Dispersion Spectrograph Research Articles

Spectroscopic and asteroseismic analysis of the remarkable main-sequence A star KIC 11145123

A spectroscopic analysis was carried out to clarify the properties of KIC 11145123 -- the first main-sequence star with a determination of core-to-surface rotation -- based on spectra observed with the High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS) of the Subaru telescope. The atmospheric parameters ($T_{\rm eff} = 7600$ K, $\log g = 4.2$, $\xi = 3.1$ km s$^{-1}$ and $ {\rm [Fe/H]} = -0.71$ dex), the radial and rotation velocities, and elemental abundances were obtained by analysing line strengths and fitting line profiles, which were calculated with a 1D LTE model atmosphere. The main properties of KIC 11145123 are: (1) A low $ {\rm [Fe/H]} = -0.71\pm0.11$ dex and a high radial velocity of $-135.4 \pm 0.2$ km s$^{-1}$. These are remarkable among late-A stars. Our best asteroseismic models with this low [Fe/H] have slightly high helium abundance and low masses of 1.4 M$_\odot$. All of these results strongly suggest that KIC 11145123 is a Population II blue straggler; (2) The projected rotation velocity confirms the asteroseismically predicted slow rotation of the star; (3) Comparisons of abundance patterns between KIC 11145123 and Am, Ap, and blue stragglers show that KIC 11145123 is neither an Am star nor an Ap star, but has abundances consistent with a blue straggler. We conclude that the remarkably long 100-d rotation period of this star is a consequence of it being a blue straggler, but both pathways for the formation of blue stragglers -- merger and mass loss in a binary system -- pose difficulties for our understanding of the exceedingly slow rotation. In particular, we show that there is no evidence of any secondary companion star, and we put stringent limits on the possible mass of any such purported companion through the phase modulation (PM) technique.

WUVS simulator: detectability of spectral lines with the WSO-UV spectrographs

The World Space Observatory - Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) space telescope is equipped with high dispersion (55,000) spectrographs working in the 1150-3100 {\AA} spectral range. To evaluate the impact of the design on the scientific objectives of the mission, a simulation software tool has been developed. This simulator builds on the development made for the PLATO space mission, and it is designed to generate synthetic time-series of images by including models of all important noise sources. In this article, we describe its design and performance. Moreover, its application to the detectability of important spectral features for star formation and exoplanetary research is addressed.

Spectropolarimetry of the 2012 outburst of SN 2009ip: a bi-polar explosion in a dense, disc-like CSM

We present a sequence of eight spectropolarimetric observations monitoring the geometric evolution of the late phase of the major 2012 outburst of SN 2009ip. These were acquired with the Focal Reducer and Low Dispersion Spectrograph polarimeter mounted on European Southern Observatory VLT. The continuum was polarized at 0.3–0.8 per cent throughout the observations, showing that the photosphere deviated substantially from spherical symmetry by 10–15 per cent. Significant line polarization is detected for both hydrogen and helium at high velocities. The similarity in the polarized signal between these elements indicates that they form in the same location in the ejecta. The line polarization (p ∼ 1–1.5 per cent) at low velocities revealed the presence of a highly aspherical hydrogen- and helium-rich circumstellar medium (CSM). Monte Carlo simulations of the observed polarimetry were performed in an effort to constrain the shape of the CSM. The simulations imply that the polarimetry can be understood within the framework of a disc-like CSM inclined by 14° ± 2° out of the line of sight, obscuring the photosphere only at certain epochs. The varying temporal evolution of polarization at high and low velocities indicated that the fast-moving ejecta expanded with a preferred direction orthogonal to that of the CSM.

Differences between Doppler velocities of ions and neutral atoms in a solar prominence

