Automated Photoelectric Telescope Research Articles

The SOPHIE search for northern extrasolar planets

Transiting planets with orbital periods longer than 40 d are extremely rare among the 5000+ planets discovered so far. The lack of discoveries of this population poses a challenge to research into planetary demographics, formation, and evolution. Here, we present the detection and characterization of HD 88986 b, a potentially transiting sub-Neptune, possessing the longest orbital period among known transiting small planets (<4 R⊕) with a precise mass measurement (σM/M > 25%). Additionally, we identified the presence of a massive companion in a wider orbit around HD 88986. To validate this discovery, we used a combination of more than 25 yr of extensive radial velocity (RV) measurements (441 SOPHIE data points, 31 ELODIE data points, and 34 HIRES data points), Gaia DR3 data, 21 yr of photometric observations with the automatic photoelectric telescope (APT), two sectors of TESS data, and a 7-day observation of CHEOPS. Our analysis reveals that HD 88986 b, based on two potential single transits on sector 21 and sector 48 which are both consistent with the predicted transit time from the RV model, is potentially transiting. The joint analysis of RV and photometric data show that HD 88986 b has a radius of 2.49 ± 0.18 R⊕, a mass of 17.2−3.8+4.0 M⊕, and it orbits every 146.05−0.40+0.43 d around a subgiant HD 88986 which is one of the closest and brightest exoplanet host stars (G2Vtype, R = 1.543 ± 0.065 R⊙, V = 6.47 ± 0.01 mag, distance = 33.37 ± 0.04 pc). The nature of the outer, massive companion is still to be confirmed; a joint analysis of RVs, HIPPARCOS, and Gaia astrometric data shows that with a 3σ confidence interval, its semi-major axis is between 16.7 and 38.8 au and its mass is between 68 and 284 MJup. HD 88986 b’s wide orbit suggests the planet did not undergo significant mass loss due to extreme-ultraviolet radiation from its host star. Therefore, it probably maintained its primordial composition, allowing us to probe its formation scenario. Furthermore, the cold nature of HD 88986 b (460 ± 8 K), thanks to its long orbital period, will open up exciting opportunities for future studies of cold atmosphere composition characterization. Moreover, the existence of a massive companion alongside HD 88986 b makes this system an interesting case study for understanding planetary formation and evolution.

Topological changes in the magnetic field of LQ Hya during an activity minimum

Aims. Previous studies have related surface temperature maps, obtained with the Doppler imaging (DI) technique, of LQ Hya with long-term photometry. Here, we compare surface magnetic field maps, obtained with the Zeeman Doppler imaging (ZDI) technique, with contemporaneous photometry, with the aim of quantifying the star’s magnetic cycle characteristics. Methods. We inverted Stokes IV spectropolarimetry, obtained with the HARPSpol and ESPaDOnS instruments, into magnetic field and surface brightness maps using a tomographic inversion code that models high signal-to-noise ratio mean line profiles produced by the least squares deconvolution (LSD) technique. The maps were compared against long-term ground-based photometry acquired with the T3 0.40 m Automatic Photoelectric Telescope (APT) at Fairborn Observatory, which offers a proxy for the spot cycle of the star, as well as with chromospheric Ca II H&K activity derived from the observed spectra. Results. The magnetic field and surface brightness maps reveal similar patterns relative to previous DI and ZDI studies: non-axisymmetric polar magnetic field structure, void of fields at mid-latitudes, and a complex structure in the equatorial regions. There is a weak but clear tendency of the polar structures to be linked with a strong radial field and the equatorial ones with the azimuthal field. We find a polarity reversal in the radial field between 2016 and 2017 that is coincident with a spot minimum seen in the long-term photometry, although the precise relation of chromospheric activity to the spot activity remains complex and unclear. The inverted field strengths cannot be easily related with the observed spottedness, but we find that they are partially connected to the retrieved field complexity. Conclusions. This field topology and the dominance of the poloidal field component, when compared to global magnetoconvection models for rapidly rotating young suns, could be explained by a turbulent dynamo, where differential rotation does not play a major role (so-called 2 or 2 dynamos) and axi- and non-axisymmetric modes are excited simultaneously. The complex equatorial magnetic field structure could arise from the twisted (helical) wreaths often seen in these simulations, while the polar feature would be connected to the mostly poloidal non-axisymmetric component that has a smooth spatial structure.

