Kitt Peak National Research Articles

2MASS J06562998+3002455: Not a Cool White Dwarf Candidate, but a Population II Halo Star

2MASS J06562998+3002455 or PSS 309-6 is a high proper-motion star that was discovered during a survey with the 2.1 m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Here, we reevaluate the status of this interesting star using Gaia DR2. Our results strongly suggest that PSS 309-6 could be a Population II star as the value of its V component is close to -220 km/s, which is typical for halo stars in the immediate solar neighborhood. Kapteyn's star is the nearest known halo star and PSS 309-6 exhibits similar kinematic and photometric signatures. Its properties also resemble those of 2MASS J15484023-3544254, which was once thought to be the nearest cool white dwarf but was later reclassified as K-type subdwarf. Although it is virtually certain that PSS 309-6 is not a nearby white dwarf but a more distant Population II subdwarf, further spectroscopic information, including radial velocity measurements, is necessary to fully characterize this probable member of the Galactic halo.

ProtoDESI: First On-Sky Technology Demonstration for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is under construction to measure the expansion history of the universe using the baryon acoustic oscillations technique. The spectra of 35 million galaxies and quasars over 14,000 square degrees will be measured during a 5-year survey. A new prime focus corrector for the Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory will deliver light to 5,000 individually targeted fiber-fed robotic positioners. The fibers in turn feed ten broadband multi-object spectrographs. We describe the ProtoDESI experiment, that was installed and commissioned on the 4-m Mayall telescope from 2016 August 14 to September 30. ProtoDESI was an on-sky technology demonstration with the goal to reduce technical risks associated with aligning optical fibers with targets using robotic fiber positioners and maintaining the stability required to operate DESI. The ProtoDESI prime focus instrument, consisting of three fiber positioners, illuminated fiducials, and a guide camera, was installed behind the existing Mosaic corrector on the Mayall telescope. A fiber view camera was mounted in the Cassegrain cage of the telescope and provided feedback metrology for positioning the fibers. ProtoDESI also provided a platform for early integration of hardware with the DESI Instrument Control System that controls the subsystems, provides communication with the Telescope Control System, and collects instrument telemetry data. Lacking a spectrograph, ProtoDESI monitored the output of the fibers using a fiber photometry camera mounted on the prime focus instrument. ProtoDESI was successful in acquiring targets with the robotically positioned fibers and demonstrated that the DESI guiding requirements can be met.

The NOAO Publications Tracking Program: Developing Policies & Procedures for Usage, Acknowledgment, and Citation of Data

The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) has a complex publications tracking program, which is coordinated by the NOAO Librarian. We track publications that use data from multiple observatories (Kitt Peak National Observatory [KPNO] in Tucson, Arizona, and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory [CTIO] in La Serena, Chile, as well as non-NOAO telescopes to which we grant community access at other observatories); multiple telescopes and instruments; multiple observing programs, including survey programs; and multiple datasets in the Science Data Archive (SDA) at NOAO. The growing SDA and new user services, such as the Data Lab, ensure that the use of NOAO archival datasets will become even more widespread and important for scientific discovery and research. Accurate and complete publication tracking is essential for reporting to our funding agencies, developing our programs, and determining our scientific contributions and impact. Setting policies to guide authors in specifying and acknowledging usage of NOAO data is an essential element in our ability to determine and document relevant publications. Developing systems to track the use of our telescope data and archival datasets is another critical element. New policies to track the use of our telescope data are being developed, new systems to track the use and reuse of datasets within our particular institutional context are being explored, and methods of linking our publications data with our dataset usage data are being devised. Updated policies for the proper and ethical usage, acknowledgement, and citation of our archival data are being written and reviewed.

