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

Hot Jupiters orbiting rapidly rotating stars on inclined orbits undergo tidally induced nodal precession measurable over several years of observations. The Hot Jupiters WASP–33 b and KELT–9 b are particularly interesting targets as they are among the hottest planets found to date, orbiting relatively massive stars. Here, we analyze archival and new data that span 11 and 5 years for WASP–33 b and KELT–9 b, respectively, in order to to model and improve upon their tidal precession parameters. Our work confirms the nodal precession for WASP–33 b and presents the first clear detection of the precession of KELT–9 b. We determine that WASP–33 and KELT–9 have gravitational quadrupole moments. We estimate the planets’ precession periods to be 1460 years and 890 years, respectively, and that they will cease to transit their host stars around the years 2090CE and 2074CE, respectively. Additionally, we investigate both planets’ tidal and orbital evolution, suggesting that a high–eccentricity tidal migration scenario is possible to produce both system architectures and that they will most likely not be engulfed by their hosts before the end of their main sequence lifetimes.

Read more: Stephan et al. 2022, arXiv:2203.02546v1

Hot Jupiters receive intense irradiation from their stellar hosts. The resulting extreme environments in their atmospheres allow us to study the conditions that drive planetary atmospheric dynamics, e.g., global–scale winds. General circulation models predict day–to–nightside winds and equatorial jets with speeds of the order of a few km s^–1. To test these models, we apply high–resolution transmission spectroscopy using the Potsdam Echelle Polarimetric and Spectroscopic Instrument (PEPSI) spectrograph on the Large Binocular Telescope to study the atmosphere of KELT–9 b, an ultrahot Jupiter and currently the hottest known planet. We measure ~10 km s^–1 day–to–nightside winds traced by Fe II features in the planet’s atmosphere. This is at odds with previous literature (including data taken with PEPSI), which report no significant day–to–nightside winds on KELT–9 b. We identify the cause of this discrepancy as due to an inaccurate ephemeris for KELT–9 b in previous literature.

Read more: Pai Asnodkar et al. 2022, AJ, 163, 155

Transiting hot Jupiters present a unique opportunity to measure absolute planetary masses due to the magnitude of their radial velocity signals and known orbital inclination. Measuring planet mass is critical to understanding atmospheric dynamics and escape under extreme stellar irradiation. Here we present the ultrahot Jupiter system KELT-9 as a double-lined spectroscopic binary. This allows us to directly and empirically constrain the mass of the star and its planetary companion without reference to any theoretical stellar evolutionary models or empirical stellar scaling relations. Using data from the PEPSI, HARPS-N, and TRES spectrographs across multiple epochs, we apply least-squares deconvolution to measure out-of-transit stellar radial velocities. With the PEPSI and HARPS-N data sets, we measure in-transit planet radial velocities using transmission spectroscopy. By fitting the circular orbital solution that captures these Keplerian motions, we recover a planetary dynamical mass of 2.17 ± 0.56 M_J and stellar dynamical mass of 2.11 ± 0.78 M_⊙, both of which agree with the discovery paper. Furthermore, we argue that this system, as well as systems like it, are highly overconstrained, providing multiple independent avenues for empirically cross-validating model-independent solutions to the system parameters. We also discuss the implications of this revised mass for studies of atmospheric escape.

Read more: Pai Asnodkar et al. 2022, AJ, 163, 40P