Nine Bright γ Doradus Variables Discovered with Ground-based Photometry

Abstract We have used precise photometric and high-dispersion spectroscopic observations to study nine candidate γ Doradus (γ Dor) stars, identified as optically variable comparison stars in our photometric studies of Sun-like stars. In this paper, we confirm these nine candidates as new γ Dor variables. All exhibit sinusoidal variability with amplitudes between 6 and 65 mmag in Johnson B and periods from 0.28 to 1.13 days. All lie in the same region of the H-R diagram as our previously confirmed γ Dor stars. Of the nine systems, one is a single-lined spectroscopic binary (SB1), two are double-lined spectroscopic binaries (SB2), and the remaining six are single stars. We present orbits for the three binary systems: HD 34415, HD 144839, and HD 182735. Their periods are 6400 days or 17.5 yr (adopted), 995 ± 7 days, and 1052.4 ± 0.2 days, respectively. We compare our photometric periods with those we derive for six of the nine stars observed with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite to strengthen the confirmation of these new γ Dor variables. Finally, because the distribution of γ Dor stars in the H-R diagram overlaps with the red edge of the δ Scuti (δ Sct) instability strip, we use our ground-based photometric results for the 73 γ Dor stars confirmed with our Automatic Photoelectric Telescopes over the past two decades to look at the incidence of hybrid δ Sct/γ Dor stars; these are highly valuable targets for asteroseismology.

The EXPRES Stellar-signals Project. I. Description of Data

Abstract The EXPRES Stellar-Signals Project is providing sets of high-fidelity, spectroscopic and photometric observations to enable direct comparisons of various approaches for disentangling stellar signals and true radial velocities (RVs). We will provide all EXPRES RVs, meta data, and activity indicators as well as high-precision photometric data from the Fairborn Automatic Photoelectric Telescopes (APTs) for HD 101501, HD 34411, HD 217014, and HD 10700. Intrinsic stellar variability and the resulting apparent RVs are widely believed to dominate the error budget for extremely precise radial-velocity (EPRV) measurements. Several new methods to disentangle photospheric velocities from Keplerian velocities are being developed throughout the EPRV community. In addition to releasing data sets for testing these methods, the EXPRES Stellar-Signals Project will publish a summary of the current state of the field circa 2020 to guide next steps toward mitigating photospheric velocities in EPRV data. More information can be found on http://exoplanets.astro.yale.edu/science/activity.php.

Anti-solar differential rotation on the active sub-giant HU Virginis,

Measuring surface differential rotation (DR) on different types of stars is important when characterizing the underlying stellar dynamo. It has been suggested that anti-solar DR laws can occur when strong meridional flows exist. We aim to investigate the differential surface rotation on the primary star of the RS CVn binary HU Vir by tracking its starspot distribution as a function of time. We also aim to recompute and update the values for several system parameters of the triple system HU Vir (close and wide orbits). Time-series high-resolution spectroscopy for four continuous months was obtained with the 1.2-m robotic STELLA telescope. Nine consecutive Doppler images were reconstructed from these data, using our line-profile inversion code iMap. An image cross-correlation method was applied to derive the surface differential-rotation law for HU Vir. New orbital elements for the close and the wide orbits were computed using our new STELLA radial velocities (RVs) combined with the RV data available in the literature. Photometric observations were performed with the Amadeus Automatic Photoelectric Telescope (APT), providing contemporaneous Johnson-Cousins $V$ and $I$ data for approximately 20 years. This data was used to determine the stellar rotation period and the active longitudes. We confirm anti-solar DR with a surface shear parameter $\alpha$ of -0.029 $\pm$ 0.005 and -0.026 $\pm$ 0.009, using single-term and double-term differential rotation laws, respectively. The best fit is achieved assuming a solar-like double-term law with a lap time of $\approx$ 400 d. Our orbital solutions result in a period of 10.387678 $\pm$ 0.000003 days for the close orbit and 2726 $\pm$ 7 d ($\approx$ 7.5 yr) for the wide orbit. A Lomb-Scarge (L-S) periodogram of the pre-whitened $V$-band data reveals a strong single peak providing a rotation period of 10.391 $\pm$ 0.008 d.

