We explore the 2013 Planck likelihood function with a high-precision multi-dimensional minimizer (Minuit). This allows a refinement of the ΛCDM best-fit solution with respect to previously-released results, and the construction of frequentist confidence intervals using profile likelihoods. The agreement with the cosmological results from the

Context. We analyze spectropolarimetric data taken with the Hinode spacecraft in quiet solar regions at the disk center. Distorted redshifted Stokes V profiles are found that show a characteristic evolution that always follows the same sequence of phases. Aims: We aim to characterize the statistical properties of these events and recover the

Context. Solar-like oscillations have been observed by Kepler and CoRoT in many solar-type stars, thereby providing a way to probe the stars using asteroseismology. Aims: We provide the mode linewidths and mode heights of the oscillations of various stars as a function of frequency and of effective temperature. Methods: We used a time series of

Magnetic field measurements in the upper chromosphere and above, where the gas-to-magnetic pressure ratio β is lower than unity, are essential for understanding the thermal structure and dynamical activity of the solar atmosphere. Recent developments in the theory and numerical modeling of polarization in spectral lines have suggested that

The O-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars experience strong mass-loss with efficient dust condensation and they are major sources of dust in the interstellar medium. Alumina dust (Al2O3) is an important dust component in O-rich circumstellar shells and it is expected to be fairly abundant in the winds of the more massive and O-rich AGB stars

During HST Cycle 19, we obtained long-slit spectra using STIS of the planetary nebula NGC 3242 with higher spatial resolution than previously published. The full wavelength range is around 1100-10200Å, covering many nebular lines for determining numerous ionic abundances and electron densities and temperatures. In this work, we first analyze the