ABSTRACT
In the two decades since the first extra‐solar planet was discovered, the detection and characterization of extra‐solar planets has become one of the key endeavours in all of modern science. ...Recently, direct detection techniques such as interferometry or coronagraphy have received growing attention because they reveal the population of exoplanets inaccessible to Doppler or transit techniques, and moreover they allow the faint signal from the planet itself to be investigated. Next‐generation stellar interferometers are increasingly incorporating photonic technologies due to the increase in fidelity of the data generated. Here, we report the design, construction and commissioning of a new high‐contrast imager, the integrated pupil‐remapping interferometer, an instrument we expect will find application in the detection of young faint companions in the nearest star‐forming regions. The laboratory characterization of the instrument demonstrated high‐visibility fringes on all interferometer baselines in addition to stable closure phase signals. We also report the first successful on‐sky experiments with the prototype instrument at the 3.9‐m Anglo‐Australian Telescope. Performance metrics recovered were consistent with ideal device behaviour after accounting for expected levels of decoherence and signal loss from the uncompensated seeing. The prospect of complete Fourier coverage coupled with the current performance metrics means that this photonically enhanced instrument is well positioned to contribute to the science of high‐contrast companions.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Context. Theory surrounding the origin of the dust-laden winds from evolved stars remains mired in controversy. Characterizing the formation loci and the dust distribution within approximately the ...first stellar radius above the surface is crucial for understanding the physics that underlie the mass-loss phenomenon. Aims. By exploiting interferometric polarimetry, we derive the fundamental parameters that govern the dust structure at the wind base of a red supergiant. Methods. We present near-infrared aperture-masking observations of Betelgeuse in polarimetric mode obtained with the NACO/SAMPol instrument. We used both parametric models and radiative transfer simulations to predict polarimetric differential visibility data and compared them to SPHERE/ZIMPOL measurements. Results. Using a thin dust shell model, we report the discovery of a dust halo that is located at only 0.5 R⋆ above the photosphere (i.e. an inner radius of the dust halo of 1.5 R⋆). By fitting the data under the assumption of Mie scattering, we estimate the grain size and density for various dust species. By extrapolating to the visible wavelengths using radiative transfer simulations, we compare our model with SPHERE/ZIMPOL data and find that models based on dust mixtures that are dominated by forsterite are most favored. Such a close dusty atmosphere has profound implications for the dust formation mechanisms around red supergiants.
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FMFMET, NUK, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
The most powerful tests of stellar models come from the brightest stars in the sky, for which complementary techniques, such as astrometry, asteroseismology, spectroscopy and interferometry, ...can be combined. The K2 mission is providing a unique opportunity to obtain high-precision photometric time series for bright stars along the ecliptic. However, bright targets require a large number of pixels to capture the entirety of the stellar flux, and CCD saturation, as well as restrictions on data storage and bandwidth, limit the number and brightness of stars that can be observed. To overcome this, we have developed a new photometric technique, which we call halo photometry, to observe very bright stars using a limited number of pixels. Halo photometry is simple, fast and does not require extensive pixel allocation, and will allow us to use K2 and other photometric missions, such as TESS, to observe very bright stars for asteroseismology and to search for transiting exoplanets. We apply this method to the seven brightest stars in the Pleiades open cluster. Each star exhibits variability; six of the stars show what are most likely slowly pulsating B-star pulsations, with amplitudes ranging from 20 to 2000 ppm. For the star Maia, we demonstrate the utility of combining K2 photometry with spectroscopy and interferometry to show that it is not a ‘Maia variable’, and to establish that its variability is caused by rotational modulation of a large chemical spot on a 10 d time-scale.
We present the first multiplicity-dedicated long-baseline optical interferometric survey of the Scorpius-Centaurus-Lupus-Crux association. We used the Sydney University Stellar Interferometer to ...undertake a survey for new companions to 58 Sco-Cen B-type stars and have detected 24 companions at separations ranging from 7 to 130 mas, 14 of which are new detections. Furthermore, we use a Bayesian analysis and all available information in the literature to determine the multiplicity distribution of the 58 stars in our sample, showing that the companion frequency is f = 1.35 ± 0.25 and the mass ratio distribution is best described by q
γ with γ = −0.46, agreeing with previous Sco-Cen high-mass work and differing significantly from lower mass stars in Tau-Aur. Based on our analysis, we estimate that among young B-type stars in moving groups, up to 23 per cent are apparently single stars. This has strong implications for the understanding of high-mass star formation, which requires angular momentum dispersal through some mechanism such as formation of multiple systems.
High angular resolution images of IRC+10216 are presented in several near-infrared wavelengths spanning more than 8 years. These maps have been reconstructed from interferometric observations ...obtained at both Keck and the VLT, and also from stellar occultations by the rings of Saturn observed with the Cassini spacecraft. The dynamic inner regions of the circumstellar environment are monitored over eight epochs ranging between 2000 January and 2008 July. The system is shown to experience substantial evolution within this period including the fading of many previously reported persistent features, some of which had been identified as the stellar photosphere. These changes are discussed in the context of existing models for the nature of the underlying star and the circumstellar environment. With access to these new images, we are able to report that none of the previously identified bright spots in fact contains the star, which is buried in its own dust and not directly visible in the near-infrared.
