No Arabic abstract
(Abridged) Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Fine Guidance Sensor astrometric observations of the G4 IV star HD 38529 are combined with the results of the analysis of extensive ground-based radial velocity data to determine the mass of the outermost of two previously known companions. Our new radial velocities obtained with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope and velocities from the Carnegie-California group now span over eleven years. With these data we obtain improved RV orbital elements for both the inner companion, HD 38529 b and the outer companion, HD 38529 c. We identify a rotational period of HD 38529 (P_{rot}=31.65 +/- 0.17 d) with FGS photometry. We model the combined astrometric and RV measurements to obtain the parallax, proper motion, perturbation period, perturbation inclination, and perturbation size due to HD 38529 c. For HD 38529 c we find P = 2136.1 +/- 0.3 d, perturbation semi-major axis alpha =1.05 +/-0.06$ mas, and inclination $i$ = 48.3 deg +/- 4 deg. Assuming a primary mass M_* = 1.48 M_{sun}, we obtain a companion mass M_c = 17.6 ^{+1.5}_{-1.2} M_{Jup}, 3-sigma above a 13 M_{Jup} deuterium burning, brown dwarf lower limit. Dynamical simulations incorporating this accurate mass for HD 38529 c indicate that a near-Saturn mass planet could exist between the two known companions. We find weak evidence of an additional low amplitude signal that can be modeled as a planetary-mass (~0.17 M$_{Jup}) companion at P~194 days. Additional observations (radial velocities and/or Gaia astrometry) are required to validate an interpretation of HD 38529 d as a planetary-mass companion. If confirmed, the resulting HD 38529 planetary system may be an example of a Packed Planetary System.
The Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST) spectroscopic survey plans to deliver high-quality low-resolution ($R > 200$) slitless spectra for hundreds of millions of targets down to a limiting magnitude of about 21 mag, covering a large survey area (17500 deg$^2$) and a wide wavelength range (255-1000 nm by 3 bands GU, GV, and GI). In this work, we use empirical spectra of the Next Generation Spectral Library to simulate the CSST stellar spectra at $R = 250$, and investigate their capabilities in measuring radial velocities. We find that velocity uncertainties depend strongly on effective temperature, weakly on metallicity for only FGK stars, and hardly on surface gravity. It is possible to deliver stellar radial velocities to a precision of about $3 ,mathrm{km},mathrm{s}^{-1}$ for AFGKM stars, and about $10 ,mathrm{km},mathrm{s}^{-1}$ for OB stars, at signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 100. Velocity uncertainties using single GU/GV/GI band spectra are also explored. Given the same SNR, the GU band performs best, the GV band the second best, and then the GI band. The effects of spectral normalization and imperfect template on velocity measurements are investigated and found to be very weak. The uncertainties caused by wavelength calibration are considered and found to be moderate. Given the possible precision of radial velocities, the CSST spectroscopic survey can enable interesting science such as searching for hyper-velocity stars. Limitations of our results are also discussed.
The nearby star Procyon is a visual binary containing the F5 IV-V subgiant Procyon A, orbited in a 40.84 yr period by the faint DQZ white dwarf Procyon B. Using images obtained over two decades with the Hubble Space Telescope, and historical measurements back to the 19th century, we have determined precise orbital elements. Combined with measurements of the parallax and the motion of the A component, these elements yield dynamical masses of 1.478 +/- 0.012 Msun and 0.592 +/- 0.006 Msun for A and B, respectively. The mass of Procyon A agrees well with theoretical predictions based on asteroseismology and its temperature and luminosity. Use of a standard core-overshoot model agrees best for a surprisingly high amount of core overshoot. Under these modeling assumptions, Procyon As age is ~2.7 Gyr. Procyon Bs location in the H-R diagram is in excellent agreement with theoretical cooling tracks for white dwarfs of its dynamical mass. Its position in the mass-radius plane is also consistent with theory, assuming a carbon-oxygen core and a helium-dominated atmosphere. Its progenitors mass was 1.9-2.2 Msun, depending on its amount of core overshoot. Several astrophysical puzzles remain. In the progenitor system, the stars at periastron were separated by only ~5 AU, which might have led to tidal interactions and even mass transfer; yet there is no direct evidence that these have occurred. Moreover the orbital eccentricity has remained high (~0.40). The mass of Procyon B is somewhat lower than anticipated from the initial-to-final-mass relation seen in open clusters. The presence of heavy elements in its atmosphere requires ongoing accretion, but the place of origin is uncertain.