In astrophysical systems with partially ionized plasma the motion of ions is governed by the magnetic field while the neutral particles can only feel the magnetic field's Lorentz force indirectly through collisions with ions. The drift in the velocity between ionized and neutral species plays a key role in modifying important physical processes like magnetic reconnection, damping of magnetohydrodynamic waves, transport of angular momentum in plasma through the magnetic field, and heating. This paper investigates the differences between Doppler velocities of calcium ions and neutral hydrogen in a solar prominence to look for velocity differences between the neutral and ionized species. We simultaneously observed spectra of a prominence over an active region in H I 397 nm, H I 434 nm, Ca II 397 nm, and Ca II 854 nm using a high dispersion spectrograph of the Domeless Solar Telescope at Hida observatory, and compared the Doppler velocities, derived from the shift of the peak of the spectral lines presumably emitted from optically-thin plasma. There are instances when the difference in velocities between neutral atoms and ions is significant, e.g. 1433 events (~ 3 % of sets of compared profiles) with a difference in velocity between neutral hydrogen atoms and calcium ions greater than 3sigma of the measurement error. However, we also found significant differences between the Doppler velocities of two spectral lines emitted from the same species, and the probability density functions of velocity difference between the same species is not significantly different from those between neutral atoms and ions. We interpreted the difference of Doppler velocities as a result of motions of different components in the prominence along the line of sight, rather than the decoupling of neutral atoms from plasma.

Low-mass variable stars in the globular cluster NGC 6397

We have conducted a photometric survey of the globular cluster NGC 6397 in a search for variable stars. We obtained ~11h of time-resolved photometric images with one ne European Southern Observatory-Very Large Telescope using the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph imager distributed over two consecutive nights. We analyzed 8391 light curves of stars brighter than magnitude 23 with the 465 nm-filter, and we identified 412 variable stars, reaching ~ 4.8 +- 0.2 per cent of variability with timescales between 0.004 and 2d, with amplitudes variation greater than +- 0.2 mag.

Refraction and dispersion measurement using dispersive Michelson interferometer

A new approach to a dispersive Michelson interferometer (DMI) is introduced. Rings of Equal Chromatic Order (RECO) are formed by a DMI illuminated by a white light source and crossed with an auxiliary dispersion spectrograph. The theoretical foundations are developed and then applied to different glass plates (BAK1, BK7, N-LAF35 and SK4) of thicknesses (12.101, 12.473, 9.930 and 6.602mm), respectively. The sample is introduced in one of the arms of the interferometer. The refraction and dispersion of the samples are deduced from a single RECO interferogram. The refractive index and its variation are measured across the spectral range: 0.500–0.650µm with relative errors of 10−3 and 1.6 ×10−4, respectively. A good agreement between our measurements and reference data is found.

The K2-ESPRINT project. VI. K2-105 b, a hot Neptune around a metal-rich G-dwarf

Abstract We report on the confirmation that the candidate transits observed for the star EPIC 211525389 are due to a short-period Neptune-sized planet. The host star, located in K2 campaign field 5, is a metal-rich ([Fe/H] = 0.26 ± 0.05) G-dwarf (Teff = 5430 ± 70 K and log g = 4.48 ± 0.09), based on observations with the High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS) on the Subaru 8.2 m telescope. High spatial resolution AO imaging with HiCIAO on the Subaru telescope excludes faint companions near the host star, and the false positive probability of this target is found to be <10−6 using the open source vespa code. A joint analysis of transit light curves from K2 and additional ground-based multi-color transit photometry with MuSCAT on the Okayama 1.88 m telescope gives an orbital period of P = 8.266902 ± 0.000070 d and consistent transit depths of Rp/R⋆ ∼ 0.035 or (Rp/R⋆)2 ∼ 0.0012. The transit depth corresponds to a planetary radius of $R_{\rm p} = 3.59_{-0.39}^{+0.44}\,R_{\oplus }$, indicating that EPIC 211525389 b is a short-period Neptune-sized planet. Radial velocities of the host star, obtained with the Subaru HDS, lead to a 3 σ upper limit of 90 M⊕ (0.00027 M⊙) on the mass of EPIC 211525389 b, confirming its planetary nature. We expect this planet, newly named K2-105 b, to be the subject of future studies to characterize its mass, atmosphere, and spin–orbit (mis)alignment, as well as investigate the possibility of additional planets in the system.

Characterizing the magnetic field and spectral variability of the rigidly rotating magnetosphere star HD 345439

Abstract A team involved in the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), one of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III programmes, recently announced the discovery of two rare rigidly rotating magnetosphere stars, HD 345439 and HD 23478. Near-infrared spectra of these objects revealed emission-line behaviour identical to that previously discovered in the helium-strong star σ Ori E, which has a strong magnetic field and rotates fast. A single spectropolarimetric observation of HD 345439 with the FOcal Reducer low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS 2) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in 2014 over 88 min indicated that HD 345439 may host a strong, rapidly varying magnetic field. In this work, we present the results of our spectropolarimetric monitoring of this star with FORS 2, which revealed the presence of a strong longitudinal magnetic field dominated by a dipolar component. The analysis of spectral variability indicates an opposite behaviour of He and Si lines, which is usually attributed to differences in the distribution of surface He and Si abundance spots.