Evidence for enhanced mixing on the super-meteoritic Li-rich red giant HD 233517

Context. HD 233517 is among the most Li-rich stars in the sky. It is a rapidly rotating, single K giant thought to be on its first ascent on the red giant branch. The star has also the highest known infrared excess among any of the known first-ascent giants.Aims. We revisit the physical parameters of the system and aim to map its surface temperature distribution.Methods. New time-series photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy were obtained with our robotic facilities STELLA and Amadeus Automatic Photoelectric Telescope (APT) in 2007–2011. Inverse line-profile modelling is performed on a total of 167 echelle spectra and six Doppler images are presented.Results. Light and radial-velocity variations suggest a stellar rotation period of 47.6±0.3 d. The atmospheric parameters agree with previous studies and verify a super-meteoritic log 7 Li abundance of 4.29±0.10 with undetected 6 Li, while the metals are generally deficient by –0.4 dex with respect to the Sun. We determine a lower than normal isotopic carbon ratio of 12 C/13 C = 9+4 -2 . Our Doppler images indicate warm and cool spots with an average temperature contrast of just ±65 K with respect to the effective temperature. Doppler maps from Li i 670.78 reveal practically identical surface morphology, with a higher average contrast of ±160 K and errors that are five times larger. Reconstructions with simultaneously 1617 and 3007 spectral lines showed both a signal degradation with respect to our 56-line final image. An error analysis indicates an average temperature error per surface pixel of just ±4 K. Conclusions. HD 233517 appears to be an old (≈10–Gyr) single 0.95–M ⊙ giant currently undergoing mild mass loss in the form of a wind. The cool and warm photospheric features are interpreted to be merely locations of suppressed and enhanced convection, respectively, probably intermingled by a yet undetected weak magnetic field. The low carbon-isotope ratio is indicative of extra mixing rather than of an engulfing event. We tentatively conclude that HD 233517 operates an enhanced non-axisymmetric mixing process that leads to an inhomogeneous super-granulation pattern on the surface in form of large cool and warm features.

Time‐series high‐resolution spectroscopy and photometry of ε Aurigae from 2006–2013: Another brick in the wall

