The WASP Project and the SuperWASP Cameras Pollacco, D. L.; Skillen, I.; Cameron, A. Collier ...
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific,
10/2006, Letnik:
118, Številka:
848
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The SuperWASP cameras are wide‐field imaging systems at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, and at the Sutherland Station of the South African ...Astronomical Observatory. Each instrument has a field of view of some 482 deg2with an angular scale of 13
\documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackageOT2,OT1{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcommand\sfdefault{wncyss} \renewcommand\encodingdefault{OT2} \normalfont \selectfont} \DeclareTextFontCommand{\textcyr}{\cyr} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} \landscape $\farcs$\end{document}
7 pixel−1, and is capable of delivering photometry with accuracy better than 1% for objects having
\documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackageOT2,OT1{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcommand\sfdefault{wncyss} \renewcommand\encodingdefault{OT2} \normalfont \selectfont} \DeclareTextFontCommand{\textcyr}{\cyr} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} \landscape $V\sim 7.0{\mbox{--}} 11.5$ \end{document}
. Lower quality data for objects brighter than
\documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackageOT2,OT1{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcommand\sfdefault{wncyss} \renewcommand\encodingdefault{OT2} \normalfont \selectfont} \DeclareTextFontCommand{\textcyr}{\cyr} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} \landscape $V\sim 15.0$ \end{document}
are stored in the project archive. The systems, while designed to monitor fields with high cadence, are capable of surveying the entire visible sky every 40 minutes. Depending on the observational strategy, the data rate can be up to 100 Gbytes per night. We have produced a robust, largely automatic reduction pipeline and advanced archive, which are used to serve the data products to the consortium members. The main science aim of these systems is to search for bright transiting exoplanet systems suitable for spectroscopic follow‐up observations. The first 6 month season of SuperWASP‐North observations produced light curves of ∼6.7 million objects with 12.9 billion data points.
We present the results of a deep wide-field near-infrared survey of 12 deg2 of the Pleiades conducted as part of the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) ...Galactic Cluster Survey (GCS). We have extracted over 340 high-probability proper motion (PM) members down to 0.03 M⊙ using a combination of UKIDSS photometry and PM measurements obtained by cross-correlating the GCS with data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, the Isaac Newton Telescope and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Additionally, we have unearthed 73 new candidate brown dwarf (BD) members on the basis of five-band UKIDSS photometry alone. We have identified 23 substellar multiple system candidates out of 63 candidate BDs from the (Y−K, Y) and (J−K, J) colour-magnitude diagrams, yielding a binary frequency of 28-44 per cent in the 0.075−0.030 M⊙ mass range. Our estimate is three times larger than the binary fractions reported from high-resolution imaging surveys of field ultracool dwarfs and Pleiades BDs. However, it is marginally consistent with our earlier 'peculiar' photometric binary fraction of 50 ± 10 per cent presented by Pinfield et al., in good agreement with the 32-45 per cent binary fraction derived from the recent Monte Carlo simulations of Maxted & Jeffries and compatible with the 26 ± 10 per cent frequency recently estimated by Basri & Reiners. A tentative estimate of the mass ratios from photometry alone seems to support the hypothesis that binary BDs tend to reside in near equal-mass ratio systems. In addition, the recovery of four Pleiades members targeted by high-resolution imaging surveys for multiplicity studies suggests that half of the binary candidates may have separations below the resolution limit of the Hubble Space Telescope or current adaptive optics facilities at the distance of the Pleiades (a ∼7 au). Finally, we have derived luminosity and mass functions from the sample of photometric candidates with membership probabilities. The mass function is well modelled by a lognormal peaking at 0.24 M⊙ and is in agreement with previous studies in the Pleiades.
Context.
Besides the astrometric mission of the
Gaia
satellite, its repeated and high-precision measurements also serve as an all-sky photometric transient survey. The sudden brightenings of the ...sources are published as
Gaia
Photometric Science Alerts and are made publicly available, allowing the community to photometrically and spectroscopically follow up on the object.
Aims.
The goal of this paper is to analyze the nature and derive the basic parameters of Gaia18aen, a transient detected at the beginning of 2018. This object coincides with the position of the emission-line star WRAY 15-136. The brightening was classified as a “nova?” on the basis of a subsequent spectroscopic observation.
Methods.
We analyzed two spectra of Gaia18aen and collected the available photometry of the object covering the brightenings in 2018 and also the preceding and following periods of quiescence. Based on this observational data, we derived the parameters of Gaia18aen and discussed the nature of the object.
Results.
