicate that Amalthea is slightly ahead of, and closer to Jupiter than, its predicted position by approximately half the ephemeris uncertainty in these directions. We argue that a ground-based campaign of higher-cadence photometry accurate at the 5% level or better during the next season of eclipses in 2014-15 should yield positions to within 0. �� 05 and affect a corresponding improvement in Amalthea’s ephemeris.
9685561
Hubble Space Telescope and Ground-based Optical and Ultraviolet Observations of GRB 010222
We report on Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 optical and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) near-ultraviolet MAMA observations and ground-based optical observations of GRB 010222, spanning 15 hr to 71 days. The observations are well described by a relativistic blast wave model with a hard electron energy distribution, p = 1.57, and a jet transition at t* = 0.93 days. These values are slightly larger than previously found as a result of a correction for the contribution from the host galaxy to the late-time ground-based observations and the larger temporal baseline provided by the HST observations. The host galaxy is found to contain a very compact core (size <025), which coincides with the position of the optical transient. The STIS near-ultraviolet MAMA observations allow for an investigation of the extinction properties along the line of sight to GRB 010222. We find that the far-ultraviolet curvature component c4 is rather large. In combination with the low optical extinction, AV = 0.110 mag, when compared with the hydrogen column inferred from X-ray observations, we suggest that this is evidence for dust destruction.
118530564
DISCOVERY OF A RED GIANT WITH SOLAR-LIKE OSCILLATIONS IN AN ECLIPSING BINARY SYSTEM FROM KEPLER SPACE-BASED PHOTOMETRY
Oscillating stars in binary systems are among the most interesting stellar laboratories, as these can provide information on the stellar parameters and stellar internal structures. Here we present a red giant with solar-like oscillations in an eclipsing binary observed with the NASA Kepler satellite. We compute stellar parameters of the red giant from spectra and the asteroseismic mass and radius from the oscillations. Although only one eclipse has been observed so far, we can already determine that the secondary is a main-sequence F star in an eccentric orbit with a semi-major axis larger than 0.5 AU and orbital period longer than 75 days.
119293956
The Kepler Asteroseismic Investigation: Scientific goals and first results
Kepler is a NASA mission designed to detect exoplanets and characterize the properties of exoplanetary systems. Kepler also includes an asteroseismic programme which is being conducted through the Kepler Asteroseismic Science Consortium (KASC), whose 400 members are organized into 13 working groups by type of variable star. So far data have been available from the first 7 month of the mission containing a total of 2937 targets observed at a 1-min cadence for periods between 10 days and 7 months. The goals of the asteroseismic part of the Kepler project is to perform detailed studies of stellar interiors. The first results of the asteroseismic analysis are orders of magnitude better than seen before, and this bodes well for how the future analysis of Kepler data for many types of stars will impact our general understanding of stellar structure and evolution (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
39184758
A Deep HST Search for Escaping Lyman Continuum Flux at z~1.3: Evidence for an Evolving Ionizing Emissivity
We have obtained deep Hubble Space Telescope far-UV images of 15 starburst galaxies at z ~ 1.3 in the GOODS fields to search for escaping Lyman continuum (LyC) photons. These are the deepest far-UV images (m_(AB) = 28.7, 3σ, 1" diameter) over this large an area (4.83 arcmin^2) and provide some of the best escape fraction constraints 
for any galaxies at any redshift. We do not detect any individual galaxies, with 3σ limits to the LyC (~700 A) 
flux 50–149 times fainter (in f_ν) than the rest-frame UV (1500 A) continuum fluxes. Correcting for the mean 
intergalactic medium (IGM) attenuation (factor ~2), as well as an intrinsic stellar Lyman break (factor ~3), these 
limits translate to relative escape fraction limits of f_(esc,rel) 4 and reionization of the IGM at z > 6.
197476756
Stellar Proper Motions in the Galactic Bulge from deep HST ACS/WFC Photometry
We present stellar proper motions in the Galactic bulge from the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Search (SWEEPS) project using ACS/WFC on HST. Proper motions are extracted for more than 180,000 objects, with >81,000 measured to accuracy better than 0.3 mas/yr in both coordinates. We report several results based on these measurements: 1. Kinematic separation of bulge from disk allows a sample of >15,000 bulge objects to be extracted based on >6-sigma detections of proper motion, with <0.2% contamination from the disk. This includes the first detection of a candidate bulge Blue Straggler population. 2. Armed with a photometric distance modulus on a star by star basis, and using the large number of stars with high-quality proper motion measurements to overcome intrinsic scatter, we dissect the kinematic properties of the bulge as a function of distance along the line of sight. This allows us to extract the stellar circular speed curve from proper motions alone, which we compare with the circular speed curve obtained from radial velocities. 3. We trace the variation of the {l,b} velocity ellipse as a function of depth. 4. Finally, we use the density-weighted {l,b} proper motion ellipse produced from the tracer stars to assess the kinematic membership of the sixteen transiting planet candidates discovered in the Sagittarius Window; the kinematic distribution of the planet candidates is consistent with that of the disk and bulge stellar populations.
204929274
Photospheric Abundances of the Hot Stars in NGC1399 and Limits on the Fornax Cluster Cooling Flow
We present far-UV spectroscopy of the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1399, obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer. Of all quiescent ellipticals, NGC 1399 has the strongest known ``UV upturn'' -- a sharp spectral rise shortward of 2500 A. It is now well-established that this emission comes from hot horizontal branch (HB) stars and their progeny; however, the chemical composition of these stars has been the subject of a long-standing debate. For the first time in observations of any elliptical galaxy, our spectra clearly show photospheric metallic absorption lines within the UV upturn. The abundance of N is at 45% solar, Si is at 13% solar, and C is at 2% solar. Such abundance anomalies are a natural consequence of gravitational diffusion. These photospheric abundances fall in the range observed for subdwarf B stars of the Galactic field. Although NGC1399 is at the center of the Fornax cluster, we find no evidence for O VI cooling flow emission. The upper limit to 1032,1038 emission is 3.9E-15 erg/s/cm2, equivalent to 0.14 M_sun/yr, and less than that predicted by simple cooling flow models of the NGC 1399 X-ray luminosity.
12166372
FUSE Observations of the Post-AGB Star ZNG 1 in the Globular Cluster M5 (NGC 5904)
We have observed the hot post-AGB star ZNG 1 in the globular cluster M5 with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). From the resulting spectrum, we derive an effective temperature T_eff ~ 45,000 K, a rotational velocity v_rot ~ 100 km/s, carbon and nitrogen abundances approximately ten times solar, a wind with terminal velocity near 1000 km/s, and evidence for an expanding shell of material around the star. The carbon and nitrogen enhancements suggest dredge-up of nuclear-processed material on the AGB. The high rotational velocity may reflect a previous merger with a binary companion.
55538998
The Formation History of the Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxies
We present early results from a Hubble Space Telescope survey of the ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. These Milky Way satellites were discovered in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and appear to be an extension of the classical dwarf spheroidals to low luminosities, offering a new front in the efforts to understand the missing satellite problem. Because they are the least luminous, most dark matter dominated, and least chemically evolved galaxies known, the ultra-faint dwarfs are the best candidate fossils from the early universe. The primary goal of the survey is to measure the star-formation histories of these galaxies and discern any synchronization due to the reionization of the universe. We find that the six galaxies of our survey have very similar star-formation histories, and that each is dominated by stars older than 12 Gyr.