KIC 8164262: a heartbeat star showing tidally induced pulsations with resonant locking

We present the analysis of KIC 8164262, a heartbeat star with a high-amplitude (~1 mmag), tidally resonant pulsation (a mode in resonance with the orbit) at 229 times the orbital frequency and a plethora of tidally induced g-mode pulsations (modes excited by the orbit). The analysis combines Kepler light curves with follow-up spectroscopic data from the Keck telescope, KPNO (Kitt Peak National Observatory) 4-m Mayal telescope and the 2.7-m telescope at the McDonald observatory. We apply the binary modelling software, PHOEBE, to the Kepler light curve and radial velocity data to determine a detailed binary star model that includes the prominent pulsation and Doppler boosting, alongside the usual attributes of a binary star model (including tidal distortion and reflection). The results show that the system contains a slightly evolved F star with an M secondary companion in a highly eccentric orbit (e = 0.886). We use the results of the binary star model in a companion paper (Fuller et al., 2017) where we show that the prominent pulsation can be explained by a tidally excited oscillation mode held near resonance by a resonance locking mechanism.

Monitoring Telluric Absorption with CAMAL

Ground-based astronomical observations may be limited by telluric water vapor absorption, which is highly variable in time and significantly complicates both spectroscopy and photometry in the near-infrared (NIR). To achieve the sensitivity required to detect Earth-sized exoplanets in the NIR, simultaneous monitoring of precipitable water vapor (PWV) becomes necessary to mitigate the impact of variable telluric lines on radial velocity measurements and transit light curves. To address this issue, we present the Camera for the Automatic Monitoring of Atmospheric Lines (CAMAL), a stand-alone, inexpensive six-inch aperture telescope dedicated to measuring PWV at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory on Mount Hopkins. CAMAL utilizes three narrowband NIR filters to trace the amount of atmospheric water vapor affecting simultaneous observations with the MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA) and MINERVA-Red telescopes. Here, we present the current design of CAMAL, discuss our data analysis methods, and show results from 11 nights of PWV measurements taken with CAMAL. For seven nights of data we have independent PWV measurements extracted from high-resolution stellar spectra taken with the Tillinghast Reflector Echelle Spectrometer (TRES) also located on Mount Hopkins. We use the TRES spectra to calibrate the CAMAL absolute PWV scale. Comparisons between CAMAL and TRES PWV estimates show excellent agreement, matching to within 1 mm over a 10 mm range in PWV. Analysis of CAMAL’s photometric precision propagates to PWV measurements precise to better than 0.5 mm in dry (PWV < 4 mm) conditions. We also find that CAMAL-derived PWVs are highly correlated with those from a GPS-based water vapor monitor located approximately 90 km away at Kitt Peak National Observatory, with a root mean square PWV difference of 0.8 mm.

Phosphorus Abundances in FGK Stars

Abstract We measured phosphorus abundances in 22 FGK dwarfs and giants that span −0.55 &lt; [Fe/H] 0.2 using spectra obtained with the Phoenix high-resolution infrared spectrometer on the Kitt Peak National Observatory Mayall 4 m telescope, the Gemini South Telescope, and the Arcturus spectral atlas. We fit synthetic spectra to the P i feature at 10581 Å to determine abundances for our sample. Our results are consistent with previously measured phosphorus abundances; the average [P/Fe] ratio measured in [Fe/H] bins of 0.2 dex for our stars are within ∼1σ compared to averages from other IR phosphorus studies. Our study provides more evidence that models of chemical evolution using the results of theoretical yields are underproducing phosphorus compared to the observed abundances. Our data better fit a chemical evolution model with phosphorus yields increased by a factor of 2.75 compared to models with unadjusted yields. We also found average [P/Si] = 0.02 ± 0.07 and [P/S] = 0.15 ± 0.15 for our sample, showing no significant deviations from the solar ratios for [P/Si] and [P/S] ratios.

