154 research outputs found
Optical Linear Polarization of Late M- and L-Type Dwarfs
(Abridged). We report on the linear polarimetric observations in the Johnson
I filter of 44 M6-L7.5 ultracool dwarfs (2800-1400 K). Eleven (10 L and 1 M)
dwarfs appear to have significant linear polarization (P = 0.2-2.5%). We have
compared the M- and L-dwarf populations finding evidence for a larger frequency
of high I-band polarization in the coolest objects, supporting the presence of
significant amounts of dust in L-dwarfs. The probable polarizing mechanism is
related to the presence of heterogeneous dust clouds nonuniformly distributed
across the visible photospheres and the asymmetric shape of the objects. In
some young ultracool dwarfs, surrounding dusty disks may also yield
polarization. For polarimetric detections, a trend for slightly larger
polarization from L0 to L6.5 may be present in our data, suggesting changes in
the distribution of the grain properties, vertical height of the clouds,
metallicity, age, and rotation speed. One of our targets is the peculiar brown
dwarf (BD) 2MASS J2244+20 (L6.5), which shows the largest I-band polarization
degree. Its origin may lie in a surrounding dusty disk or rather large
photospheric dust grains. The M7 young BD CFHT-BD-Tau 4 and the L3.5 field
dwarf 2MASS J0036+18 were also observed in the Johnson R filter. Our data
support the presence of a circum(sub)stellar disk around the young accreting
BD. Our data also support a grain growth in the submicron regime in the visible
photosphere of J0036+18 (1900 K). The polarimetric data do not obviously
correlate with activity or projected rotational velocity. Three polarized
early- to mid-L dwarfs display I-band light curves with amplitudes below 10
mmag.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (March 2005), 35 pages, 5 figure
A Methane Isolated Planetary Mass Object in Orion
We report on the discovery of a free-floating methane dwarf toward the
direction of the young star cluster sigma Orionis. Based on the object's
far-red optical and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy, we conclude that
it is a possible member of this association. We have named it as S Ori
J053810.1-023626 (S Ori 70 is the abridged name). If it is a true member of
sigma Orionis, the comparison of the photometric and spectroscopic properties
of S Ori 70 with state-of-the-art evolutionary models yields a mass of 3
(+5/-1) Jupiter mass for ages between 1 Myr and 8 Myr. The presence of such a
low-mass object in our small search area (55.4 sq. arcmin) would indicate a
rising substellar initial mass function in the sigma Orionis cluster even for
planetary masses.Comment: Accepted for publication in the ApJ. Twelve pages, figures and tables
include
The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs - Photospheric parameters of target stars from high-resolution spectroscopy
The new CARMENES instrument comprises two high-resolution and high-stability
spectrographs that are used to search for habitable planets around M dwarfs in
the visible and near-infrared regime via the Doppler technique. Characterising
our target sample is important for constraining the physical properties of any
planetary systems that are detected. The aim of this paper is to determine the
fundamental stellar parameters of the CARMENES M-dwarf target sample from
high-resolution spectra observed with CARMENES. We also include several M-dwarf
spectra observed with other high-resolution spectrographs, that is CAFE, FEROS,
and HRS, for completeness. We used a {chi}^2 method to derive the stellar
parameters effective temperature T_eff, surface gravity log g, and metallicity
[Fe/H] of the target stars by fitting the most recent version of the
PHOENIX-ACES models to high-resolution spectroscopic data. These stellar
atmosphere models incorporate a new equation of state to describe spectral
features of low-temperature stellar atmospheres. Since T_eff, log g, and [Fe/H]
show degeneracies, the surface gravity is determined independently using
stellar evolutionary models. We derive the stellar parameters for a total of
300 stars. The fits achieve very good agreement between the PHOENIX models and
observed spectra. We estimate that our method provides parameters with
uncertainties of {sigma} T_eff = 51 K, {sigma} log g = 0.07, and {sigma} [Fe/H]
= 0.16, and show that atmosphere models for low-mass stars have significantly
improved in the last years. Our work also provides an independent test of the
new PHOENIX-ACES models, and a comparison for other methods using
low-resolution spectra. In particular, our effective temperatures agree well
with literature values, while metallicities determined with our method exhibit
a larger spread when compared to literature results
A search for substellar members in the Praesepe and sigma Orionis clusters
(Abridged). We have conducted deep photometric searches for substellar
members of the Praesepe (0.5-1 Gyr) and sigma Orionis (3 Myr) star clusters
using the Sloan i' and z' filters, the 3.5-m and the 5-m Hale telescopes on the
Calar Alto and Palomar Observatories, respectively. The total area surveyed was
1177 arcmin^2 (Praesepe) and 1122 arcmin^2 (sigma Orionis) down to 5-sigma
detection limits of i'= 24.5 and z'= 24 mag, corresponding to masses of 50-55
M_Jup (Praesepe) and 6 M_Jup (sigma Orionis). Besides recovering previously
known cluster members reported in the literature, we have identified new
photometric candidates in both clusters whose masses expand the full range
covered by our study. In sigma Orionis, follow-up NIR photometry has allowed us
to confirm the likely cluster membership of three newly discovered
planetary-mass objects. The substellar mass function of sigma Orionis, which is
complete from the star-brown dwarf borderline down to 7 M_Jup, keeps rising
smoothly with a slope of alpha = 0.6^{+0.5}_{-0.1}. Very interestingly, one of
the faintest Praesepe candidates for which we have also obtained follow-up JHK
photometry nicely fits the expected optical and infrared photometric sequence
of the cluster. From its colors, we have estimated its spectral type in the
L4-L6 range. If confirmed as a true Praesepe member, it would become the first
L-type brown dwarf (50-60 M_Jup) identified in an intermediate-age star