Line-scan Raman imaging and spectroscopy platform for surface and subsurface evaluation of food safety and quality

Both surface and subsurface food inspection is important since interesting safety and quality attributes can be at different sample locations. This paper presents a multipurpose line-scan Raman platform for food safety and quality research, which can be configured for Raman chemical imaging (RCI) mode for surface inspection and spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) mode for subsurface inspection. In the RCI mode, macro-scale imaging was achieved using a 785 nm line laser up to 24 cm long with a push-broom method. In the SORS mode, a 785 nm point laser was used and a complete set of SORS data was collected in an offset range of 0–36 mm with a spatial interval of 0.07 mm using one CCD exposure. The RCI and SORS modes share a common detection module including a dispersive imaging spectrograph and a CCD camera, covering a Raman shift range from −674 to 2865 cm−1. A pork shoulder and an orange carrot were used to test large-field-of-view (230 mm wide) and high-spatial-resolution (0.07 mm/pixel) settings of the RCI mode for food surface evaluation. Fluorescence-corrected images at selected Raman peak wavenumbers were used to view Raman-active analytes on the whole sample surfaces (e.g., fat on the pork shoulder and carotenoids over the carrot cross section). Also, three layered samples, which were created by placing carrot slices with thicknesses of 2, 5, and 8 mm on top of melamine powder, were used to test the SORS mode for subsurface food evaluation. Raman spectra from carrot and melamine were successfully resolved for all three layered samples using self-modeling mixture analysis. The line-scan Raman imaging and spectroscopy platform provides a new tool for surface and subsurface inspection for food safety and quality.

NITROGEN ISOTOPIC RATIO OF COMETARY AMMONIA FROM HIGH-RESOLUTION OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF C/2014 Q2 (LOVEJOY)

ABSTRACT The icy materials present in comets provide clues to the origin and evolution of our solar system and planetary systems. High-resolution optical spectroscopic observations of comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) were performed on 2015 January 11 (at 1.321 au pre-perihelion) with the High Dispersion Spectrograph mounted on the Subaru Telescope on Maunakea, Hawaii. We derive the 14N/15N ratio of NH2 (126 ± 25), as well as the ortho-to-para abundance ratios (OPRs) of the H2O+ ion (2.77 ± 0.24) and NH2 (3.38 ± 0.07), which correspond to nuclear spin temperatures of >24 K (3σ lower limit) and 27 ± 2 K, respectively. We also derive the intensity ratio of the green-to-red doublet of forbidden oxygen lines (0.107 ± 0.007). The ammonia in the comet must have formed under low-temperature conditions at ∼10 K or less to reproduce the observed 14N/15N ratio in this molecule if it is assumed that the 15N-fractionation of ammonia occurred via ion–molecule chemical reactions. However, this temperature is inconsistent with the nuclear spin temperatures of water and ammonia estimated from the OPRs. The interpretation of the nuclear spin temperature as the temperature at molecular formation may therefore be incorrect. An isotope-selective photodissociation of molecular nitrogen by protosolar ultraviolet radiation might play an important role in the 15N-fractionation observed in cometary volatiles.

Efficient photonic reformatting of celestial light for diffraction-limited spectroscopy

The spectral resolution of a dispersive astronomical spectrograph is limited by the trade-off between throughput and the width of the entrance slit. Photonic guided-wave transitions have been proposed as a route to bypass this trade-off, by enabling the efficient reformatting of incoherent seeing-limited light collected by the telescope into a linear array of single modes: a pseudo-slit which is highly multimode in one axis but diffraction-limited in the dispersion axis of the spectrograph. It is anticipated that the size of a single-object spectrograph fed with light in this manner would be essentially independent of the telescope aperture size. A further anticipated benefit is that such spectrographs would be free of `modal noise', a phenomenon that occurs in high-resolution multimode fibre-fed spectrographs due to the coherent nature of the telescope point-spread-function (PSF). We address these aspects by integrating a multicore fibre photonic lantern with an ultrafast laser inscribed three-dimensional waveguide interconnect to spatially reformat the modes within the PSF into a diffraction-limited pseudo-slit. Using the CANARY adaptive optics (AO) demonstrator on the William Herschel Telescope, and 1530 $\pm$ 80 nm stellar light, the device is found to exhibit a transmission of 47-53 % depending upon the mode of AO correction applied. We also show the advantage of using AO to couple light into such a device by sampling only the core of the CANARY PSF. This result underscores the possibility that a fully-optimised guided-wave device can be used with AO to provide efficient spectroscopy at high spectral resolution.

