As NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft exits the solar system bound for interstellar space, it has traveled so far that the nearest stars have shifted markedly from their positions seen from Earth. We demonstrated this by imaging the Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359 fields from Earth and New Horizons on 2020 April 23, when the spacecraft was 47.1 au distant. The observed parallaxes for Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359 are 32 . ″ 4 and 15 . ″ 7 , respectively. These measurements are not of research grade, but directly seeing large stellar parallaxes between two widely separated simultaneous observers is vividly educational. Using the New Horizons positions of the two stars alone, referenced to the three-dimensional model (3D) of the solar neighborhood constructed from Gaia DR3 astrometry, further provides the spacecraft spatial position relative to nearby stars with 0.44 au accuracy. The range to New Horizons from the solar system barycenter is recovered to 0.27 au accuracy, and its angular direction to 0 . ° 4 accuracy, when compared to the precise values from NASA Deep Space Network tracking. This is the first time optical stellar astrometry has been used to determine the 3D location of a spacecraft with respect to nearby stars and the first time any method of interstellar navigation has been demonstrated for a spacecraft on an interstellar trajectory. We conclude that the best astrometric approach to navigating spacecraft on their departures to interstellar space is to use a single pair of the closest stars as references, rather than a large sample of more distant stars.

This is the fourth paper in the series of analyses of times of minimum and period variations in W UMa eclipsing binaries, and the implications for mass exchange in these systems. In this paper, the systems discussed in Papers 1-3 for which analyses are relatively complete are sorted into three sections, arranged in order of degree of confidence that mass exchange occurrence is established and that the present rate of exchange has been determined. The higher-confidence systems are: 44 Boo, RZ Cam, VW LMi, AU Ser; the intermediate-confidence systems are: TY Boo, V1191 Cyg, AP Leo, ER Ori; and the lower-confidence systems are: AB And, XY Boo, AC Boo, AH Cnc, VW Cep, EZ Hya, XY Leo, W UMa, and GR Vir. A fourth section describes promising cases that require additional data and/or analyses. For the higher-confidence systems, selected analyses of the times of minimum and of the most comprehensive light curve (LC) and radial velocity (RV) suites of data have yielded mean mass changes to the more massive component of dM(1)/dt = +2.37 (13) x 10(-7) M-circle dot/y for 44 Boo, +4.00 (14) x 10(-8) M-circle dot/y for RZ Com, +2.53 (7) x 10(-7) M-circle dot/y for VW LMi, and -1.98 (11) x 10(-7) M-circle dot/y for AU Ser.

Eclipsing binary stars have a rich history of contributing to the field of stellar astrophysics. Most of the available information on the fundamental properties of stars has come from the analysis of observations of binaries. The availability of powerful computers and sophisticated codes that apply physical models has resulted in determinations of masses and radii of sufficient accuracy to provide critical tests of theories of stellar structure and evolution. Despite their sophistication, these codes still require the guiding hand of trained scientists to extract reliable information. The computer code will produce results, but it is still imperative for the analyst to ensure that those results make astrophysical sense, and to ascertain their reliability. Care must be taken to ensure that we are asking the codes for parameters for which there is information in the data. The analysis of synthetic observations with simulated observational errors of typical size can provide valuable insight to the analysis process because the parameters used to generate the observations are known. Such observations are herein analyzed to guide the process of determining mass ratios and spot parameters from eclipsing binary light curves. The goal of this paper is to illustrate some of the subtleties that need to be recognized and treated properly when analyzing binary star data.

We obtained thorough photometric observations of two binary near-Earth asteroids (66391) Moshup = 1999 KW4 and (88710) 2001 SL9 taken from 2000 to 2019 and derived physical and dynamical properties of the binary systems. We found that the data for 1999 KW4 are inconsistent with a constant orbital period and we obtained unique solution with a quadratic drift of the mean anomaly of the satellite of -0.65 +/- 0.16 deg/yr2 (all quoted uncertainties are 3sigma). This means that the semimajor axis of the mutual orbit of the components of this binary system increases in time with a mean rate of 1.2 +/- 0.3 cm/yr. The data for 2001 SL9 are also inconsistent with a constant orbital period and we obtained two solutions for the quadratic drift of the mean anomaly: 2.8 +/- 0.2 and 5.2 +/- 0.2 deg/yr2, implying that the semimajor axis of the mutual orbit of the components decreases in time with a mean rate of -2.8 +/- 0.2 or -5.1 +/- 0.2 cm/yr for the two solutions, respectively. The expanding orbit of 1999 KW4 may be explained by mutual tides interplaying with binary YORP (BYORP) effect (McMahon and Scheeres, 2010). However, a modeling of the BYORP drift using radar-derived shapes of the binary components predicted a much higher value of the orbital drift than the observed one. It suggests that either the radar-derived shape model of the secondary is inadequate for computing the BYORP effect, or the present theory of BYORP overestimates it. It is possible that the BYORP coefficient has instead an opposite sign than predicted; in that case, the system may be moving into an equilibrium between the BYORP and the tides. In the case of 2001 SL9, the BYORP effect is the only known physical mechanism that can cause the inward drift of its mutual orbit.

