NICS (the Near Infrared Camera Spectrometer) is a cooled near-infrared camera-spectrometer that has been developed by the Arcetri Infrared Group at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, in ...collaboration with the CAISMI-CNR for the TNG (the Italian National Telescope Galileo at La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain). As NICS is in its scientific commissioning phase, we report its observing capabilities in the near-infrared bands at the TNG, along with the measured performance and the limiting magnitudes. We also describe some technical details of the project, such as cryogenics, mechanics, and the system which executes data acquisition and control, along with the related software.
The GAPS Programme at TNG Carleo, I.; Malavolta, L.; Lanza, A. F. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
06/2020, Volume:
638
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Context.
The existence of hot Jupiters is still not well understood. Two main channels are thought to be responsible for their current location: a smooth planet migration through the protoplanetary ...disk or the circularization of an initial highly eccentric orbit by tidal dissipation leading to a strong decrease in the semimajor axis. Different formation scenarios result in different observable effects, such as orbital parameters (obliquity and eccentricity) or frequency of planets at different stellar ages.
Aims.
In the context of the GAPS Young Objects project, we are carrying out a radial velocity survey with the aim of searching and characterizing young hot-Jupiter planets. Our purpose is to put constraints on evolutionary models and establish statistical properties, such as the frequency of these planets from a homogeneous sample.
Methods.
Since young stars are in general magnetically very active, we performed multi-band (visible and near-infrared) spectroscopy with simultaneous GIANO-B + HARPS-N (GIARPS) observing mode at TNG. This helps in dealing with stellar activity and distinguishing the nature of radial velocity variations: stellar activity will introduce a wavelength-dependent radial velocity amplitude, whereas a Keplerian signal is achromatic. As a pilot study, we present here the cases of two known hot Jupiters orbiting young stars: HD 285507 b and AD Leo b.
Results.
Our analysis of simultaneous high-precision GIARPS spectroscopic data confirms the Keplerian nature of the variation in the HD 285507 radial velocities and refines the orbital parameters of the hot Jupiter, obtaining an eccentricity consistent with a circular orbit. Instead, our analysis does not confirm the signal previously attributed to a planet orbiting AD Leo. This demonstrates the power of the multi-band spectroscopic technique when observing active stars.
Aims. Determining the intensity of lines and continuum airglow emission in the H-band is important for the design of faint-object infrared spectrographs. Existing spectra at low or medium resolution ...cannot disentangle the true sky continuum from instrumental effects (e.g. diffuse light in the wings of strong lines). We aim to obtain, for the first time, a high-resolution infrared spectrum that is deep enough to set significant constraints on the continuum emission between the lines in the H-band. Methods. During the second commissioning run of the GIANO high-resolution infrared spectrograph at La Palma Observatory, we pointed the instrument directly at the sky and obtained a deep spectrum that extends from 0.97 to 2.4 μm. Results. The spectrum shows about 1500 emission lines, a factor of two more than in previous works. Of these, 80% are identified as OH transitions; half of these are from highly excited molecules (hot-OH component) that are not included in the OH airglow emission models normally used for astronomical applications. The other lines are attributable to O2 or unidentified. Several of the faint lines are in spectral regions that were previously believed to be free of line emission. The continuum in the H-band is marginally detected at a level of about 300 photons/m2/s/arcsec2/μm, equivalent to 20.1 AB-mag/arcsec2. The observed spectrum and the list of observed sky lines are published at the CDS. Conclusions. Our measurements indicate that the sky continuum in the H-band could be even darker than previously believed. However, the myriad of airglow emission lines severely limits the spectral ranges where very low background can be effectively achieved with low- or medium-resolution spectrographs. We identify a few spectral bands that could still remain quite dark at the resolving power foreseen for VLT-MOONS (R ≃ 6600).
Context.
Stellar activity is currently challenging the detection of young planets via the radial velocity (RV) technique.
Aims.