Gaia18aen is the first symbiotic star discovered by
Gaia
satellite. The system is an S-type symbiotic star and consists of an M giant of a slightly super-solar metallicity, where
T
eff
∼ 3500 K, a radius of ∼230
R
⊙
, and a high luminosity
L
∼ 7400
L
⊙
. The hot component is a hot white dwarf. We tentatively determined the orbital period of the system ∼487 d. The main outburst of Gaia18aen in 2018 was accompanied by a decrease in the temperature of the hot component. The first phase of the outburst was characterized by the high luminosity
L
∼ 27 000
L
⊙
, which remained constant for about three weeks after the optical maximum, later followed by the gradual decline of luminosity and increase of temperature. Several re-brightenings have been detected on the timescales of hundreds of days.
The two objects 1SWASP J150822.80−054236.9 and 1SWASP J160156.04+202821.6 were initially detected from their SuperWASP archived light curves as candidate eclipsing binaries with periods close to the ...short-period cut-off of the orbital period distribution of main-sequence binaries, at ~0.2 d. Using spectroscopic data from the Isaac Newton Telescope in La Palma, Canary Islands, we here confirm them as double-lined spectroscopic and eclipsing binaries, in contact configuration. Following modelling of their visual light curves and radial velocity curves, we determine their component and system parameters to precisions between ~2 and 11%. The first system contains components of 1.07 and 0.55 M⊙, with radii of 0.90 and 0.68 R⊙, respectively; its primary exhibits pulsations with a period of 1/6 of the orbital period of the system. The latter contains components of 0.86 and 0.57 M⊙, with radii of 0.75 and 0.63 R⊙, respectively.
Context.
Microlensing provides a unique opportunity to detect non-luminous objects. In the rare cases that the Einstein radius
θ
E
and microlensing parallax
π
E
can be measured, it is possible to ...determine the mass of the lens. With technological advances in both ground- and space-based observatories, astrometric and interferometric measurements are becoming viable, which can lead to the more routine determination of
θ
E
and, if the microlensing parallax is also measured, the mass of the lens.
Aims.
We present the photometric analysis of Gaia19bld, a high-magnification (
A
≈ 60) microlensing event located in the southern Galactic plane, which exhibited finite source and microlensing parallax effects. Due to a prompt detection by the
Gaia
satellite and the very high brightness of
I
= 9.05 mag at the peak, it was possible to collect a complete and unique set of multi-channel follow-up observations, which allowed us to determine all parameters vital for the characterisation of the lens and the source in the microlensing event.
Methods.
Gaia19bld was discovered by the
Gaia
satellite and was subsequently intensively followed up with a network of ground-based observatories and the
Spitzer
Space Telescope. We collected multiple high-resolution spectra with Very Large Telescope (VLT)/X-shooter to characterise the source star. The event was also observed with VLT Interferometer (VLTI)/PIONIER during the peak. Here we focus on the photometric observations and model the light curve composed of data from
Gaia
,
Spitzer
, and multiple optical, ground-based observatories. We find the best-fitting solution with parallax and finite source effects. We derived the limit on the luminosity of the lens based on the blended light model and spectroscopic distance.
Results.
We compute the mass of the lens to be 1.13 ± 0.03
M
⊙
and derive its distance to be 5.52
−0.64
+0.35
kpc. The lens is likely a main sequence star, however its true nature has yet to be verified by future high-resolution observations. Our results are consistent with interferometric measurements of the angular Einstein radius, emphasising that interferometry can be a new channel for determining the masses of objects that would otherwise remain undetectable, including stellar-mass black holes.
Abstract
We report on the discovery of four ultra-short-period (P ≤ 0.18 d) eclipsing M-dwarf binaries in the Wide-Field Camera (WFCAM) Transit Survey. Their orbital periods are significantly shorter ...than that of any other known main-sequence binary system, and are all significantly below the sharp period cut-off at P ∼ 0.22 d as seen in binaries of earlier-type stars. The shortest-period binary consists of two M4-type stars in a P = 0.112 d orbit. The binaries are discovered as part of an extensive search for short-period eclipsing systems in over 260 000 stellar light curves, including over 10 000 M-dwarfs down to J = 18 mag, yielding 25 binaries with P ≤ 0.23 d. In a popular paradigm, the evolution of short-period binaries of cool main-sequence stars is driven by the loss of angular momentum through magnetized winds. In this scheme, the observed P ∼ 0.22 d period cut-off is explained as being due to time-scales that are too long for lower-mass binaries to decay into tighter orbits. Our discovery of low-mass binaries with significantly shorter orbits implies that either these time-scales have been overestimated for M-dwarfs, e.g. due to a higher effective magnetic activity, or the mechanism for forming these tight M-dwarf binaries is different from that of earlier-type main-sequence stars.