BV observations of an approximately 68′×48′ field centered on the open cluster NGC 2281 and covering more than 400 nights from 2013 to 2018 are presented. The photometric observations were transformed to the standard system using standards from the American Association of Variable Star Observers Photometric All-sky Survey (APASS) DR10 and analyzed with Gaia DR2 parallaxes and proper motions to determine the distance, age, and metallicity of the cluster. The discovery of an eclipsing binary in the field is discussed.

We present the results from four stellar occultations by (486958) Arrokoth, the flyby target of the New Horizons extended mission. Three of the four efforts led to positive detections of the body, and all constrained the presence of rings and other debris, finding none. Twenty-five mobile stations were deployed for 2017 June 3 and augmented by fixed telescopes. There were no positive detections from this effort. The event on 2017 July 10 was observed by SOFIA with one very short chord. Twenty-four deployed stations on 2017 July 17 resulted in five chords that clearly showed a complicated shape consistent with a contact binary with rough dimensions of 20 by 30 km for the overall outline. A visible albedo of 10% was derived from these data. Twenty-two systems were deployed for the fourth event on 2018 Aug 4 and resulted in two chords. The combination of the occultation data and the flyby results provides a significant refinement of the rotation period, now estimated to be 15.9380 $\pm$ 0.0005 hours. The occultation data also provided high-precision astrometric constraints on the position of the object that were crucial for supporting the navigation for the New Horizons flyby. This work demonstrates an effective method for obtaining detailed size and shape information and probing for rings and dust on distant Kuiper Belt objects as well as being an important source of positional data that can aid in spacecraft navigation that is particularly useful for small and distant bodies.

We studied 93 asteroid pairs. We estimated times elapsed since separation of pair members that are between 7*10^3 and a few 10^6 yr. We derived the rotation periods for all the primaries and a sample of secondaries. We derived the absolute magnitude differences of the asteroid pairs that provide their mass ratios. We refined their WISE geometric albedos and estimated their taxonomic classifications. For 17 pairs, we determined their pole positions. In 2 pairs where we obtained the spin poles for both components, we saw the same sense of rotation for both components and constrained the angles between their original spin vectors at the time of their separation. We found that the primaries of 13 pairs are actually binary or triple systems, i.e., they have one or two bound secondaries (satellites). As by-product, we found 3 new young asteroid clusters (each of them consisting of three known asteroids on highly similar orbits). We compared the obtained asteroid pair data with theoretical predictions and discussed their implications. We found that 86 of the 93 studied pairs follow the trend of primary rotation period vs mass ratio that was found by Pravec et al. (2010). Of the 7 outliers, 3 appear insignificant (may be due to our uncertain or incomplete knowledge), but 4 are high mass ratio pairs that were unpredicted by the theory of asteroid pair formation by rotational fission. We discuss a (remotely) possible way that they could be created by rotational fission of flattened parent bodies followed by re-shaping of the formed components. The 13 pairs with binary primaries are particularly interesting systems that place important constraints on formation and evolution of asteroid pairs. We present two hypotheses for their formation: The pairs having both bound and unbound secondaries could be `failed asteroid clusters', or they could be formed by a cascade primary spin fission process.

CCD photometric data collected at UnderOak Observatory (UO) and Desert Bloom Observatory (DBO) in three bandpasses (B, V and IC) produced 10 new times of minimum for AU Ser which were used to revise the linear ephemeris.These results captured in 2011 and 2018 reinforced a longstanding observation that the shape of the light curve from this W UMa binary system (P=0.386497d) is highly variable.Significantly skewed peaks and differences at maximum light were detected during quadrature which could only be simulated during Roche modeling by positioning a hot spot on the secondary star close to the neck between both constituents.Historically this system has been variously classified as an F8, G5 and K0 system; however, this study supports more recent reports that AU Ser is best described as spectral type K1V-K2V.A fresh assessment of eclipse time residuals over the past 80 years has provided additional insight regarding cyclical changes in orbital period experienced by this interesting variable star.

New photometry and radial velocities of the eclipsing binary GSC 3870-01172 are reported.Simultaneous analysis of the data using the Direct Distance Estimation method yields the absolute parameters, as well as the distance to the binary.A comparison of the distances and proper motions indicates that the nearby star GSC 3870-01361 may be a third component of the system.