AbstractWe present continuous and time‐resolved R = 55 000 optical échelle spectroscopy of ε Aurigae from 2006–2013. Data were taken with the STELLA Echelle Spectrograph of the robotic STELLA facility at the Observatorio del Teide in Tenerife. Contemporaneous photometry with the Automatic Photoelectric Telescopes at Fairborn Observatory in Arizona is presented for the years 1996–2013. Spectroscopic observations started three years prior to the photometric eclipse and are still ongoing. A total of 474 high‐resolution échelle spectra are analyzed and made available in this paper. We identify 368 absorption lines of which 161 lines show the characteristic sharp disk lines during eclipse. Another 207 spectral lines appeared nearly unaffected by the eclipse. From spectrum synthesis, we obtained the supergiant atmospheric parameters Teff = 7395 ± 70 K, log g ≈ 1, and [Fe/H] = +0.02 ± 0.2 with ξt = 9 km s–1, ζRT = 13 km s–1, and v sin i = 28 ± 3 km s–1. The residual average line broadening expressed in km s–1 varies with a period of 62.6 ± 0.7 d, in particular at egress and after the eclipse. Two‐dimensional line‐profile periodograms show several periods, the strongest with ≈110 d evident in optically thin lines as well as in the Balmer lines. Center‐of‐intensity weighted radial velocities of individual spectral lines also show the 110‐d period but, again, additional shorter and longer periods are evident and are different in the Balmer lines. The two main spectroscopic Hα periods, ≈ 116 d from the line core and ≈ 150 d from the center‐of‐intensity radial velocities, appear at 102 d and 139 d in the photometry. The Hβ and Johnson V I photometry on the other hand shows two well‐defined and phase‐coherent periods of 77 d and 132 d. We conclude that Hα is contaminated by changes in the circumstellar environment while the Hβ and V I photometry stems predominantly from the non radial pulsations of the F0 supergiant. We isolate the disk‐rotation profile from 61 absorption lines and found that low disk eccentricity generally relates to low disk rotational velocity (but not always) while high disk eccentricity always relates to high velocity. There is also the general trend that the disk‐absorption in spectral lines with higher excitation potential comes from disk regions with higher eccentricity and thus also with higher rotational velocity. The dependency on transition probability is more complex and shows a bi‐modal trend. The outskirts of the disk is distributed asymmetrically around the disk and appears to have been built up mostly in a tail along the orbit behind the secondary. Our data show that this tail continues to eclipse the F0 Iab primary star even two years after the end of the photometric eclipse. High‐resolution spectra were also taken of the other, bona‐fide, visual‐binary components of ε Aur (ADS 3605BCDE). Only the C‐component, a K3‐4‐giant, appears at the same distance than ε Aur but its radial velocity is in disagreement with a bound orbit. The other components are a nearby (≈ 7 pc) cool DA white dwarf, a G8 dwarf, and a B9 supergiant, and not related to ε Aur. The cool white dwarf shows strong DIB lines that suggest the existence of a debris disk around this star. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

THE DISCOVERY OF HD 37605cAND A DISPOSITIVE NULL DETECTION OF TRANSITS OF HD 37605b

We report the radial-velocity discovery of a second planetary mass companion to the K0 V star HD 37605, which was already known to host an eccentric, P~55 days Jovian planet, HD 37605b. This second planet, HD 37605c, has a period of ~7.5 years with a low eccentricity and an Msini of ~3.4 MJup. Our discovery was made with the nearly 8 years of radial velocity follow-up at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope and Keck Observatory, including observations made as part of the Transit Ephemeris Refinement and Monitoring Survey (TERMS) effort to provide precise ephemerides to long-period planets for transit follow-up. With a total of 137 radial velocity observations covering almost eight years, we provide a good orbital solution of the HD 37605 system, and a precise transit ephemeris for HD 37605b. Our dynamic analysis reveals very minimal planet-planet interaction and an insignificant transit time variation. Using the predicted ephemeris, we performed a transit search for HD 37605b with the photometric data taken by the T12 0.8-m Automatic Photoelectric Telescope (APT) and the Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars (MOST) satellite. Though the APT photometry did not capture the transit window, it characterized the stellar activity of HD 37605, which is consistent of it being an old, inactive star, with a tentative rotation period of 57.67 days. The MOST photometry enabled us to report a dispositive null detection of a non-grazing transit for this planet. Within the predicted transit window, we exclude an edge-on predicted depth of 1.9% at >>10sigma, and exclude any transit with an impact parameter b>0.951 at greater than 5sigma. We present the BOOTTRAN package for calculating Keplerian orbital parameter uncertainties via bootstrapping. We found consistency between our orbital parameters calculated by the RVLIN package and error bars by BOOTTRAN with those produced by a Bayesian analysis using MCMC.

THE HD 192263 SYSTEM: PLANETARY ORBITAL PERIOD AND STELLAR VARIABILITY DISENTANGLED

As part of the Transit Ephemeris Refinement and Monitoring Survey (TERMS), we present new radial velocities and photometry of the HD 192263 system. Our analysis of the already available Keck-HIRES and CORALIE radial velocity measurements together with the five new Keck measurements we report in this paper results in improved orbital parameters for the system. We derive constraints on the size and phase location of the transit window for HD 192263b, a Jupiter-mass planet with a period of 24.3587 \pm 0.0022 days. We use 10 years of Automated Photoelectric Telescope (APT) photometry to analyze the stellar variability and search for planetary transits. We find continuing evidence of spot activity with periods near 23.4 days. The shape of the corresponding photometric variations changes over time, giving rise to not one but several Fourier peaks near this value. However, none of these frequencies coincides with the planet's orbital period and thus we find no evidence of star-planet interactions in the system. We attribute the ~23-day variability to stellar rotation. There are also indications of spot variations on longer (8 years) timescales. Finally, we use the photometric data to exclude transits for a planet with the predicted radius of 1.09 RJ, and as small as 0.79 RJ.

