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First experimental line strength data for the visible Kr II lines and for several of the more prominent Kr I lines are given. The spectroscopic light source used is the thermal plasma behind the reflected shock wave in a gas-driven shock tube. A 3/4-m spectrograph and a 1-m spectrograph were employed simultaneously to provide redundant photometry. The data are compared with other measurements and with theoretical calculations.
High precision photometry from a spaceborne telescope has the potential of discovering sub-earth sized inner planets. Model calculations by Wetherill indicate that Mars-sized planets can be expected to form throughout the range of orbits from that of Mercury to Mars. While a transit of an Earth-sized planet causes a 0.084% decrease in brightness from a solar-like star, a transit of a planet as small as Mars causes a flux decrease of only 0.023%. Stellar variability will be the limiting factor for transit measurements. Recent analysis of solar variability from the SOLSTICE experiment shows that much of the variability is in the UV at <400 nm. Combining this result with the total flux variability measured by the ACRIM-1 photometer implies that the Sun has relative amplitude variations of about 0.0007% in the 17-69 pHz bandpass and is presumably typical for solar-like stars. Tests were conducted at Lick Observatory to determine the photometric precision of CCD detectors in the 17-69 pHz bandpass. With frame-by-frame corrections of the image centroids it was found that a precision of 0.001% could be readily achieved, corresponding to a signal to noise ratio of 1.4, provided the telescope aperture was sufficient to keep the statistical noise below 0.0006%. With 24 transits a planet as small as Mars should be reliably detectable. If Wetherill's models are correct in postulating that Mars-like planets are present in Mercury-like orbits, then a six year search should be able to find them.
We report the first discovery of a thick-disk planet, LHS 1815b (TOI-704b, TIC 260004324), detected in the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) survey. LHS 1815b transits a bright (V = 12.19 mag, K = 7.99 mag) and quiet M dwarf located 29.87 ± 0.02 pc away with a mass of 0.502 ± 0.015 M {sub ⊙} and a radius of 0.501 ± 0.030 R {sub ⊙}. We validate the planet by combining space- and ground-based photometry, spectroscopy, and imaging. The planet has a radius of 1.088 ± 0.064 R {sub ⊕} with a 3σ mass upper limit of 8.7 M {sub ⊕}. We analyze the galactic kinematics and orbit of the host star LHS 1815 and find that it has a large probability (P {sub thick}/P {sub thin} = 6482) to be in the thick disk with a much higher expected maximal height (Z {sub max} = 1.8 kpc) above the Galactic plane compared with other TESS planet host stars. Future studies of the interior structure and atmospheric properties of planets in such systems using, for example, the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, can investigate the differences in formation efficiency and evolution for planetary systems between different Galactic components (thick disks, thin disks, and halo).
M dwarfs are the most abundant stars in the Solar Neighborhood and they are prime targets for searching for rocky planets in habitable zones. Consequently, a detailed characterization of these stars is in demand. The spectral sub-type is one of the parameters that is used for the characterization and it is traditionally derived from the observed spectra. However, obtaining the spectra of M dwarfs is expensive in terms of observation time and resources due to their intrinsic faintness. We study the performance of four machine-learning (ML) models—K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Random Forest (RF), Probabilistic Random Forest (PRF), and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP)—in identifying the spectral sub-types of M dwarfs at a grand scale by deploying broadband photometry in the optical and near-infrared. We trained the ML models by using the spectroscopically identified M dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release (DR) 7, together with their photometric colors that were derived from the SDSS, Two-Micron All-Sky Survey, and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. We found that the RF, PRF, and MLP give a comparable prediction accuracy, 74%, while the KNN provides slightly lower accuracy, 71%. We also found that these models can predict the spectral sub-type of M dwarfs with ~99% accuracy within ±1 sub-type. The five most useful features for the prediction are r - z, r - i, r - J, r - H , and g - z, and hence lacking data in all SDSS bands substantially reduces the prediction accuracy. However, we can achieve an accuracy of over 70% when the r and i magnitudes are available. Since the stars in this study are nearby (d ≲ 1300 pc for 95% of the stars), the dust extinction can reduce the prediction accuracy by only 3%. Finally, we used our optimized RF models to predict the spectral sub-types of M dwarfs from the Catalog of Cool Dwarf Targets for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, and we provide the optimized RF models for public use.