KIC 8262223: A Post-mass Transfer Eclipsing Binary Consisting of a Delta Scuti Pulsator and a Helium White Dwarf Precursor

Abstract KIC 8262223 is an eclipsing binary with a short orbital period (P = 1.61 day). The Kepler light curves are of Algol-type and display deep and partial eclipses, ellipsoidal variations, and pulsations of δ Scuti type. We analyzed the Kepler photometric data, complemented by phase-resolved spectra from the R-C Spectrograph on the 4 meter Mayall telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory and determined the fundamental parameters of this system. The low-mass and oversized secondary ( , ) is the remnant of the donor star that transferred most of its mass to the gainer, and now the primary star. The current primary star is thus not a normal δ Scuti star but the result of mass accretion from a lower mass progenitor. We discuss the possible evolutionary history and demonstrate with the MESA evolution code that this system and several other systems discussed in prior literature can be understood as the result of non-conservative binary evolution for the formation of EL CVn-type binaries. The pulsations of the primary star can be explained as radial and non-radial pressure modes. The equilibrium models from single star evolutionary tracks can match the observed mass and radius ( , ) but the predicted unstable modes associated with these models differ somewhat from those observed. We discuss the need for better theoretical understanding of such post-mass transfer δ Scuti pulsators.

An Archive of Spectra from the Mayall Fourier Transform Spectrometer at Kitt Peak

We describe the SpArc science gateway for spectral data obtained using the Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) in operation at the Mayall 4-m telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory during the period from 1975 through 1995. SpArc is hosted by Indiana University Bloomington and is available for public access. The archive includes nearly 10,000 individual spectra of more than 800 different astronomical sources including stars, nebulae, galaxies, and solar system objects. We briefly describe the FTS instrument itself and summarize the conversion of the original interferograms into spectral data and the process for recovering the data into FITS files. The architecture of the archive is discussed and the process for retrieving data from the archive is introduced. Sample use cases showing typical FTS spectra are presented.

Geoffrey Ronald Burbidge. 24 September 1925 — 26 January 2010

Geoffrey (Geoff) Burbidge's career spanned the tumultuous years when astronomy was transformed from a purely optical science to a multi-wavelength discipline through the development of new types of astronomy—radio, X-ray, γ -ray, cosmic ray physics. These offered new astrophysical and cosmological challenges, which he grasped with relish. To all of these disciplines, Geoff, often in collaboration with his wife Margaret Burbidge (FRS 1964), made pioneering contributions, particularly in the areas of the synthesis of the chemical elements, the physics of extragalactic radio sources, the rotation curves of galaxies, the dark matter problem in clusters of galaxies, the physics of accretion discs and the origin of cosmic rays. He also espoused less popular causes such as the non-cosmological nature of the redshifts of quasars and was sceptical about the standard Big Bang picture of the origin of the large-scale structure and dynamics of the Universe. He was a flamboyant and outspoken astrophysicist who challenged his colleagues about their deeply held views on all aspects of astrophysics and cosmology. His service to the community included five years as director of the US Kitt Peak National Observatory, based in Tucson, Arizona, and as a most effective editor of Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics for over 30 years and the Astrophysical Journal.

Multi-band photometric study of the short-period eclipsing binary GR Boo

We present BVRI light curves with complete phase coverage for the short-period (p = 0.377day) eclipsing binary star GR Boo. We carried out the observations using the SARA 90 cm telescope located at Kitt Peak National Observatory. We obtained six new light curve minimum times. By fitting all of the available O-C minimum times, we obtained an updated ephemeris that shows the orbital period of GR Boo is decreasing at a rate of P˙=−2.36×10−7 days/year. This decrease in its period can be explained by either mass transfer from the more massive component to the less massive one, or angular momentum exchange due to magnetic activities. We also obtained a set of revised orbital parameters using the Wilson & Devinney program. And finally, we concluded that GR Boo is a contact binary with a dark spot.

VERY LOW-MASS STELLAR AND SUBSTELLAR COMPANIONS TO SOLAR-LIKE STARS FROM MARVELS. VI. A GIANT PLANET AND A BROWN DWARF CANDIDATE IN A CLOSE BINARY SYSTEM HD 87646