First time-series optical photometry from Antarctica

Context. Beating the Earth’s day-night cycle is mandatory for long and continuous time-series photometry and had been achieved with either large ground-based networks of observatories at different geographic longitudes or when conducted from space. A third possibility is offered by a polar location with astronomically-qualified site characteristics. Aims. In this paper, we present the first scientific stellar time-series optical photometry from Dome C in Antarctica and analyze approximately 13,000 CCD frames taken in July 2007. Methods. The optical pilot telescope of the “International Robotic Antarctic Infrared Telescope”, named “small IRAIT” (sIRAIT), and its UBV RI CCD photometer were used in BV R for a continuous 243 hours (10.15 days) with a duty cycle of 98% and a cadence of 155 sec. The prime targets were the chromospherically active, spotted binary star V841 Cen and the non-radially pulsating �-Scuti star V1034 Cen. Results. We confirm the known 0.2-day fundamental period of V1034 Cen and found a total of 23 further periods between 2.2 hours and 3.5 days. V841 Cen’s V amplitude due to spots appeared to be at a record high of 0. 4 in V in July 2007. We present a spot-model analysis with a light-curve inversion technique and found the star with a spot filling factor of 44% of the visible hemisphere, among the highest ever measured values for active stars, and a temperature difference photosphere minus spot of 750±100 K. Its odd-numbered (for a single site) rotation period was determined with a higher precision than before (5.8854±0.0026 days) despite the comparably short data set. The rms scatter from a 2.4-hour data subset was 3 mmag in V and 4.2 mmag in R. The differential data quality is 3–4 times better than with the 25cm Fairborn Automatic Photoelectric Telescope in southern Arizona and is likely due to the exceptionally low scintillation noise at Dome C. Conclusions. We conclude that high-precision CCD photometry with exceptional time coverage and cadence can be obtained at Dome C in Antarctica and be successfully used for time-series astrophysics.

Searching for Planets in the Hyades. III. The Quest for Short-Period Planets

We have been using the Keck I High Resolution Spectrograph (HIRES) to search for planetary companions in the Hyades cluster. We selected four stars from this sample which showed significant radial velocity variability on short timescales to search for short-period planetary companions. The radial velocities of these four stars were monitored regularly with the Hobby Eberly Telescope (HET) for approximately two months, while sparse data were also taken over ~4 months: we also obtained near-simultaneous photometric observations with one of the automatic photoelectric telescopes at Fairborn Observatory. For three of the stars, we detect photometric variability with the same period present in the radial velocity (rv) measurements, compatible with the expected rotation rates for Hyades members. The fourth star continues to show rv variations and minimal photometric variability but with no significant periodicity. This study shows that for the three stars with periodic behavior, a significant portion of the rv fluctuations are likely due primarily to magnetic activity modulated by stellar rotation rather than planetary companions. Using simple models for the rv perturbations arising from spot and plage, we demonstrate that both are likely to contribute to the observed rv variations. Thus, simultaneous monitoring of photometric (photospheric) and spectroscopic (chromospheric) variations is essential for identifying the cause of Doppler shifted absorption lines in more active stars.