Launched by NASA on 6 March 2009, the Kepler Mission has been observing more than 100,000 targets in a single patch of sky between the constellations Cygnus and Lyra almost continuously for the last two years looking for planetary systems using the transit method. As of October 2011, the Kepler spacecraft has collected and returned to Earth just over 290 GB of data, identifying 1235 planet candidates with 25 of these candidates confirmed as planets via ground observation. Extracting the telltale signature of a planetary system from stellar photometry where valid signal transients can be small as a 40 ppm is a difficult and exacting task. The end-to end processing of determining planetary candidates from noisy, raw photometric measurements is discussed.
ABSTRACT We report the discovery of two transiting planets detected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), TOI-2374 b and TOI-3071 b, orbiting a K5V and an F8V star, respectively, with periods of 4.31 and 1.27 d, respectively. We confirm and characterize these two planets with a variety of ground-based and follow-up observations, including photometry, precise radial velocity monitoring and high-resolution imaging. The planetary and orbital parameters were derived from a joint analysis of the radial velocities and photometric data. We found that the two planets have masses of (57 ± 4) M⊕ or (0.18 ± 0.01) MJ, and (68 ± 4) M⊕ or (0.21 ± 0.01) MJ, respectively, and they have radii of (6.8 ± 0.3) R⊕ or (0.61 ± 0.03) RJ and (7.2 ± 0.5) R⊕ or (0.64 ± 0.05) RJ, respectively. These parameters correspond to sub-Saturns within the Neptunian desert, both planets being hot and highly irradiated, with Teq ≈ 745 K and Teq ≈ 1812 K, respectively, assuming a Bond albedo of 0.5. TOI-3071 b has the hottest equilibrium temperature of all known planets with masses between 10 and 300 M⊕ and radii less than 1.5 RJ. By applying gas giant evolution models we found that both planets, especially TOI-3071 b, are very metal-rich. This challenges standard formation models which generally predict lower heavy-element masses for planets with similar characteristics. We studied the evolution of the planets’ atmospheres under photoevaporation and concluded that both are stable against evaporation due to their large masses and likely high metallicities in their gaseous envelopes.
I have used high-precision photometry and astrometry from the third data release of Gaia (DR3) to identify candidate members of the 32 Ori association. Spectral types and radial velocities have been measured for subsets of the candidates using new and archival spectra. For the candidates that have radial velocity measurements, I have used UVW velocities to further constrain their membership, arriving at a final catalog of 169 candidates. I estimate that the completeness of the survey is ~90% for spectral types of ≲M7 (≳0.06 M ⊙ ). The histogram of spectral types for the 32 Ori candidates exhibits a maximum at M5 (~0.15 M ⊙ ), resembling the distributions measured for other young clusters and associations in the solar neighborhood. The available UVW velocities indicate that the association is expanding, but they do not produce a well-defined kinematic age. Based on their sequences of low-mass stars in color–magnitude diagrams, the 32 Ori association and Upper Centaurus-Lupus/Lower Centaurus-Crux (UCL/LCC) are coeval to within ±1.2 Myr, and they are younger than the β Pic moving group by ~3 Myr, which agrees with results from previous analysis based on the second data release of Gaia. Finally, I have used mid-IR photometry from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to check for excess emission from circumstellar disks among the 32 Ori candidates. Disks are detected for 18 candidates, half of which are reported for the first time in this work. The fraction of candidates at ≤M6 that have full, transitional, or evolved disks is 10/149 = 0.07$^{+0.03}_{-0.02'}$ which is consistent with the value for UCL/LCC.
It is pointed out that the use of temperatures below 1 K in space would provide a significant improvement in several areas of research. The sensitivity of bolometers, for instance, can be improvead by as much as a factor of 50, if the operating temperature is lowered from 1.5 K to 0.3 K. A decrease in temperature to 0.1 K can provide even an improvement up to three orders of magnitude. Detectors based on the utilization of such improvements could be employed for far-infrared (100-1000 microns) photometry and spectroscopy in the low-background conditions of space. The study of critical phenomena in He-3/He-4 mixtures is also of interest, taking into account investigations at the tricritical point (0.87 K), which represents the junction of a first-order and a second-order transition. Tests in space are needed because gravity-related effects make adequate tests on earth impossible. He-3 refrigeration can be used to attain temperatures below 1 K. Adiabatic demagnetization can produuce temperatures below 0.3 K.
The Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array (MSSTA) is a rocket borne solar observatory designed to address a wide range of scientific questions relating to two aspects of the structure and dynamics of the solar atmosphere: (1) The heating and dynamics of chromospheric and coronal structures including spicules, coronal loops, bright points, and planes; and the role of the fine scale structure of the chromospheric network in the transport of mass and energy between these structures, and (2) The large scale structures of the corona, including the interface of prominences and filaments with material at coronal temperatures, the transition region structure of coronal holes and plumes, and their relationship to the solar wind. In order to address these fundamental scientific problems, the observational objective of the MSSTA is to obtain a set of high resolution spectroheliograms with the following properties: (1) Sufficiently broad spectral coverage and accurate photometry to allow modeling of structures covering the full range of temperatures observed in non-flaring chromosphere/corona, 10(exp 4) K to 10(exp 7) K; (2) Sufficient spectral resolution (lambda / delta lambda approx. 30-100) in each spectroheliogram to allow isolation of the emission from lines excited over a narrow range of temperatures; (3) To address objective (a), spatial resolution sufficient to resolve structures on the sun on a scale of 100-200 km (0.1-0.3 arc seconds); to address objective (b), images of the full disk and inner corona with resolution at least 1.0 arc second, and high sensitivity images of the extended corona (to approx. 3-4 solar radii above the limb) with resolution of approx. 3 arc seconds; for both objectives (c), direct measurements of the coronal magnetic field. (4) To access the role of non-thermal phenomena in the heating and dynamics of the chromosphere/corona interface, high resolution (lambda / delta lambda greater than 1000) spectroheliograms with spatial resolution of 1-3 arc seconds.
We presented infrared photometry obtained with the IRAC camera on the Spitzer Space Telescope of a sample of 82 pre-main-sequence stars and brown dwarfs in the Taurus starforming region. We find a clear separation in some IRAC color-color diagrams between objects with and without disks. A few "transition" objects are noted, which correspond to systems in which the inner disk has been evacuated of small dust. Separating pure disk systems from objects with remnant protostellar envelopes is more difficult at IRAC wavelengths, especially for objects with infall at low rates and large angular momenta. Our results generally confirm the IRAC color classification scheme used in previous papers by Allen et al. and Megeath et al. to distinguish between protostars, T Tauri stars with disks, and young stars without (inner) disks. The observed IRAC colors are in good agreement with recent improved disk models, and in general accord with models for protostellar envelopes derived from analyzing a larger wavelength region. We also comment on a few Taurus objects of special interest. Our results should be useful for interpreting IRAC results in other, less well studied star-forming regions.
We report the discovery of TOI-172 b from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission, a massive hot Jupiter transiting a slightly evolved G star with a 9.48-day orbital period. This is the first planet to be confirmed from analysis of only the TESS full frame images, because the host star was not chosen as a two-minute cadence target. From a global analysis of the TESS photometry and follow-up observations carried out by the TESS Follow-up Observing Program Working Group, TOI-172 (TIC 29857954) is a slightly evolved star with an effective temperature of T(eff) = 5645 ± 50 K, a mass of M(⋆) =1.128(sub -0.061, sup +0.065) M(☉), radius of R(⋆) =1.777(sub -0.044, sup +0.047) R(☉), a surface gravity of log g(⋆) =3.993(sub -0.028, sup +0.027), and an age of 7.4(sub -1.5, sup +1.6) Gyr. Its planetary companion (TOI-172 b) has a radius of R(P) =0.965(sub -0.029, sup +0.032) R(J), a mass of M(P) =5.42(sub -0.20, sup +0.22) M(J), and is on an eccentric orbit (e=0.3806(sub -0.0090, sup +0.0093)). TOI-172 b is one of the few known massive giant planets on a highly eccentric short-period orbit. Future study of the atmosphere of this planet and its system architecture offer opportunities to understand the formation and evolution of similar systems.
We present preliminary trigonometric parallaxes and proper motions for 22 L dwarfs and 18 T dwarfs measured using the ASTROCAM infrared imager on the US naval Observatory (USNO) 1.55 m Strand Astrometric Reflector. The results presented here are based on observations obtained between 2000 September and 2002 November; about half of the objects have an observational time baseline of t 1:3 yr and half t 2:0 yr. Despite these short time baselines, the astrometric quality is sufficient to produce significant new results, especially for the nearer T dwarfs. Seven objects are in common with the USNO optical CCD parallax program for quality control and seven in common with the European Southern Observatory 3.5 m New Technology Telescope parallax program. We compare astrometric quality with both of these programs. Relative to absolute parallax corrections are made by employing Two Micron All Sky Survey and/or Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometry for reference-frame stars. We combine USNO infrared and optical parallaxes with the best available California Institute of Technology (CIT) system photometry to determine MJ , MH, and MK values for 37 L dwarfs between spectral types L0 and L8 and 19 T dwarfs between spectral types T0.5 and T8 and present selected absolute magnitude versus spectral type and color diagrams, based on these results. Luminosities and temperatures are estimated for these objects. Of special interest are the distances of several objects that are at or near the L-T dwarf boundary so that this important transition can be better understood. The previously reported early to mid T dwarf luminosity excess is clearly confirmed and found to be present at J, H, and K. The large number of objects that populate this luminosity-excess region indicate that it cannot be due entirely to selection effects. The T dwarf sequence is extended to MJ 16:9 by 2MASS J041519 0935, which, at d 5:74 pc, is found to be the lluminous LOG (L=L )pa
The results of recent studies of bipolar nebulae (BPN) using nebular-polarization mapping, spectropolarimetry, near-IR spectroscopy, far-IR photometry, and radio-maser and continuum observations are surveyed. The characteristics of several BPN of different evolutionary types are discussed and illustrated with spectra, model drawings, and maps. As shown in a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of 19 BPN, this morphological class includes pre-main-sequence stars, red giants in transition to ordinary planetary nebulae, pre-white-dwarfs, a dust-shrouded carbon star, and a visual binary with a type-O primary. VLA 6-cm observations of the latter object, MWC 349, reveal a morphology similar to the optical structure of the Red Rectangle illuminated by HD 44179: it is suggested that equatorial dusty tori may occur commonly at different phases of stellar evolution, and hence that BPN may be relatively abundant, although short-lived, phenomena.