Abstract
Debate over the planet occurrence rates around intermediate-mass stars has hinged on the accurate determination of masses of evolved stars, and has been exacerbated by a paucity of reliable, ...directly measured fundamental properties for these stars. We present long-baseline optical interferometry of five evolved intermediate-mass (∼ 1.5 M⊙) planet-hosting stars using the PAVO beam combiner at the CHARA Array, which we combine with bolometric flux measurements and parallaxes to determine their radii and effective temperatures. We measured the radii and effective temperatures of 6 Lyncis (5.12 ± 0.16 R⊙, 4949 ± 58 K), 24 Sextantis (5.49 ± 0.18 R⊙, 4908 ± 65 K), κ Coronae Borealis (4.77 ± 0.07 R⊙, 4870 ± 47 K), HR 6817 (4.45 ± 0.08 R⊙, 5013 ± 59 K), and HR 8461 (4.91 ± 0.12 R⊙, 4950 ± 68 K). We find disagreements of typically 15 per cent in angular diameter and ∼200 K in temperature compared to interferometric measurements in the literature, yet good agreement with spectroscopic and photometric temperatures, concluding that the previous interferometric measurements may have been affected by systematic errors exceeding their formal uncertainties. Modelling based on BaSTI isochrones using various sets of asteroseismic, spectroscopic, and interferometric constraints tends to favour slightly (∼15 per cent) lower masses than generally reported in the literature.
We present first results of an experiment to combine data from Keck aperture masking and the Infrared-Optical Telescope Array to image the circumstellar environments of evolved stars with approx20 ...mas resolution. The unique combination of excellent Fourier coverage at short baselines and high- quality long-baseline fringe data allows us to determine the location and clumpiness of the innermost hot dust in the envelopes and to measure the diameters of the underlying stars themselves. We find evidence for large-scale inhomogeneities in some dust shells and also significant deviations from uniform brightness for the photospheres of the most evolved M stars. Deviations from spherically symmetric mass loss in the red supergiant NML Cyg could be related to recent evidence for dynamically important magnetic fields and/or stellar rotation. We point out that dust shell asymmetries, like those observed here, can qualitatively explain the difficulty recent workers have had in simultaneously fitting the broadband spectral energy distributions and high-resolution spatial information, without invoking unusual dust properties or multiple distinct shells (from hypothetical "superwinds"). This paper is the first to combine optical interferometry data from multiple facilities for imaging, and we discuss the challenges and potential for the future of this method, given current calibration and software limitations.
ABSTRACT
The recently discovered colliding-wind binary (CWB) Apep has been shown to emit luminously from radio to X-rays, with the emission driven by a binary composed of two Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars of ...one carbon-sequence (WC8) and one nitrogen-sequence (WN4–6b). Mid-infrared imaging revealed a giant spiral dust plume that is reminiscent of a pinwheel nebula but with additional features that suggest Apep is a unique system. We have conducted observations with the Australian Long Baseline Array to resolve Apep’s radio emission on milliarcsecond scales, allowing us to relate the geometry of the wind-collision region to that of the spiral plume. The observed radio emission shows a bow-shaped structure, confirming its origin as a wind-collision region. The shape and orientation of this region is consistent with being originated by the two stars and with being likely dominated by the stronger wind of the WN4–6b star. This shape allowed us to provide a rough estimation of the opening angle of ∼150○ assuming ideal conditions. The orientation and opening angle of the emission also confirms it as the basis for the spiral dust plume. We also provide estimations for the two stars in the system to milliarcsecond precision. The observed radio emission, one order of magnitude brighter and more luminous than any other known non-thermal radio-emitting CWB, confirms it is produced by an extremely powerful wind collision. Such a powerful wind-collision region is consistent with Apep being a binary composed of two WR stars, so far the first unambiguously confirmed system of its kind.
We report a dynamical measurement of the mass of the brown dwarf GJ 802B using aperture-masking interferometry and astrometry. In addition, we report the discovery that GJ 802A is itself a close ...spectroscopic noneclipsing binary with a 19 hr period. We find the mass of GJ 802B to be image. GJ 802 has kinematics inconsistent with a young star and more consistent with the thick-disk population, implying a system age of image10 Gyr. However, model evolutionary tracks for GJ 802B predict system ages of image2 Gyr, suggesting that brown dwarf evolutionary models may be underestimating luminosity for old brown dwarfs.
ABSTRACT
Infrared imaging of the colliding-wind binary Apep has revealed a spectacular dust plume with complicated internal dynamics that challenges standard colliding-wind binary physics. Such ...challenges can be potentially resolved if a rapidly rotating Wolf–Rayet star is located at the heart of the system, implicating Apep as a Galactic progenitor system to long-duration gamma-ray bursts. One of the difficulties in interpreting the dynamics of Apep is that the spectral composition of the stars in the system was unclear. Here, we present visual to near-infrared spectra that demonstrate that the central component of Apep is composed of two classical Wolf–Rayet stars of carbon- (WC8) and nitrogen-sequence (WN4-6b) subtypes. We argue that such an assignment represents the strongest case of a classical Wolf–Rayet+Wolf–Rayet binary system in the Milky Way. The terminal line-of-sight wind velocities of the WC8 and WN4-6b stars are measured to be 2100 ± 200 and 3500 ± 100 km s−1, respectively. If the mass-loss rate of the two stars are typical for their spectral class, the momentum ratio of the colliding winds is expected to be ≈0.4. Since the expansion velocity of the dust plume is significantly smaller than either of the measured terminal velocities, we explore the suggestion that one of the Wolf–Rayet winds is anisotropic. We can recover a shock-compressed wind velocity consistent with the observed dust expansion velocity if the WC8 star produces a significantly slow equatorial wind with a velocity of ≈530 km s−1. Such slow wind speeds can be driven by near-critical rotation of a Wolf–Rayet star.
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