We embarked on a high-resolution optical spectroscopic survey of bright Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) stars around the Northern Ecliptic Pole (NEP), dubbed the Vatican-Potsdam-NEP (VPNEP) survey. Our NEP coverage comprises 1067 stars, of which 352 are bona fide dwarf stars and 715 are giant stars, all cooler than spectral type F0 and brighter than V=8.5. Our aim is to characterize these stars for the benefit of future studies in the community. We analyzed the spectra via comparisons with synthetic spectra. Particular line profiles were analyzed by means of eigen-profiles, equivalent widths, and relative emission-line fluxes (when applicable). Two R=200 000 spectra were obtained for each of the dwarf stars with the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) and the Potsdam Echelle Polarimetric and Spectroscopic Instrument (PEPSI), with typically three R=55 000 spectra obtained for the giant stars with STELLA and the STELLA Echelle Spectrograph (SES). Combined with V-band magnitudes, Gaia eDR3 parallaxes, and isochrones from the Padova and Trieste Stellar Evolutionary Code, the spectra can be used to obtain radial velocities, effective temperatures, gravities, rotational and turbulence broadenings, stellar masses and ages, and abundances for 27 chemical elements, as well as isotope ratios for lithium and carbon, line bisector spans, convective blue-shifts (when feasible), and levels of magnetic activity from Halpha, Hbeta, and the Ca II infrared triplet. In this initial paper, we discuss our analysis tools and biases, presenting our first results from a pilot sub-sample of 54 stars (27 bona-fide dwarf stars observed with VATT+PEPSI and 27 bona-fide giant stars observed with STELLA+SES) and making all reduced spectra available to the community.

Read more: Strassmeier et al. 2023, A&A, in press (arXiv:2302.01794)

Recent observations have shown that the atmospheres of ultra hot Jupiters (UHJs) commonly possess temperature inversions, where the temperature increases with increasing altitude. Nonetheless, which opacity sources are responsible for the presence of these inversions remains largely observationally unconstrained. We used LBT/PEPSI to observe the atmosphere of the UHJ KELT-20 b in both transmission and emission in order to search for molecular agents which could be responsible for the temperature inversion. We validate our methodology by confirming previous detections of Fe I in emission at 16.9 σ. Our search for the inversion agents TiO, VO, FeH, and CaH results in nondetections. Using injection-recovery testing we set 4σ upper limits upon the volume mixing ratios for these constituents as low as ∼1×10⁻⁹ for TiO. For TiO, VO, and CaH, our limits are much lower than expectations from an equilibrium chemical model, while we cannot set constraining limits on FeH with our data. We thus rule out TiO and CaH as the source of the temperature inversion in KELT-20 b, and VO only if the line lists are sufficiently accurate.

Read more: Marshall et al. 2023, AJ, in press (arXiv:2205.12162)

We measured abundances of 12 elements (Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) in a sample of 86 metal-poor subgiant stars in the solar neighborhood. Abundances are derived from high-resolution spectra taken with the Potsdam Echelle Polarimetric and Spectroscopic Instrument on the Large Binocular Telescope, modeled using iSpec and MOOG. By carefully quantifying the impact of photon-noise (< 0.05 dex for all elements) we robustly measure the intrinsic scatter of abundance ratios. At fixed [Fe/H] the RMS intrinsic scatter in [X/Fe] ranges from 0.04 dex (Cr) to 0.16 dex (Na), with a median of 0.08 dex. Scatter in [X/Mg] is similar, and accounting for [alpha/Fe] only reduces the overall scatter moderately. We consider several possible origins of the intrinsic scatter with particular attention to fluctuations in the relative enrichment by core-collapse supernovae (CCSN) and Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) and stochastic sampling of the CCSN progenitor mass distribution. The stochastic sampling scenario provides a good quantitative explanation of our data if the effective number of CCSN contributing to the enrichment of a typical sample star is N approx 50. At the median metallicity of our sample, this interpretation implies that the CCSN ejecta are mixed over a gas mass 10^{^5} M_Sun before forming stars. The scatter of elemental abundance ratios is a powerful diagnostic test for simulations of star formation, feedback, and gas mixing in the early phases of the Galaxy.