Located at ~2pc, the L7.5+T0.5 dwarfs system WISE J104915.57-531906.1 (Luhman16AB) is the third closest system known to Earth, making it a key benchmark for detailed investigation of brown dwarf atmospheric properties, thermal evolution, multiplicity, and planet-hosting frequency. In the first study of this series -- based on a multi-cycle Hubble Space Telescope (HST) program -- we provide an overview of the project and present improved estimates of positions, proper motions, annual parallax, mass ratio, and the current best assessment of the orbital parameters of the A-B pair. Our HST observations encompass the apparent periastron of the binary at 220.5+/-0.2 mas at epoch 2016.402. Although our data seem to be inconsistent with recent ground-based astrometric measurements, we also exclude the presence of third bodies down to Neptune masses and periods longer than a year.
The EXtreme PREcision Spectrograph (EXPRES) is an environmentally stabilized, fiber-fed, $R=137,500$, optical spectrograph. It was recently commissioned at the 4.3-m Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT) near Flagstaff, Arizona. The spectrograph was designed with a target radial-velocity (RV) precision of 30$mathrm{~cm~s^{-1}}$. In addition to instrumental innovations, the EXPRES pipeline, presented here, is the first for an on-sky, optical, fiber-fed spectrograph to employ many novel techniques---including an extended flat fiber used for wavelength-dependent quantum efficiency characterization of the CCD, a flat-relative optimal extraction algorithm, chromatic barycentric corrections, chromatic calibration offsets, and an ultra-precise laser frequency comb for wavelength calibration. We describe the reduction, calibration, and radial-velocity analysis pipeline used for EXPRES and present an example of our current sub-meter-per-second RV measurement precision, which reaches a formal, single-measurement error of 0.3$mathrm{~m~s^{-1}}$ for an observation with a per-pixel signal-to-noise ratio of 250. These velocities yield an orbital solution on the known exoplanet host 51 Peg that matches literature values with a residual RMS of 0.895$mathrm{~m~s^{-1}}$.
We measure dynamical masses for five objects--three ultracool dwarfs, one low-mass star, and one white dwarf--by fitting orbits to a combination of the Hipparcos-Gaia Catalog of Accelerations, literature radial velocities, and relative astrometry. Our approach provides precise masses without any assumptions about the primary star, even though the observations typically cover only a small fraction of an orbit. We also perform a uniform re-analysis of the host stars ages. Two of our objects, HD 4747B and HR 7672B, already have precise dynamical masses near the stellar/substellar boundary and are used to validate our approach. For Gl 758B, we obtain a mass of $m=38.1_{-1.5}^{+1.7}$ $M_{Jup}$, the most precise mass measurement of this companion to date. Gl 758B is the coldest brown dwarf with a dynamical mass, and the combination of our low mass and slightly older host-star age resolves its previously noted discrepancy with substellar evolutionary models. HD 68017B, a late-M dwarf, has a mass of $m=0.147pm 0.003$ $M_odot$, consistent with stellar theory and previous empirical estimates based on its absolute magnitude. The progenitor of the white dwarf Gl 86B has been debated in the literature, and our dynamical measurement of $m=0.595 pm 0.010$ $M_odot$ is consistent with a higher progenitor mass and younger age for this planet-hosting binary system. Overall, these case studies represent only five of the thousands of accelerating systems identified by combining Hipparcos and Gaia. Our analysis could be repeated for many of them to build a large sample of companions with dynamical masses.