Solar wavefront sensing has been a challenge for astrophysical instrumentalists, due to the low contrast between the Sun and the sky background compared to night-time observations, which limits the performance of adaptive optics systems. Wavefront correction in solar physics requires the analysis of extended images; meanwhile, at night the displacement of a punctual object is analysed. This technique limits the spatial resolution, and therefore the accuracy in the wavefront reconstruction. To solve this problem, a new method of direct wavefront sensing without the need for image formation
The Necklace nebula is a bipolar, post-common-envelope planetary nebula, the central star of which has been shown to have a dwarf carbon star companion. We aim to understand the origins of the Necklace and its dwarf carbon central star. We study the carbon abundance of the nebula through far-ultraviolet spectroscopy obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. Furthermore, through simultaneous modelling of multi-band light and velocity curves, we attempt to constrain the parameters of the central star system. Puzzlingly, we find that the region of the inner nebula observed with the Hubble Space
Research on the formation, origin, and evolution of the dichotomy between the thin and thick disk components of the Milky Way has been a major topic of study, as it is key to understanding how our Galaxy formed. However, this is not an easy task, since populations defined by their morphology or kinematics show a mixture of chemically distinct stellar populations. Age therefore becomes a fundamental parameter for understanding the evolution of the Galactic disk. Our goal is to derive the age and metallicity distributions of the thin and thick disks defined kinematically, in order to reveal