Linear spectropolarimetry of polarimetric standard stars with VLT/FORS2

We reduced ESO's archival linear spectropolarimetry data (4000-9000\AA) of 6 highly polarized and 8 unpolarized standard stars observed between 2010 and 2016, for a total of 70 epochs, with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS2) mounted at the Very Large Telescope. We provide very accurate standard stars polarization measurements as a function of wavelength, and test the performance of the spectropolarimetric mode (PMOS) of FORS2. We used the unpolarized stars to test the time stability of the PMOS mode, and found a small ($\leq$0.1%), but statistically significant, on-axis instrumental polarization wavelength dependency, possibly caused by the tilted surfaces of the dispersive element. The polarization degree and angle are found to be stable at the level of $\leq$0.1% and $\leq$0.2 degrees, respectively. We derived the polarization wavelength dependence of the polarized standard stars and found that, in general, the results are consistent with those reported in the literature, e.g. Fossati et al. (2007) who performed a similar analysis using FORS1 data. The re-calibrated data provide a very accurate set of standards that can be very reliably used for technical and scientific purposes. The analysis of the Serkowski parameters revealed a systematic deviation from the width parameter $K$ reported by Whittet et al. (1992). This is most likely explained by incorrect effective wavelengths adopted in that study for the R and I bands.

STELLAR ROTATION EFFECTS IN POLARIMETRIC MICROLENSING

ABSTRACT It is well known that the polarization signal in microlensing events of hot stars is larger than that of main-sequence stars. Most hot stars rotate rapidly around their stellar axes. The stellar rotation creates ellipticity and gravity-darkening effects that break the spherical symmetry of the source's shape and the circular symmetry of the source's surface brightness respectively. Hence, it causes a net polarization signal for the source star. This polarization signal should be considered in polarimetric microlensing of fast rotating stars. For moderately rotating stars, lensing can magnify or even characterize small polarization signals due to the stellar rotation through polarimetric observations. The gravity-darkening effect due to a rotating source star creates asymmetric perturbations in polarimetric and photometric microlensing curves whose maximum occurs when the lens trajectory crosses the projected position of the rotation pole on the sky plane. The stellar ellipticity creates a time shift (i) in the position of the second peak of the polarimetric curves in transit microlensing events and (ii) in the peak position of the polarimetric curves with respect to the photometric peak position in bypass microlensing events. By measuring this time shift via polarimetric observations of microlensing events, we can evaluate the ellipticity of the projected source surface on the sky plane. Given the characterizations of the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS2) polarimeter at the Very Large Telescope, the probability of observing this time shift is very small. The more accurate polarimeters of the next generation may well measure these time shifts and evaluate the ellipticity of microlensing source stars.

SPATIALLY RESOLVED SPECTROSCOPY OF A BALMER-DOMINATED SHOCK IN THE CYGNUS LOOP: AN EXTREMELY THIN COSMIC-RAY PRECURSOR?

ABSTRACT We present high-resolution long-slit spectroscopy of a Balmer-dominated shock in the northeastern limb of the Cygnus Loop with the Subaru high dispersion spectrograph. By setting the slit angle along the shock normal, we investigate variations of the flux and profile of the Hα line from preshock to postshock regions with a spatial resolution of ∼4 × 1015 cm. The Hα line profile can be represented by a narrow (28.9 ± 0.7 km s−1) Gaussian in a diffuse region ahead of the shock, i.e., a photoionization precursor, and narrow (33.1 ± 0.2 km s−1) plus broad (130–230 km s−1) Gaussians at the shock itself. We find that the width of the narrow component abruptly increases up to 33.1 ± 0.2 km s−1, or 38.8 ± 0.4 km s−1 if we eliminate projected emission originating from the photoionization precursor, in an unresolved thin layer (≲4 × 1015 cm at a distance of 540 pc) at the shock. We show that the sudden broadening can be best explained by heating via damping of Alfvén waves in a thin cosmic-ray (CR) precursor, although other possibilities are not fully ruled out. The thickness of the CR precursor in the Cygnus Loop (a soft gamma-ray emitter) is an order of magnitude thinner than that in Tycho’s Knot g (a hard gamma-ray emitter), which may be caused by the different energy distribution of accelerated particles between the two sources. In this context, systematic studies might reveal a positive correlation between the thickness of the CR precursor and the hardness of the CR energy distribution.