Direct Detection of Galactic Halo Dark Matter Oppenheimer, B. R.; Hambly, N. C.; Digby, A. P. ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
04/2001, Letnik:
292, Številka:
5517
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The Milky Way galaxy contains a large, spherical component which is believed to harbor a substantial amount of unseen matter. Recent observations indirectly suggest that as much as half of this "dark ...matter" may be in the form of old, very cool white dwarfs, the remnants of an ancient population of stars as old as the galaxy itself. We conducted a survey to find faint, cool white dwarfs with large space velocities, indicative of their membership in the galaxy's spherical halo component. The survey reveals a substantial, directly observed population of old white dwarfs, too faint to be seen in previous surveys. This newly discovered population accounts for at least 2 percent of the halo dark matter. It provides a natural explanation for the indirect observations, and represents a direct detection of galactic halo dark matter.
There is a striking and unexplained dearth of brown dwarf companions in close orbits (<3 AU) around stars more massive than the Sun, in stark contrast to the frequency of stellar and planetary ...companions. Although rare and relatively short-lived, these systems leave detectable evolutionary end points in the form of white-dwarf-dwarf binaries and these remnants can offer unique insights into the births and deaths of their parent systems. We present the discovery of a close (orbital separation ~0.006 AU) substellar companion to a massive white dwarf member of the Praesepe star cluster. Using the cluster age and the mass of the white dwarf, we constrain the mass of the white dwarf progenitor star to lie in the range 3.5-3.7 M sub(middot in circle) (B9). The high mass of the white dwarf means the substellar companion must have been engulfed by the B star's envelope while it was on the late asymptotic giant branch (AGB). Hence, the initial separation of the system was ~2 AU, with common envelope evolution reducing the separation to its current value. The initial and final orbital separations allow us to constrain the combination of the common envelope efficiency ( alpha ) and binding energy parameters (lambda) for the AGB star to alpha lambda ~ 3. We examine the various formation scenarios and conclude that the substellar object was most likely captured by the white dwarf progenitor early in the life of the cluster, rather than forming in situ.
On the properties of young multiple stars Delgado-Donate, E. J.; Clarke, C. J.; Bate, M. R. ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
06/2004, Letnik:
351, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We present numerical results on the properties of young binary and multiple stellar systems. Our analysis is based on a series of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) +N-body simulations of the ...fragmentation of small molecular clouds, which fully resolve the opacity limit for fragmentation. These simulations demonstrate that multiple star formation is a major channel for star formation in turbulent flows. We have produced a statistically significant number of stable multiple systems, with component separations in the range ∼1–103 au. At the end of the hydrodynamic stage (0.5 Myr), we find that ≈60 per cent of stars and brown dwarfs are members of multiples systems, with about a third of these being low-mass, weakly bound outliers in wide eccentric orbits. Our results imply that in the stellar regime most stars are in multiples (≈80 per cent) and that this fraction is an increasing function of primary mass. After N-body integration to 10.5 Myr, the percentage of bound objects has dropped to about 40 per cent, this decrease arising mostly from very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs that have been released into the field. Brown dwarfs are never found to be very close companions to stars (the brown dwarf desert at very small separations), but one case exists of a brown dwarf companion at intermediate separations (10 au). Our simulations can accommodate the existence of brown dwarf companions at large separations, but only if the primaries of these systems are themselves multiples. We have compared the outcome of our simulations with the properties of real stellar systems as deduced from the infrared colour–magnitude diagram of the Praesepe cluster and from spectroscopic and high-resolution imaging surveys of young clusters and the field. We find that the spread of the observed main sequence of Praesepe in the 0.4–1 M⊙ range appears to require that stars are indeed commonly assembled into high-order multiple systems. Similarly, observational results from Taurus and ρ Ophiuchus, or moving groups such as TW Hydrae and MBM 12, suggest that companion frequencies in young systems can indeed be as high as we predict. The comparison with observational data also illustrates two problems with the simulation results. First, low mass ratio (q < 0.2) binaries are not produced by our models, in conflict with both the Praesepe colour–magnitude diagram and independent evidence from field binary surveys. Secondly, very low-mass stars and brown dwarf binaries appear to be considerably underproduced by our simulations.
ABSTRACT
The recent discoveries of gravitational wave events and in one case also its electromagnetic (EM) counterpart allow us to study the Universe in a novel way. The increased sensitivity of the ...LIGO and Virgo detectors has opened the possibility for regular detections of EM transient events from mergers of stellar remnants. Gravitational wave sources are expected to have sky localization up to a few hundred square degrees, thus Gaia as an all-sky multi-epoch photometric survey has the potential to be a good tool to search for the EM counterparts. In this paper, we study the possibility of detecting EM counterparts to gravitational wave sources using the Gaia Science Alerts system. We develop an extension to current used algorithms to find transients and test its capabilities in discovering candidate transients on a sample of events from the observation periods O1 and O2 of LIGO and Virgo. For the gravitational wave events from the current run O3, we expect that about 16 (25) per cent should fall in sky regions observed by Gaia 7 (10) d after gravitational wave. The new algorithm will provide about 21 candidates per day from the whole sky.
PDF