ABSTRACT We report the detections of a giant planet (MARVELS-7b) and a brown dwarf (BD) candidate (MARVELS-7c) around the primary star in the close binary system, HD 87646. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first close binary system with more than one substellar circumprimary companion that has been discovered. The detection of this giant planet was accomplished using the first multi-object Doppler instrument (KeckET) at the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) telescope. Subsequent radial velocity observations using the Exoplanet Tracker at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, the High Resolution Spectrograph at the Hobby Eberley telescope, the “Classic” spectrograph at the Automatic Spectroscopic Telescope at the Fairborn Observatory, and MARVELS from SDSS-III confirmed this giant planet discovery and revealed the existence of a long-period BD in this binary. HD 87646 is a close binary with a separation of ∼22 au between the two stars, estimated using the Hipparcos catalog and our newly acquired AO image from PALAO on the 200 inch Hale Telescope at Palomar. The primary star in the binary, HD 87646A, has = 5770 ± 80 K, log g = 4.1 ± 0.1, and [Fe/H] = −0.17 ± 0.08. The derived minimum masses of the two substellar companions of HD 87646A are 12.4 ± 0.7 and 57.0 ± 3.7 . The periods are 13.481 ± 0.001 days and 674 ± 4 days and the measured eccentricities are 0.05 ± 0.02 and 0.50 ± 0.02 respectively. Our dynamical simulations show that the system is stable if the binary orbit has a large semimajor axis and a low eccentricity, which can be verified with future astrometry observations.

THE PREVALENCE AND IMPACT OF WOLF–RAYET STARS IN EMERGING MASSIVE STAR CLUSTERS

ABSTRACT We investigate Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars as a source of feedback contributing to the removal of natal material in the early evolution of massive star clusters. Despite previous work suggesting that massive star clusters clear out their natal material before the massive stars evolve into the WR phase, WR stars have been detected in several emerging massive star clusters. These detections suggest that the timescale for clusters to emerge can be at least as long as the time required to produce WR stars (a few million years), and could also indicate that WR stars may be providing the tipping point in the combined feedback processes that drive a massive star cluster to emerge. We explore the potential overlap between the emerging phase and the WR phase with an observational survey to search for WR stars in emerging massive star clusters hosting WR stars. We select candidate emerging massive star clusters from known radio continuum sources with thermal emission and obtain optical spectra with the 4 m Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory and the 6.5 m MMT.4 We identify 21 sources with significantly detected WR signatures, which we term “emerging WR clusters.” WR features are detected in ∼50% of the radio-selected sample, and thus we find that WR stars are commonly present in currently emerging massive star clusters. The observed extinctions and ages suggest that clusters without WR detections remain embedded for longer periods of time, and may indicate that WR stars can aid, and therefore accelerate, the emergence process.

KEPLER ECLIPSING BINARIES WITH DELTA SCUTI/GAMMA DORADUS PULSATING COMPONENTS. I. KIC 9851944

ABSTRACT KIC 9851944 is a short-period (P = 2.16 days) eclipsing binary in the Kepler field of view. By combining the analysis of Kepler photometry and phase-resolved spectra from Kitt Peak National Observatory and Lowell Observatory, we determine the atmospheric and physical parameters of both stars. The two components have very different radii (2.27 R ⊙, 3.19 R ⊙) but close masses (1.76 M ⊙, 1.79 M ⊙) and effective temperatures (7026, 6902 K), indicating different evolutionary stages. The hotter primary is still on the main sequence (MS), while the cooler and larger secondary star has evolved to the post-MS, burning hydrogen in a shell. A comparison with coeval evolutionary models shows that it requires solar metallicity and a higher mass ratio to fit the radii and temperatures of both stars simultaneously. Both components show δ Scuti-type pulsations, which we interpret as p-modes and p and g mixed modes. After a close examination of the evolution of δ Scuti pulsational frequencies, we make a comparison of the observed frequencies with those calculated from MESA/GYRE.