High-resolution spectroscopic studies of ultra metal-poor stars found in the LAMOST survey

Abstract We report on the observations of two ultra metal-poor (UMP) stars with [Fe/H] ∼ −4.0, including one new discovery. The two stars are studied in the on-going and quite efficient project to search for extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars with LAMOST and Subaru. Detailed abundances or upper limits of abundances have been derived for 15 elements from Li to Eu based on high-resolution spectra obtained with the High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS) mounted in the Subaru Telescope. The abundance patterns of both UMP stars are consistent with the “normal population” among the low-metallicity stars. Both of the two program stars show carbon-enhancement without any excess of heavy neutron-capture elements, indicating that they belong to the subclass of (carbon-enhanced metal-poor) CEMP-no stars, as is the case of most UMP stars previously studied. The [Sr/Ba] ratios of both CEMP-no UMP stars are above [Sr/Ba] ∼ −0.4, suggesting the origin of the carbon-excess is not compatible with the mass transfer from an asymptotic giant branch companion where the s-process has operated. Lithium abundance is measured in the newly discovered UMP star LAMOST J125346.09+075343.1, making it the second UMP turnoff star with Li detection. The Li abundance of LAMOST J125346.09+075343.1 is slightly lower than the values obtained for less metal-poor stars with similar temperatures, and provides a unique data point at [Fe/H] ∼ −4.2 to support the “meltdown” of the Li Spite plateau at extremely low metallicity. Comparison with the other two UMP and HMP (hyper metal-poor, with [Fe/H] < −5.0) turnoff stars suggests that the difference in lighter elements such as CNO and Na might cause notable difference in lithium abundances among CEMP-no stars.

High dispersion spectroscopy of solar-type superflare stars. III. Lithium abundances

Abstract We report on the abundance analysis of Li in solar-type (G-type main sequence) superflare stars which were found by the analysis of Kepler photometric data. Li is a key element to understand the evolution of the stellar convection zone, which reflects the age of solar-type stars. We performed the high-dispersion spectroscopy of solar-type superflare stars with Subaru/High Dispersion Spectrograph and confirmed that 34 stars show no evidence of binarity in our previous study. In this study, we derived the Li abundances of these 34 objects. We investigate correlations of Li abundance with stellar atmospheric parameters, rotational velocity, and superflare activities to understand the nature of superflare stars and the possibility of the nucleosynthesis of Li by superflares. We confirm the large dispersion in the Li abundance, and the correlation with stellar parameters is not seen. When compared with the Li abundance in the Hyades cluster, which is younger than the Sun, it is suggested that half of the observed stars are younger than Hyades cluster. The measured value of v sin i (projected rotational velocity) supports that those objects are younger than the Sun. However, there are some objects which show the low Li abundance and slowly rotate on the basis of the estimated v sin i and P (period of brightness variation). This result indicates that superflare stars are not only young stars but also old stars like our Sun. In our observations, we could not find any evidence of Li production by superflares. Further research on Li isotope abundances of superflare stars would clarify the issue of Li production by stellar flares.

Structure And Properties Of PVD Coatings Deposited On Cermets

Abstract The main aim of the research is the investigation of the structure and properties of single-layer and gradient coatings of the type (Ti,Al)N and Ti(C,N) deposited by physical vapour deposition technology (PVD) on the cermets substrate. The structural investigations include the metallographic analysis on the transmission and scanning electron microscope. Examinations of the chemical compositions of the deposited coatings were carried out using the X-ray energy dispersive spectrograph EDS, and using the X-ray diffractometer. The investigations include also analysis of the mechanical and functional properties of the materials: substrate hardness tests and microhardness tests of the deposited coatings, surface roughness tests, evaluation of the adhesion of the deposited coatings as well as cutting properties. The results of the investigations carried out confirm the advantages of PVD coatings deposited onto cermets substrate especially in case of (Ti,Al)N. Coatings deposited onto the investigated substrates are characterised by good adhesion, high microhardness, taking effect in very high increasing of wear resistance. Deposition of hard, thin, gradient coatings on materials surface by PVD method features one of the most intensely developed directions of improvement of the working properties of materials. Equally important is the development of tool materials with respect to the fabrication of thin coatings resistant to wear in PVD process. It is of considerable importance, since through the selection of appropriate components, we can obtain a tool material of better properties. This area of tool material development is a priority nowadays, since it is the main route leading to the acquisition of machining tools of suitable properties. The results of the investigation provide useful information on microstructure, adhesion characterized in a scratch test, wear resistant properties of the gradient and single-layer coatings deposited onto cermet.