Intrinsic Properties of the Young Stellar Object SU Aurigae

Intensive long-term photometric Q1 observations of the archetypical young G2 IIIe stellar object SU Aurigae are analyzed to determine many of its photometric and physical properties. Combining nearly 2000 Stromgren uvby measures obtained using the 0.8 m Four College Automatic Photoelectric Telescope, previously published photometry, and recently obtained high-resolution echelle spectra has led to the deter- mination of its effective temperature, surface gravity, luminosity, mass, age, rotation period, and absolute radius. Since the disk of SU Aur is seen at a high inclination angle (i.e., nearly edge-on), this complicates the observations with significant (DVDyd0:80 mag), and apparently random, drops in observed mean light. These are possibly due to the transits of protoplanetary bodies, protocomets, or associated accretion halos. In this study, an effort has been made to separate the contributions of the circumstellar disk from the intrinsic properties of the stellar core itself. Furthermore, photometry has been simultaneously obtained for the nearby young A0 Vpe stellar companion AB Aurigae. Analysis has shown that SU Aur and AB Aur are a coeval proper-motion pair. Also included are certain photometric and physical properties of AB Aur. Q2

BVphotometry of UX Ari in the period 1987–2002

We present 14.3 years of previously unpublished photometric observations of UX Ari. The observations were obtained between 1987.9 and 2002.2 using the T3 0.4-metre Automatic Photoelectric Telescope at Fairborn Observatory and consist of 1228 B band and 1213 V band measurements. The comparison star was 62 Ari. We have analyzed the new data together with previously published photometric observations. The V magnitude shows variations with dominant periods of about 12 and 25 years, where the longest period seems to correspond to an activity cycle. The previously reported anticorrelation between the colour and V magnitude variations is confirmed.

Long-term monitoring of active stars

As part of an extensive program focused on the global properties and evolution of active stars, high-precision UBV ( RI ) c and UBV photometry of 18 selected stars is presented. UBV ( RI ) c observations were collected at the European Southern Observatory over the intervals 21–28 September 1994 and 25 November–05 December 1994. Additional UBV photometry obtained late in 1994 by Catania Astrophysical Observatory Automatic Photoelectric Telescope is also presented. Significant evolution of the light curves, period variations and evidence for long-term variability of the global degree of spottedness are found. Some spectral classifications are revised and photometric parallaxes are compared, whenever possible, with the values measured by the Hipparcos satellite. These observations are finalized to the construction of an extended photometric database, which can give important clues on topics such as the stability of spotted areas, differential stellar rotation, solar-like activity cycles and the correlation between inhomogeneities at different atmospheric levels.

EK Draconis: Long-term photometry on Sonneberg Sky-Patrol plates

We performed long-term photometry of the young solar analog EK Draconis (HD 129333) using 1030 blue-sensitive Sky-Patrol plates taken at Sonneberg Observatory from 1958 onwards. A secular dimming of 0:0057 0:0008 mag/y beginning around 1975 was found. Hence, the recent trend first observed with Automatic Photoelectric Telescopes (APTs) is confirmed and traced back to the mid-seventies.

A “Kleine-Nacht-Musik” during the first five years of routine operation

We present a summary of five years of continuous operation of the University of Vienna twin Automatic Photoelectric Telescopes (APTs) – Wolfgang and Amadeus. These two telescopes are part of the Fairborn Observatory facility located in the Sonoran desert close to Washington Camp in southern Arizona. The detection and distinction procedure between weather-induced data-quality loss and systematic data-quality loss turned out to be a crucial task. Therefore, special emphasis is laid on the data quality monitoring tools developed throughout the years. Furthermore, we summarize the scientific highlights from the first five years of operation.

Multi-colour light variation of AGB stars observed with ISO

New visual light curves and infrared multi-epoch photometry are presented for a sample of AGB- stars spectroscopically observed with ISO. While the ISO work is or will be presented elsewhere, the aim of this paper is to give an overview of the properties of the light change of the objects. This information is crucial for the interpretation of the valuable ISO material. Using the University of Vienna Twin Automatic Photoelectric Telescope (APT) we monitored the stars of our sample in the photometric bands V and IC. We present the light curve of each object and derive the parameters of the current light change, such as period(s) and amplitude. Furthermore we give V IC colours and colour variations for these objects. Our results allow us to derive some general results on semiregular and irregular variables. Only in less than 50% of the cases could we conrm the GCVS period. Moreover, we did not nd any pronounced dierence between SRb and Lb variables in the regularity of the light curve. The existence of rapid oscillations indicated by Hipparcos data could not be conrmed. In addition to the visual light changes we present new near infrared photometry data. Although typically only few data points are available, they can be viewed relative to the better-monitored visual light curves providing information on possible phase shifts and dierences in amplitude in dierent parts of the spectrum. Furthermore, multi-epoch photometry allows us to derive mean colours for these objects.