We studied the membership, size ratio and rotational properties of 13 asteroid clusters consisting of between 3 and 19 known members that are on similar heliocentric orbits. By backward integrations of their orbits, we confirmed their cluster membership and estimated times elapsed since separation of the secondaries (the smaller cluster members) from the primary (i.e., cluster age) that are between 105 and a few 106 years. We ran photometric observations for all the cluster primaries and a sample of secondaries and we derived their accurate absolute magnitudes and rotation periods. We found that 11 of the 13 clusters follow the same trend of primary rotation period vs mass ratio as asteroid pairs that was revealed by Pravec et al. (2010). We generalized the model of the post-fission system for asteroid pairs by Pravec et al. (2010) to a system of N components formed by rotational fission and we found excellent agreement between the data for the 11 asteroid clusters and the prediction from the theory of their formation by rotational fission. The two exceptions are the high-mass ratio (q > 0.7) clusters of (18777) Hobson and (22280) Mandragora for which a different formation mechanism is needed. Two candidate mechanisms for formation of more than one secondary by rotational fission were published: the secondary fission process proposed by Jacobson and Scheeres (2011) and a cratering collision event onto a nearly critically rotating primary proposed by Vokrouhlick et al. (2017). It will have to be revealed from future studies which of the clusters were formed by one or the other process. To that point, we found certain further interesting properties and features of the asteroid clusters that place constraints on the theories of their formation, among them the most intriguing being the possibility of a cascade disruption for some of the clusters. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ABSTRACT Spectral features, radial velocities, elemental abundance estimates, other spectral data, and BVI C light curves are reported for the double-M dwarf eclipsing binary CU Cancri—a good target for a radius check versus the Zero Age Main Sequence (ZAMS) due to the low component masses and corresponding very slow evolutionary expansion. The estimate of [Fe/H] is about 0.4, although continuum placement and other difficulties due to line crowding introduce the usual uncertainties for red dwarfs. Detection of the Li i λ6707 line was attempted, with an estimated upper limit of 50 mÅ. Spectral and photometric indicators of stellar activity are described and illustrated. Other objectives were to measure the stellar radii via simultaneous velocity and light-curve solutions of earlier and new data while also improving the ephemeris by filling gaps in timewise coverage with the new velocities and eclipse data from the new light curves. The radii from our solutions agree within about 2% with those from Ribas, being slightly larger than expected for most estimates of the ZAMS. Some aspects of the red dwarf radius anomaly are briefly discussed. Evolution tracks show only very slight age-related expansion for masses near those in CU Cnc. Such expansion could be significant if CU Cnc were similar in age to the Galaxy, but then its Galactic velocity components should be representative of Population II, and they are not.

The AAVSO Photometric All-Sky Survey (APASS) provides calibrated magnitudes in the range 7 < V < 17 for the entire sky, in the BVugriZsY bandpasses. While primarily designed for 0.02 mag calibration, it provides photometry over a many-year baseline, and also has near daily cadence in the standard field regions on the equator. Likewise, the Second Generation Synoptic Survey (2GSS) is a follow-on to APASS, and will provide daily cadence in two passbands for the entire sky.

Context. Parallaxes for 331 classical Cepheids, 31 Type II Cepheids, and 364 RR Lyrae stars in common between Gaia and the Hipparcos and Tycho-2 catalogues are published in Gaia Data Release 1 (DR1) as part of the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS).Aims. In order to test these first parallax measurements of the primary standard candles of the cosmological distance ladder, which involve astrometry collected by Gaia during the initial 14 months of science operation, we compared them with literature estimates and derived new period-luminosity (PL), period-Wesenheit (PW) relations for classical and Type II Cepheids and infrared PL, PL-metallicity (PLZ), and optical luminosity-metallicity (M-V-[Fe/H]) relations for the RR Lyrae stars, with zero points based on TGAS.Methods. Classical Cepheids were carefully selected in order to discard known or suspected binary systems. The final sample comprises 102 fundamental mode pulsators with periods ranging from 1.68 to 51.66 days (of which 33 with sigma(pi)/pi < 0.5). The Type II Cepheids include a total of 26 W Virginis and BL Herculis stars spanning the period range from 1.16 to 30.00 days (of which only 7 with sigma(pi)/pi < 0.5). The RR Lyrae stars include 200 sources with pulsation period ranging from 0.27 to 0.80 days (of which 112 with sigma(pi)/pi < 0.5). The new relations were computed using multi-band (V,I,J,K-s) photometry and spectroscopic metal abundances available in the literature, and by applying three alternative approaches: (i) linear least-squares fitting of the absolute magnitudes inferred from direct transformation of the TGAS parallaxes; (ii) adopting astrometry-based luminosities; and (iii) using a Bayesian fitting approach. The last two methods work in parallax space where parallaxes are used directly, thus maintaining symmetrical errors and allowing negative parallaxes to be used. The TGAS-based PL,PW,PLZ, and M-V- [Fe/H] relations are discussed by comparing the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud provided by different types of pulsating stars and alternative fitting methods.Results. Good agreement is found from direct comparison of the parallaxes of RR Lyrae stars for which both TGAS and HST measurements are available. Similarly, very good agreement is found between the TGAS values and the parallaxes inferred from the absolute magnitudes of Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars analysed with the Baade-Wesselink method. TGAS values also compare favourably with the parallaxes inferred by theoretical model fitting of the multi-band light curves for two of the three classical Cepheids and one RR Lyrae star, which were analysed with this technique in our samples. The K-band PL relations show the significant improvement of the TGAS parallaxes for Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars with respect to the Hipparcos measurements. This is particularly true for the RR Lyrae stars for which improvement in quality and statistics is impressive.Conclusions. TGAS parallaxes bring a significant added value to the previous Hipparcos estimates. The relations presented in this paper represent the first Gaia-calibrated relations and form a work-in-progress milestone report in the wait for Gaia-only parallaxes of which a first solution will become available with Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) in 2018.