We attempt to definitively discriminate the nature of the RV variations ...for the young active K5 star BD+20 1790, for which visible (VIS) RV measurements show divergent results on the existence of a substellar companion.
Methods.
We compare VIS data with high precision RVs in the near-infrared (NIR) range by using the GIANO–B and IGRINS spectrographs. In addition, we present for the first time simultaneous VIS-NIR observations obtained with GIARPS (GIANO–B and HARPS–N) at Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG). Orbital RVs are achromatic, so the RV amplitude does not change at different wavelengths, while stellar activity induces wavelength-dependent RV variations, which are significantly reduced in the NIR range with respect to the VIS.
Results.
The NIR radial velocity measurements from GIANO–B and IGRINS show an average amplitude of about one quarter with respect to previously published VIS data, as expected when the RV jitter is due to stellar activity. Coeval multi-band photometry surprisingly shows larger amplitudes in the NIR range, explainable with a mixture of cool and hot spots in the same active region.
Conclusions.
In this work, the claimed massive planet around BD+20 1790 is ruled out by our data. We exploited the crucial role of multi-wavelength spectroscopy when observing young active stars: thanks to facilities like GIARPS that provide simultaneous observations, this method can reach its maximum potential.
The GRB010222 optical and near-infrared (NIR) afterglow was monitored at the TNG and other Italian telescopes starting ~1 day after the high-energy prompt event. The BVR light curves, which are the ...best sampled, are continuously steepening and can be described by two power laws, $f(t) \propto t^{-\alpha}$, of indices $\alpha_1 \sim$ 0.7 and $\alpha_2 \sim$ 1.3 before and after a break occurring at about 0.5 days after the GRB start time, respectively. This model accounts well also for the flux in the U, I and J bands, which are less well monitored. The temporal break appears to be achromatic. The two K-band points are not consistent with the above behaviour, and rather suggest a constant trend. A low-resolution optical spectrum has also been taken with TNG. In the optical spectrum we found three absorption systems at different redshifts (0.927, 1.155 and 1.475), the highest of which represents a lower limit to, and probably coincides with, the redshift of the GRB. The broad-band optical spectral energy distributions do not appear to vary with time, consistently with the achromatic behaviour of the light curves. We compare our measurements with different afterglow evolution scenarios and we find that they favor a transition from relativistic to non-relativistic conditions in the shock propagation.
The GAPS Programme at TNG Carleo, I; Malavolta, L; Lanza, A F ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
06/2020, Volume:
638
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Context. The existence of hot Jupiters is still not well understood. Two main channels are thought to be responsible for their current location: a smooth planet migration through the protoplanetary ...disk or the circularization of an initial highly eccentric orbit by tidal dissipation leading to a strong decrease in the semimajor axis. Different formation scenarios result in different observable effects, such as orbital parameters (obliquity and eccentricity) or frequency of planets at different stellar ages. Aims. In the context of the GAPS Young Objects project, we are carrying out a radial velocity survey with the aim of searching and characterizing young hot-Jupiter planets. Our purpose is to put constraints on evolutionary models and establish statistical properties, such as the frequency of these planets from a homogeneous sample. Methods. Since young stars are in general magnetically very active, we performed multi-band (visible and near-infrared) spectroscopy with simultaneous GIANO-B + HARPS-N (GIARPS) observing mode at TNG. This helps in dealing with stellar activity and distinguishing the nature of radial velocity variations: stellar activity will introduce a wavelength-dependent radial velocity amplitude, whereas a Keplerian signal is achromatic. As a pilot study, we present here the cases of two known hot Jupiters orbiting young stars: HD 285507 b and AD Leo b. Results. Our analysis of simultaneous high-precision GIARPS spectroscopic data confirms the Keplerian nature of the variation in the HD 285507 radial velocities and refines the orbital parameters of the hot Jupiter, obtaining an eccentricity consistent with a circular orbit. Instead, our analysis does not confirm the signal previously attributed to a planet orbiting AD Leo. This demonstrates the power of the multi-band spectroscopic technique when observing active stars.
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