Photonic spatial reformatting of stellar light for diffraction-limited spectroscopy

The spectral resolution of a dispersive spectrograph is dependent on the width of the entrance slit. This means that astronomical spectrographs trade-off throughput with spectral resolving power. Recently, optical guided-wave transitions known as photonic lanterns have been proposed to circumvent this trade-off, by enabling the efficient reformatting of multimode light into a pseudo-slit which is highly multimode in one axis, but diffraction-limited in the other. Here, we demonstrate the successful reformatting of a telescope point spread function into such a slit using a three-dimensional integrated optical waveguide device, which we name the photonic dicer. Using the CANARY adaptive optics demonstrator on the William Herschel Telescope, and light centred at 1530 nm with a 160 nm FWHM, the device shows a transmission of between 10 and 20\% depending upon the type of AO correction applied. Most of the loss is due to the overfilling of the input aperture in poor and moderate seeing. Taking this into account, the photonic device itself has a transmission of 57 $\pm$ 4\%.We show how a fully-optimised device can be used with AO to provide efficient spectroscopy at high spectral resolution.

PRECISE RADIAL VELOCITY MEASUREMENTS FORKEPLERGIANTS HOSTING PLANETARY CANDIDATES: KEPLER-91 AND KOI-1894

We present results of radial-velocity follow-up observations for the two Kepler evolved stars Kepler-91 (KOI-2133) and KOI-1894, which had been announced as candidates to host transiting giant planets, with the Subaru 8.2m telescope and the High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS). By global modeling of the high-precision radial-velocity data taken with Subaru/HDS and photometric ones taken by Kepler mission taking account of orbital brightness modulations (ellipsoidal variations, reflected/emitted light, etc.) of the host stars, we independently confirmed that Kepler-91 hosts a transiting planet with a mass of 0.66 M_Jup (Kepler-91b), and newly detected an offset of ~20 m s$^{-1}$ between the radial velocities taken at ~1-yr interval, suggesting the existence of additional companion in the system. As for KOI-1894, we detected possible phased variations in the radial velocities and light curves with 2--3 sigma confidence level which could be explained as a reflex motion and ellipsoidal variation of the star caused by the transiting sub-saturn-mass (~0.18 M_Jup) planet.

High dispersion spectroscopy of solar-type superflare stars. I. Temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, and vsin i

Abstract We conducted high-dispersion spectroscopic observations of 50 superflare stars with Subaru High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS), and measured the stellar parameters of them. These 50 targets were selected from the solar-type (G-type main sequence) superflare stars that we had discovered from the Kepler photometric data. As a result of these spectroscopic observations, we found that more than half (34) of our 50 targets have no evidence of binary systems. We then estimated the effective temperature (Teff), surface gravity (log g), metallicity ([Fe/H]), and projected rotational velocity (vsin i) of these 34 superflare stars on the basis of our spectroscopic data. The accuracy of our estimations is higher than that of the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC) values, and the differences between our values and KIC values [(ΔTeff)rms ∼ 219 K, (Δlog g)rms ∼ 0.37 dex, and (Δ[Fe/H])rms ∼ 0.46 dex] are comparable to the large uncertainties and systematic differences of KIC values reported by the previous researchers. We confirmed that the estimated Teff and log g values of the 34 superflare stars are roughly in the range of solar-type stars. In particular, these parameters and the brightness variation period (P0) of nine of the stars are in the range of “Sun-like” stars (5600 ≤ Teff ≤ 6000 K, log g ≥ 4.0, and P0 > 10 d). Five of the 34 target stars are fast rotators (vsin i ≥ 10 km s−1), while 22 stars have relatively low vsin i values (vsin i < 5 km s−1). These results suggest that stars that have spectroscopic properties similar to the Sun can have superflares, and this supports the hypothesis that the Sun might cause a superflare.