Read more:  Griffith et al. 2022, ApJ, in press  (arXiv:2210.01821)

Recent studies have established that the majority of Io’s molecular atmosphere, SO₂ and SO, condenses during its passage through Jupiter’s shadow. The eclipse response of Io’s atomic atmosphere is less certain, having been characterized solely by ultraviolet aurorae. Here we explore the response of optical aurorae for the first time. We find oxygen to be indifferent to the changing illumination with [O I] brightness merely tracking the plasma density at Io’s position in the torus. In shadow, line ratios confirm sparse SO₂ coverage relative to O since their collisions would otherwise quench the emission. Io’s sodium aurora mostly disappears in eclipse and e-folding timescales for decline and recovery differ sharply: ~10 minutes at ingress and nearly 2 hours at egress. Only ion chemistry can produce such a disparity; Io’s molecular ionosphere is much weaker at egress due to rapid recombination. Auroral emission is also evident from potassium, confirming K as the major source of far red emissions seen in situ. In all cases, direct electron impact on atomic gas is sufficient to explain the brightness without invoking significant dissociative excitation of molecules. The non-response of O and rapid depletion of Na during Io’s eclipse phase is surprisingly inverted from the eclipse phase behavior of the SO₂ and NaCl parent molecules.

Read more: Schmidt et al. 2022, PSJ, in press (AAS Planetary Science Journal)

A spectroscopic investigation of the lithium resonance doublet in ξ Boo A and ξ Boo B in terms of both abundance and isotopic ratio is presented. We obtained new R=130 000 spectra with a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) per pixel of up to 3200 using the 11.8m LBT and PEPSI. From fits with synthetic line profiles based on 1D-LTE MARCS model atmospheres and 3D-NLTE corrections, we determine the abundances of both isotopes. For ξ Boo A, we find A(Li) = 2.40±0.03 dex and ⁶Li/⁷Li < 1.5±1.0 % in 1D LTE, which increases to ≈2.45 for the 3D-NLTE case. For ξ Boo B we obtain A(Li) = 0.37±0.09 dex in 1D-LTE with an unspecified ⁶Li/⁷Li level. Therefore, no ⁶Li is seen on any of the two stars. We consider a spot model for the Li fit for ξ Boo B and find A(Li) = 0.45±0.09 dex. The ⁷Li abundance is 23 times higher for ξ Boo A than the Sun’s, but three times lower than the Sun’s for ξ Boo B while both fit the trend of single stars in the similar-aged M35 open cluster. Effective temperatures are redetermined from the TiO band head strength. We note that the best-fit global metallicities are –0.13±0.01 dex for ξ Boo A but +0.13±0.02 dex for ξ Boo B. Lithium abundance for the K5V benchmark star 61 Cyg A was obtained to A(Li)≈0.53 dex when including a spot model but to ≈0.15 dex without a spot model.

Read more: Strassmeier & Steffen 2022, AN, 343, article id. e20220036

We present an analysis of the red giant component of the recurrent nova V3890 Sgr, using data obtained before and after its 2019 eruption. Its effective temperature is T_eff = 3050 ± 200 K for log g = 0.7, although there are modest changes in T_eff. There is an overabundance of both carbon (0.20 ± 0.05 dex) and sodium (1.0 ± 0.3 dex) relative to their solar values, possibly the result of ejecta from the 1990 nova eruption being entrained into the red giant photosphere. We find ¹²C/¹³C =25 ± 2, a value similar to that found in red giants in other recurrent novae. The spectrum in the region of the Na I D lines is complex, and includes at least six interstellar components, together with likely evidence for interaction between ejecta from the 2019 eruption and material accumulated in the plane of the binary.