Variation of the Mn I 539.4 nm line with the solar cycle

As a part of the long-term program at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), the Mn I 539.4 nm line has been observed for nearly three solar cycles using the McMath telescope and the 13.5 m spectrograph in double-pass mode. These full-disk spectrophotometric observations revealed an unusually strong change of this line's parameters over the solar cycle. Optical pumping by the Mg II k line was originally proposed to explain these variations. More recent studies have proposed that this is not required and that the magnetic variability might explain it. Magnetic variability is also the mechanism that drives the changes in total solar irradiance variations (TSI). With this work we investigate this proposition quantitatively by using using the model SATIRE-S. We applied exactly the same model atmospheres and value of the free parameter as were used in previous solar irradiance reconstructions to now model the variation in the Mn I 539.4 nm line profile and in neighboring Fe I lines. We compared the results of the theoretical model with KPNO observations. Our result confirms that optical pumping of the Mn I 539.4 nm line by Mg II k is not the main cause of its solar cycle change. It also provides independent confirmation of solar irradiance models which are based on the assumption that irradiance variations are caused by the evolution of the solar surface magnetic flux. The result obtained here also supports the spectral irradiance variations computed by these models.

OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF GAMMA-RAY BLAZAR CANDIDATES. V. TNG, KPNO, AND OAN OBSERVATIONS OF BLAZAR CANDIDATES OF UNCERTAIN TYPE IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

ABSTRACT The extragalactic γ-ray sky is dominated by emission from blazars, a peculiar class of active galactic nuclei. Many of the γ-ray sources included in the Fermi-Large Area Telescope Third Source catalog (3FGL) are classified as blazar candidates of uncertain type (BCUs) because there are no optical spectra available in the literature to confirm their nature. In 2013, we started a spectroscopic campaign to look for the optical counterparts of the BCUs and of the unidentified γ-ray sources to confirm their blazar nature. Whenever possible we also determine their redshifts. Here, we present the results of the observations carried out in the northern hemisphere in 2013 and 2014 at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo, Kitt Peak National Observatory, and Observatorio Astronómico Nacional in San Pedro Mártir. In this paper, we describe the optical spectra of 25 sources. We confirmed that all of the 15 BCUs observed in our campaign and included in our sample are blazars and we estimated the redshifts for three of them. In addition, we present the spectra for three sources classified as BL Lacs in the literature but with no optical spectra available to date. We found that one of them is a quasar (QSO) at a redshift of z = 0.208 and the other two are BL Lacs. Moreover, we also present seven new spectra for known blazars listed in the Roma-BZCAT that have an uncertain redshift or are classified as BL Lac candidates. We found that one of them, 5BZB J0724+2621, is a “changing look” blazar. According to the spectrum available in the literature, it was classified as a BL Lac, but in our observation we clearly detected a broad emission line that led us to classify this source as a QSO at z = 1.17.

Measurements and modeling of cold 13CH4 spectra in the 3750–4700 cm−1 region

A new study of 13CH4 line intensities and positions was performed in the Octad region between 3750 and 4700cm−1. Using 13C-enriched samples, spectra were recorded with both the McMath–Pierce FTS at Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona and the Bruker IFS-125HR at JPL. Sample temperatures ranged between 80 and 296K. Line positions and intensities of ~15,000 features were retrieved at different temperatures by non-linear least squares curve-fitting procedures. Intensities were used to estimate the lower state energies for 60% of the features in order to determine quantum assignments up to J=10. A preliminary analysis was performed using the effective Hamiltonian and the effective dipole transition moment expressed in terms of irreducible tensor operators adapted to spherical top molecules. Selected assignments were made up to J=10 for all 24 sub-vibrational states of the Octad; these were modeled for 4752 experimental line positions and 3301 selected line intensities fitted with RMS standard deviations of 0.004cm−1 and 6.9%, respectively. Integrated intensities of the eight Octad bands are compared to ab initio variational calculations. A prediction of the 13CH4 is given, but further analysis to improve the calculation will be reported in the future.

The first multi-color photometric study of the short-period contact eclipsing binary DE Lyn

We observed the contact eclipsing binary of DE Lyn using SARA 0.9 m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory on February 9, 11, and 27, 2015. In this study, we obtained the first full phase coverage BVRI CCD light curves, analyzed the orbital period variation, and extracted the orbital parameters. We calculated the linear and quadratic ephemeris, and thereby found that DE Lyn has a decreasing orbital period rate of −5.1(±0.4)× 10−7 days/year. We assume this decreasing trend is the result of the more massive component (secondary) transferring mass to the less massive component (primary), and we obtained a mass transfer rate of dm/dt=7.06×10−7M⊙/year. By using the updated Wilson & Devinney program, we found the orbital parameters of DE Lyn, which, in turn, enabled us to calculate the low degree of contact factor as f = 9.02( ± 0.01)%. In the future, its degree of contact will continue to increase and will evolve into an over-contact system.

