The shapes and spin states of asteroids observed with photometric techniques can be reconstructed using the lightcurve inversion method. The resultant models can then be confirmed or exploited further by other techniques, such as adaptive optics, radar, thermal infrared, stellar occultations, or space probe imaging. During our ongoing work to increase the set of asteroids with known spin and shape parameters, there appeared a need for displaying the model plane-of-sky orientations for specific epochs to compare models from different techniques. It would also be instructive to be able to track how the complex lightcurves are produced by various asteroid shapes.
We analyze photometric observations of the three main-belt asteroids 350 Ornamenta, 771 Libera, and 984 Gretia, conducted over a twelve-year interval. Our data and those of other authors allow us to determine pole and shape models using the lightcurve inversion technique.
We present a new catalog of 404 M giant candidates found in the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS). The 2400deg^2^ available in the UKIDSS Large Area Survey Data Release 8 resolve M giants through a volume four times larger than that of the entire Two Micron All Sky Survey. Combining near-infrared photometry with optical photometry and proper motions from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey yields an M giant candidate catalog with less M dwarf and quasar contamination than previous searches for similarly distant M giants. Extensive follow-up spectroscopy of this sample will yield the first map of our Galaxy's outermost reaches over a large area of sky. Our initial spectroscopic follow-up of ~30 bright candidates yielded the positive identification of five M giants at distances ~20-90kpc. Each of these confirmed M giants have positions and velocities consistent with the Sagittarius stream. The fainter M giant candidates in our sample have estimated photometric distances ~200kpc (assuming [Fe/H]=0.0), but require further spectroscopic verification. The photometric distance estimates extend beyond the Milky Way's virial radius, and increase by ~50% for each 0.5dex decrease in assumed [Fe/H]. Given the number of M giant candidates, initial selection efficiency, and volume surveyed, we loosely estimate that at least one additional Sagittarius-like accretion event could have contributed to the hierarchical build-up of the Milky Way's outer halo.
We recently found the globular cluster (GC) EXT8 in M31 to have an extremely low metallicity of [Fe/H]=-2.91+/-0.04 using high-resolution spectroscopy. Here we present a colour-magnitude diagram (CMD) for EXT8, obtained with the Wide Field Camera 3 on board the Hubble Space Telescope. Compared with the CMDs of metal-poor Galactic GCs, we find that the upper red giant branch (RGB) of EXT8 is about 0.03mag bluer in F606W-F814W and slightly steeper, as expected from the low spectroscopic metallicity. The observed colour spread on the upper RGB is consistent with being caused entirely by the measurement uncertainties, and we place an upper limit of sigma(F606W-F814W)=0.015mag on any intrinsic colour spread. The corresponding metallicity spread can be up to sigma([Fe/H])=0.2dex or >0.7dex, depending on the isochrone library adopted. The horizontal branch (HB) is located mostly on the blue side of the instability strip and has a tail extending to at least M(F606W)=+3, as in the Galactic GC M15. We identify two candidate RR Lyrae variables and several UV-luminous post-HB/post-AGB star candidates, including one very bright (M(F300X)=-3.2) source near the centre of EXT8. The surface brightness of EXT8 out to a radius of 25 arcsec is well fitted by a Wilson-type profile with an ellipticity of epsilon=0.20, a semi-major axis core radius of 0.25", and a central surface brightness of 15.2mag per square arcsec in the F606W band, with no evidence of extra-tidal structure. Overall, EXT8 has properties consistent with it being a "normal", but very metal-poor GC, and its combination of relatively high mass and very low metallicity thus remains challenging to explain in the context of GC formation theories operating within the hierarchical galaxy assembly paradigm.
Using the 2m telescope of the Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory at Rozhen, observations of 246 double or multiple stars were carried out during six nights in 2012. This is the seventh series of measurements of CCD frames of double and multiple stars obtained at Rozhen. Also in 2012, using the 0.6m telescope of the Serbian Astronomical Station on the mountain of Vidojevica, observations of 117 double or multiple stars were carried out during five nights. This is the second series of measurements of CCD frames of double and multiple stars obtained at this station. In this paper we present the results for the position angle and angular separation for 453 pairs and residuals for 105 pairs with published orbital elements or linear solutions. These observations have angular separations in the range from 1.50'' to 178.12'', with a median angular separation of 8.13''. We also present the recalculated linear solution for one pair and three linear solutions that have been calculated for the first time.
Results of CCD observations of 154 double or multiple stars, made with the 2 m telescope of the Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory at Rozhen over five nights in 2015, are presented. This is the ninth series of measurements of CCD frames obtained at Rozhen. We also present results of CCD observations of 323 double or multiple stars made with the 0.6 m telescope of the Serbian Astronomical Station on the mountain of Vidojevica over 23 nights in 2015. This is the fourth series of measurements of CCD frames obtained at this station. This paper contains the results for the position angle and angular separation for 801 pairs and residuals for 127 pairs with published orbital elements or linear solutions. The angular separations are in the range from 1.52" to 201.56", with a median angular separation of 8.26". We also present eight pairs that are measured for the first time and linear elements for five pairs.
Photometric observations are presented for 8747 galaxies in the fields of 28 clusters with redshifts in the range 0.05<z<0.11 and spanning a wide range in Abell richness class. The primary motivation for this study is to provide a nearby sample of clusters whose galaxy populations can be used to provide an anchor point for evolutionary studies of cluster galaxy populations.