The photometric behavior of the Herbig Ae star V351 Ori was investigated combining data from the literature with new photometry. It is shown that this object changed from a Herbig Ae star with strong photometric variations, due to extinction by circumstellar dust clouds, to that of an almost non-variable star. Such a behavior is not unique; it has been found also in the star BN Ori. This suggests that such transitions as well as the opposite must occur quite often during the evolution of these intermediate mass stars towards the main-sequence. A provisional model to explain V351 Ori's behavior, in which it is assumed that a temporarily strong accretion of matter onto the star took place, is proposed.
The paper presents cloud structure models for Jupiter's Great Red Spot, Equatorial and North Tropical Zones, North and South Temperate Zones, and North and South Polar Regions. The models are based on images of Jupiter in three methane bands and nearby continuum; radiative transfer calculations include multiple scattering and absorption from three aerosol layers. The model results include the transition in the upper-cloud altitude to 3 km lower altitude from the tropical zones to temperate zones and polar regions, a N/S asymmetry in cloud thickness in the tropical and temperature zones, and the presence of aerosols up to about 0.3 bar in the Great Red Spot and Equatorial Zone. It is concluded that polarization data are sensitive to aerosols in and above the upper cloud layer but insensitive to deeper cloud structure.
The comet 2060 Chiron has proven to be an interesting and enigmatic object. Situated between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus, it was originally classified as the most distant asteroid. It began to show cometary behavior in 1987 by increasing a full magnitude in brightness and developing a coma; there is evidence also for similar earlier outbursts. A thorough study of Chiron is important for two reasons: (1) it is a transition object defining the relationship between comets, asteroids, and meteorites; and (2) a full description of its changes in brightness - particularly on time scale of hours - will provide an empirical foundation for understanding the physical mechanisms (including outgassing, sublimation of volatiles, and even significant mass ejections) driving the evolution of comets. Short term outbursts were observed in early 1989, and a rapid decrease in brightness of Chiron's coma was observed in 1990 in the V and R filters. Also, a rotational lightcurve was detected of the nucleus with an amplitude only 1/4 that observed in its quiescent state: this fact indicates the increased importance of the optically thin coma to the observed brightness.
After multifilter photometry of the W UMa-type contact binary VW Cep (P = 6.67 hr; G5V + K0V) in 1986/87 revealed large asymmetries in the light curves believed to be caused by large, cool starspot regions on the surface of the larger stars, in Apr. 1987 it was observed with IUE to study the chromospheres and transition regions of the components. During one complete orbital cycle, three SWP and four LWP low dispersion spectra were obtained, including and then excluding the suspected active region. Phase dependent TR line emission strengths were found, most notably C IV, which is 50 percent stronger when the spot region is most visible. The results could be important because VW Cep represents an extreme case for studying stellar dynamo theory and observations can play a crucial role in the unterstanding of magnetic fields and activity cycles in rapidly rotating solar-like stars.
Ground-based photoelectric photometry in b, y, and the 6190 and 7250 A methane-bands, as well as spectrum scans of the methane 6190 A band and CCD images at 6190 and 8900 A, were obtained for Neptune during Voyager 2's approach of that planet on August 24, 1989. Photometric variations are presently correlated with the disk transit of bright planetary features, and the changes in feature distribution and brightness noted in the results are evaluated for implications bearing on long-term variability. It is suggested that the long-term secular variation is related to a slow change in a size of location of both the bright companion and the Great Dark Spot.