Do " isolated " planetary mass objects orbit invisible stellar mass companions? Abstract We propose that the " isolated " planetary mass objects observed by Zapa-tero Osorio et al in the σ Orionis cluster might actually be in orbit around invisible stellar mass companions such as mirror stars. The existence of such objects can be motivated by the dark matter problem and the observation of MACHO...

A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) was supplemented with affective artificial study companions to aid summarisation. To motivate students the companions were made believable by implementing opposite ‘affectations’ or behaviour-based believable personalities realised as animated agents. The agents were carefully evolved through the use of a user-centred Wizard-of-Oz (WoZ) approach then subsequ...

We have carried out near-infrared spectroscopic observations of 23 very low-luminosity young stellar object (YSO) candidates and 5 their companions in Heiles Cloud 2, one of the densest parts of the Taurus molecular cloud. Twelve objects were confirmed as YSOs by Brγ feature. The effective temperatures of the YSOs and of the companions are estimated from the 2.26 μm feature, the 2.21 μm feature...

We analyze the photometry of 117 OGLE stars with periodic transit events for the presence of ellipsoidal light variations, which indicate the presence of massive companions. We find that ∼ 50% of objects may have stellar companions, mostly among the short period systems. In our Table 1 we identify a coefficient of ellipsoidal variability for each star, a c2 , which can be used to select prime c...

Animals therapy serves as a unique tool for caregivers in both eldercare and therapeutic situations. Music therapy is also an established therapeutic practice. Robot therapy is a new field of research where robots serve a similar function as therapy animals. This paper looks at robot bird companions. The aim is to leverage the benefits of both animal therapy and music therapy. The robot compani...

We present orbital solutions for three low-amplitude spectroscopic binaries discovered in a sample of 20 solar-type IAU radial-velocity standard stars observed with the Digital Speedometers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. We update the orbital solutions for HD 114762 and HD 140913, and present a preliminary new solution for HD 29587. For all three orbits the minimum mass for...

Context. High contrast and high angular resolution imaging is the optimal search technique for substellar companions to nearby stars at physical separations larger than typically 10 AU. Two distinct populations of substellar companions, brown dwarfs and planets, can be probed and characterized. As a result, fossile traces of processes of formation and evolution can be revealed by physical and o...