On the rotation period of Capella

We present differential Hα and Hβ photometry of the very bright RS CVn-binary α Aurigae (Capella)obtained with theVienna automatic photoelectric telescope in the years 1996 through 2000. Low-level photometric variations of up to 0m.04 are detected in Hα. A multifrequency analysis suggests two real periods of 106 ± 3 days and 8.64 ± 0.09 days, that we interpret to be the rotation periods of the cool and the hot component of the Capella binary, respectively. These periods confirm that the hotter component of Capella rotates asynchronously, while the cooler component appears to be synchronized with the binary motion. The combined Hα data possibly contains an additional period of 80.4 days that we, however, believe is either spurious and was introduced due to seasonal amplitude variations or stems from a time-variable circumbinary mass flow. The rotational periods result in stellar radii of 14.3 ± 4.6 R⊙ and 8.5 ± 0.5 R⊙ for the cool and hot component, respectively, and are in good agreement with previously published radii based on radiometric and interferometric techniques. The long-period eclipsing binary Aurigae served as our check star, and we detected complex light variations outside of eclipse of up to 0m.15 in H α and 0m.20 in Hβ. Our frequency analysis suggests the existence of at least three significant periods of 132, 89, and 73 days. One of our comparison stars (HD 33167, F5V) was discovered to be a very-low amplitude variable with a period of 2.6360 ± 0.0055 days.

Long-term monitoring of active stars

As a part of an extensive program focused on the global properties and evolution of active stars, high-precision $UBV(RI)_{\rm c}$ and UBV photometry of 31 selected stars is presented. The $UBV(RI)_{\rm c}$ observations were collected at the European Southern Observatory over the 31 December 1992-18 January 1993 and the 20 November-3 December 1993 intervals. Additional UBV photometry obtained by the Phoenix and by the Catania Astrophysical Observatory Automatic Photoelectric Telescopes from 1990 to 1993 is also presented for some of the program stars. Significant evolution of the light curves, period variations and evidence for long-term variability of the global degree of spottedness are found. Some spectral classifications are revised and the inferred photometric parallaxes are compared, whenever possible, with the values measured by the Hipparcos satellite. These observations are finalized to the construction of an extended photometric database, which can give important clues on topics such as the stability of spotted areas, differential rotation, solar-like cycles and the correlation between inhomogeneities at different atmospheric levels.

Photometric Variability in a Sample of 187 G and K Giants

We have used three automatic photoelectric telescopes to obtain photometric observations of 187 G, K, and (a few) M0 —eld giants. We —nd low-amplitude photometric variability on timescales of days to weeks on both sides of the coronal dividing line (CDL) in a total of 81 or 43% of the 187 giants. About one-third of the variables have amplitudes greater than 0.01 mag in V. In our sample the percentage of variable giants is a minimum for late-G spectral classes and increases for earlier and later classes; all K5 and M0 giants are variable. We also obtained high-resolution, red wavelength spectroscopic observations of 147 of the giants, which we used to determine spectral classi—cations, v sin i values, and radial veloci- ties. We acquired additional high-resolution, blue wavelength spectra of 48 of the giants, which we used to determine chromospheric emission —uxes. We analyzed the photometric and spectroscopic obser- vations to identify the cause(s) of photometric variability in our sample of giants. We show that the light variations in the vast majority of G and K giant variables cannot be due to rotation. For giants on the cool side of the CDL, we —nd that the variability mechanism is radial pulsation. Thus, the variability mechanism operating in M giants extends into the K giants up to about spectral class K2. On the hot side of the CDL, the variability mechanism is most likely nonradial, g-mode pulsation. Subject headings: stars: fundamental parametersstars: late-typestars: oscillations ¨ stars: rotationstars: spotsstars: variables: other