Investigation of Solar Rotation Using Coronal Holes

The rotation of the solar coronal holes was studied. Data from the Kitt Peak Observatory in the line 10830 A He I for 2003—2012 was used for this purpose. The rotation of 434 coronal holes in the latitude interval ±40° was studied. The maximum angular velocity is observed at latitudes ±15°. Coronal holes have a lower angular velocity (13.39 deg/day) and rotate less differentially than the solar photosphere.

A FURTHER INVESTIGATION OF APPARENT PERIODICITIES AND THE ROTATIONAL STATE OF COMET 103P/HARTLEY 2 FROM COMBINED COMA MORPHOLOGY AND LIGHT CURVE DATA SETS

We present an analysis of Kitt Peak National Observatory and Lowell Observatory observations of comet 103P/Hartley 2 obtained from 2010 August through December. The results are then compared with contemporaneous observations made by the EPOXI spacecraft. Each ground-based data set has previously been investigated individually; the combined data set has complementary coverage that reduces the time between observing runs and allows us to determine additional apparent periods at intermediate times. We compare CN coma morphology between ground-based data sets, making nine new measurements of apparent periods. The first five are consistent with the roughly linearly increasing apparent period during the apparition found by previous authors. The final four suggest that the change in apparent period slowed or stopped by late November. We also measure an inner coma light curve in both CN and R-band ground-based images, finding a single-peaked light curve which repeats in phase with the coma morphology. The apparent period from the light curve had significantly larger uncertainties than from the coma morphology, but varied over the apparition in a similar manner. Our ground-based light curve aligns with the published EPOXI light curve, indicating that the light curve represents changing activity rather than viewing geometry of structures in the coma. The EPOXI light curve can best be phased by a triple-peaked period near 54–55 hr that increases from October to November. This phasing reveals that the spacing between maxima is not constant, and that the overall light curve shape evolves from one triple-peaked cycle to the next. These behaviors suggest that much of the scatter in apparent periods derived from ground-based data sets acquired at similar epochs are likely due to limited sampling of the data.

OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF GAMMA-RAY BLAZAR CANDIDATES. IV. RESULTS OF THE 2014 FOLLOW-UP CAMPAIGN

The extragalactic gamma-ray sky is dominated by the emission arising from blazars, one of the most peculiar classes of radio-loud active galaxies. Since the launch of Fermi several methods were developed to search for blazars as potential counterparts of unidentified gamma-ray sources (UGSs). To confirm the nature of the selected candidates, optical spectroscopic observations are necessary. In 2013 we started a spectroscopic campaign to investigate gamma-ray blazar candidates selected according to different procedures. The main goals of our campaign are: 1) to confirm the nature of these candidates, and 2) whenever possible determine their redshifts. Optical spectroscopic observations will also permit us to verify the robustness of the proposed associations and check for the presence of possible source class contaminants to our counterpart selection. This paper reports the results of observations carried out in 2014 in the Northern hemisphere with Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) and in the Southern hemisphere with the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescopes. We also report three sources observed with the Magellan and Palomar telescopes. Our selection of blazar-like sources that could be potential counterparts of UGSs is based on their peculiar IR colors and on their combination with radio observations both at high and low frequencies (i.e., above and below ~ 1 GHz) in publicly available large radio surveys. We present the optical spectra of 27 objects. [....] We also report the case for WISE J173052.85-035247.2, candidate counterpart of the source 2FGL J1730.6-0353, which has no radio counterpart in the major radio surveys. We confirm that our selection of gamma-ray blazars candidates can successfully indentify low-energy counterparts to Fermi unassociated sources and allow us to discover new blazars.