When observed with optical long-baseline interferometers, components of a binary star that are sufficiently separated produce their own interferometric fringe packets; these are referred to as ...separated fringe packet (SFP) binaries. These SFP binaries can overlap in angular separation with the regime of systems resolvable by speckle interferometry at single, large-aperture telescopes and can provide additional measurements for preliminary orbits lacking good phase coverage, help constrain elements of already established orbits, and locate new binaries in the undersampled regime between the bounds of spectroscopic surveys and speckle interferometry. In this process, a visibility calibration star is not needed, and the SFPs can provide an accurate vector separation. In this paper, we apply the SFP approach to ω Andromeda, HD 178911, and ξ Cephei with the CLIMB three-beam combiner at the CHARA Array. For these systems we determine component masses and parallax of 0.963 ± 0.049 M {sub ☉} and 0.860 ± 0.051 M {sub ☉} and 39.54 ± 1.85 mas for ω Andromeda, for HD 178911 of 0.802 ± 0.055 M {sub ☉} and 0.622 ± 0.053 M {sub ☉} with 28.26 ± 1.70 mas, and masses of 1.045 ± 0.031 M {sub ☉} and 0.408 ± 0.066 M {sub ☉} and 38.10 ± 2.81 mas for ξ Cephei.
Direct detection of thermal emission from nearby hot Jupiters has greatly advanced our knowledge of extrasolar planets in recent years. Since hot Jupiter systems can be regarded as analogs of ...high-contrast binaries, ground-based infrared long-baseline interferometers have the potential to resolve them and detect their thermal emission with precision closure phase—a method that is immune to the systematic errors induced by the Earth’s atmosphere. In this work, we present closure-phase studies toward direct detection of nearby hot Jupiters using the CHARA interferometer array outfitted with the MIRC instrument. We carry out closure-phase simulations and conduct a large number of observations for the best candidate υ And. Our experiments suggest that the method is feasible with highly stable and precise closure phases. However, we also find much larger systematic errors than expected in the observations, most likely caused by dispersion across different wavelengths. We find that using higher spectral resolution modes (e.g.,
R = 150
R
=
150
) can significantly reduce the systematics. By combining all calibrators in an observing run together, we are able to roughly recalibrate the lower spectral resolution data, allowing us to obtain upper limits of the star-planet contrast ratios of υ And b across the
H
H
band. The data also allow us to get a refined stellar radius of1.625 ± 0.011 R
⊙
1.625
±
0.011
R
⊙
. Our best upper limit corresponds to a contrast ratio of2.1 × 103 : 1
2.1
×
10
3
:
1
with 90% confidence level at 1.52 μm, suggesting that we are starting to have the capability of constraining atmospheric models of hot Jupiters with interferometry. With recent and upcoming improvements of CHARA/MIRC, the prospect of detecting emission from hot Jupiters with closure phases is promising.
Context.γ Cas is thought to be the prototype of classical Be stars and is the most studied object among this group. However, as for all Be stars, the origin and the physics of its circumstellar disk ...responsible for the observed near IR-excess, emission lines, and peculiar X-ray emission is still being debated. Aims: We constrain the geometry and kinematics of its circumstellar disk from the highest spatial resolution ever achieved on this star. This investigation is a part of a large multi-technique observing campaign to obtain the most complete picture of γ Cas which emphasizes the relation of the circumstellar environment to the star's X-ray flux. Methods: We present new observations in the near infrared (MIRC) and in the visible (VEGA) obtained with the CHARA interferometer. The VEGA instrument allows us to not only obtain a global disk geometry but also spectrally dispersed visibility modulus and phases within the Hα emission line, which enables us to study the kinematics within γ Cas's disk. Results: We obtain a disk extension in the nearby Hα continuum of 1.72 stellar diameter and 1.86 stellar diameter in the H band at 1.65 μm assuming a Gaussian disk model but also compatible with an elliptical ring model with a minor internal diameter of 1.38 stellar diameter in H. For the first time we demonstrate that the rotation mapped by the emission in the Hα line within the disk of γ Cas and up to 10 R⋆ is Keplerian. Conclusions: These observations have pushed the size of the disk to greater proportions. γ Cas was also confirmed to be a nearly critical rotator. The disk imaging gives neither indication of a 1-arm spiral feature nor evidence of a secondary star reinforcing the interpretation that the secondary is certainly a low-mass and low-luminosity star or a degenerate companion.
The growing interest in solar twins is motivated by the possibility of comparing them directly to the Sun. To carry on this kind of analysis, we need to know their physical characteristics with ...precision. Our first objective is to use asteroseismology and interferometry on the brightest of them: 18 Sco. We observed the star during 12 nights with HARPS for seismology and used the PAVO beam-combiner at CHARA for interferometry. An average large frequency separation 134.4 ± 0.3 μHz and angular and linear radiuses of 0.6759 ± 0.0062 mas and 1.010 ± 0.009 R⊙ were estimated. We used these values to derive the mass of the star, 1.02 ± 0.03 M⊙.
Determining the effective temperature of Ap stars, including the roAp stellar pulsators, is a difficult task owing to their strong magnetic field and their related spotted surfaces. Using the unique ...angular resolution provided by long-baseline visible interferometry, we aim at deriving accurate angular diameters of a number of Ap targets, so as to determine their unbiased effective temperature (Tsubeff) and their accurate position in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, to estimate their mass and age, and to test non-adiabatic pulsation models. We observed 78 Vir with the visible spectrograph VEGA installed at the combined focus of the CHARA long-baseline optical array. We derived the limb-darkened diameter of this Ap star from our interferometric measurements. The Ap star 78 Vir is found to be a promising roAp-star candidate and one that would allow us to extend recent tests on the roAp stars' excitation mechanism towards the blue edge of the instability strip. Asteroseismic data of this star would, therefore, be of strong interest.
Aims. T Pyx is the first recurrent nova ever historically studied. It was seen in outburst six times between 1890 and 1966 and then not for 45 years. We report on near-IR interferometric observations ...of the recent outburst of 2011. Methods. We obtained near-IR observations of T Pyx at dates ranging from t = 2.37 d to t = 48.2 d after the outburst, with the CLASSIC recombiner located at the CHARA array and with the PIONIER and AMBER recombiners located at the VLTI array. These data are supplemented with near-IR photometry and spectra obtained at Mount Abu, India. We compare expansion of the H and K band continua and the Brγ emission line, and infer information on the kinematics and morphology of the early ejecta. Results. Slow expansion velocities were measured (≤300 km s-1) before t = 20 d. From t = 28 d on, the AMBER and PIONIER continuum visibilities (K and H band, respectively) are best simulated with a two-component model consisting of an unresolved source plus an extended source whose expansion velocity onto the sky plane is lower than ~700 km s-1. The expansion of the Brγ line-forming region, as inferred at t = 28 d and t = 35 d, is slightly larger, implying velocities in the range 500−800 km s-1, which is still strikingly lower than the velocities of 1300−1600 km s-1 inferred from the Doppler width of the line. Moreover, a remarkable pattern was observed in the Brγ differential phases. A semi-quantitative model using a bipolar flow with a contrast of 2 between the pole and equator velocities, an inclination of i = 15°, and a position angle PA = 110° provides a good match to the AMBER observables. At t = 48 d, a PIONIER dataset confirms the two-component nature of the H band emission, consisting of an unresolved stellar source and an extended region whose appearance is circular and symmetric within error bars. Conclusions. These observations are most simply interpreted within the frame of a bipolar model, oriented nearly face-on. This finding has profound implications for interpreting past, current, and future observations of the expanding nebula.
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