Read more: Kaminsky et al. 2022, MNRAS, 517, 6064

The strong chromospheric absorption lines Ca H & K are tightly connected to stellar surface magnetic fields. Only for the Sun, spectral activity indices can be related to evolving magnetic features on the solar disk. The Solar Disk-Integrated (SDI) telescope feeds the Potsdam Echelle Polarimetric and Spectroscopic Instrument (PEPSI) of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) at Mt. Graham International Observatory (MGIO), Arizona, U.S.A. We present high-resolution, high-fidelity spectra that were recorded on 184 & 82 days in 2018 & 2019 and derive the Ca H & K emission ratio, i.e., the S-index. In addition, we compile excess brightness and area indices based on full-disk Ca K line-core filtergrams of the Chromospheric Telescope (ChroTel) at Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife, Spain and full-disk ultraviolet (UV) 1600 Å images of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Thus, Sun-as-a-star spectral indices are related to their counterparts derived from resolved images of the solar chromosphere. All indices display signatures of rotational modulation, even during the very low magnetic activity in the minimum of Solar Cycle 24. Bringing together different types of activity indices has the potential to join disparate chromospheric datasets, yielding a comprehensive description of chromospheric activity across many solar cycles.

Read more: Dineva et al. 2022, AN 343, article id e23996

The rotation rates of main-sequence stars slow over time as they gradually lose angular momentum to their magnetized stellar winds. The rate of angular momentum loss depends on the strength and morphology of the magnetic field, the mass-loss rate, and the stellar rotation period, mass, and radius. Previous observations suggested a shift in magnetic morphology between two F-type stars with similar rotation rates but very different ages (88 Leo and ρ CrB). In this Letter, we identify a comparable transition in an evolutionary sequence of solar analogs with ages between 2–7 Gyr. We present new spectropolarimetry of 18 Sco and 16 Cyg A & B from the Large Binocular Telescope, and we reanalyze previously published Zeeman Doppler images of HD 76151 and 18 Sco, providing additional constraints on the nature and timing of this transition.

Read more: Metcalfe et al. 2022, ApJ Letter, 933, 17; arXiv 2206.08540

The alignment of planetary orbits with respect to the stellar rotation preserves information on their dynamical histories. Measuring this angle for young planets helps illuminate the mechanisms that create misaligned orbits for older planets, as different processes could operate over timescales ranging from a few megayears to a gigayear. We present spectroscopic transit observations of the young exoplanet V1298 Tau b; we update the age of V1298 Tau to be 28 ± 4 Myr based on Gaia EDR3 measurements. We observed a partial transit with Keck/HIRES and LBT/PEPSI, and detected the radial velocity anomaly due to the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. V1298 Tau b has a prograde, well-aligned orbit, with λ=4+7−10 deg. By combining the spectroscopically measured vsini⋆ and the photometrically measured rotation period of the host star we also find that the orbit is aligned in 3D, ψ=8+4−7 deg. Finally, we combine our obliquity constraints with a previous measurement for the interior planet V1298 Tau c to constrain the mutual inclination between the two planets to be i mut = 0° ± 19°.

Read more:  Johnson et al. 2022, AJ, 163, 247

The study of exoplanets and especially their atmospheres can reveal key insights on their evolution by identifying specific atmospheric species. For such atmospheric investigations, high–resolution transmission spectroscopy has shown great success, especially for Jupiter–type planets. Towards the atmospheric characterization of smaller planets, the super–Earth exoplanet 55 Cnc e is one of the most promising terrestrial exoplanets studied to date. Here, we present a high–resolution spectroscopic transit observation of this planet, acquired with the PEPSI instrument at the Large Binocular Telescope. Assuming the presence of Earth–like crust species on the surface of 55 Cnc e, from which a possible silicate–vapor atmosphere could have originated, we search in its transmission spectrum for absorption of various atomic and ionized species such as Fe , Fe ⁺, Ca , Ca ⁺, Mg and K , among others. Not finding absorption for any of the investigated species, we are able to set absorption limits with a median value of 1.9 × R_P. In conclusion, we do not find evidence of a widely extended silicate envelope on this super–Earth reaching several planetary radii.

Read more: Keles et al. 2022, MNRAS, 513, 1544