cluster. Our derivation of the Praesepe mass function depends strongly on the
cluster age. For the youngest possible ages (500-700 Myr), our results suggest
that there is a deficit of Praesepe brown dwarfs in the central regions of the
cluster, while the similarity between the Praesepe and sigma Orionis mass
functions increases qualitatively for models older than 800 Myr.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. Figures 1, 7, and 9-12 are available
in jpeg forma
CARMENES input catalogue of M dwarfs IV. New rotation periods from photometric time series
Aims. The main goal of this work is to measure rotation periods of the M-type
dwarf stars being observed by the CARMENES exoplanet survey to help distinguish
radial-velocity signals produced by magnetic activity from those produced by
exoplanets. Rotation periods are also fundamental for a detailed study of the
relation between activity and rotation in late-type stars. Methods. We look for
significant periodic signals in 622 photometric time series of 337 bright,
nearby M dwarfs obtained by long-time baseline, automated surveys (MEarth,
ASAS, SuperWASP, NSVS, Catalina, ASAS-SN, K2, and HATNet) and for 20 stars
which we obtained with four 0.2-0.8 m telescopes at high geographical
latitudes. Results. We present 142 rotation periods (73 new) from 0.12 d to 133
d and ten long-term activity cycles (six new) from 3.0 a to 11.5 a. We compare
our determinations with those in the existing literature; we investigate the
distribution of P rot in the CARMENES input catalogue,the amplitude of
photometric variability, and their relation to vsin i and pEW(Halfa); and we
identify three very active stars with new rotation periods between 0.34 d and
23.6 d.Comment: 34 pages, 43 figures, 2 appendix table
Expected Performance of the ATLAS Experiment - Detector, Trigger and Physics
A detailed study is presented of the expected performance of the ATLAS
detector. The reconstruction of tracks, leptons, photons, missing energy and
jets is investigated, together with the performance of b-tagging and the
trigger. The physics potential for a variety of interesting physics processes,
within the Standard Model and beyond, is examined. The study comprises a series
of notes based on simulations of the detector and physics processes, with
particular emphasis given to the data expected from the first years of
operation of the LHC at CERN
An ultra-short-period transiting super-Earth orbiting the M3 dwarf TOI-1685
Funding: We acknowledge financial support from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación of the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades and the ERDF through projects PID2019-109522GB-C5[1:4]/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, PGC2018-098153-B-C33, and the Centre of Excellence “Severo Ochoa” and “María deMaeztu” awards to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (SEV-2015-0548), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017-0709), and Centro de Astro-biología (MDM-2017-0737), the Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA programme,“la Caixa” Foundation (100010434), European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 847648 (LCF/BQ/PI20/11760023), a University Research Support Grant from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, JSPS KAKENHI (JP15H02063, JP18H01265, JP18H05439, JP18H05442, and JP22000005), JSTPRESTO (JPMJPR1775), UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/R000824/1), and NASA (NNX17AG24G).Dynamical histories of planetary systems, as well as the atmospheric evolution of highly irradiated planets, can be studied by characterizing the ultra-short-period planet population, which the TESS mission is particularly well suited to discover. Here, we report on the follow-up of a transit signal detected in the TESS sector 19 photometric time series of the M3.0 V star TOI-1685 (2MASS J04342248+4302148). We confirm the planetary nature of the transit signal, which has a period of Pb = 0.6691403−0.0000021+0.0000023 d, using precise radial velocity measurements taken with the CARMENES spectrograph. From the joint photometry and radial velocity analysis, we estimate the following parameters for TOI-1685 b: a mass of Mb = 3.78−0.63+0.63 M⊕, a radius of Rb = 1.70−0.07+0.07 R⊕, which together result in a bulk density of ρb = 4.21−0.82+0.95 g cm−3, and an equilibrium temperature of Teq = 1069−16+16 K. TOI-1685 b is the least dense ultra-short-period planet around an M dwarf known to date. TOI-1685 b is also one of the hottest transiting super-Earth planets with accurate dynamical mass measurements, which makes it a particularly attractive target for thermal emission spectroscopy. Additionally, we report with moderate evidence an additional non-transiting planet candidate in the system, TOI-1685 [c], which has an orbital period of Pc = 9.02−0.12+0.10 d.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays
The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device
in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken
during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the
number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for
all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The
efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments
reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per
layer is approximately 5 ns
The CARMENES Search for Exoplanets around M Dwarfs: A Low-mass Planet in the Temperate Zone of the Nearby K2-18
. I.R. and J.C.M. acknowledge support
by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness
(MINECO) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional
(FEDER) through grant ESP2016-80435-C2-1-R, as well as
the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA program.
A.P.H. acknowledges the support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
(DFG) grant HA 3279/11-1. J.A.C.,
P.J.A. and D.M. acknowledge support by the Spanish
Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) from
projects AYA2016-79425-C3-1, 2, 3-P. V.J.S.B. is supported
by program AYA2015-69350-C3-2-P from Spanish Ministry
of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO
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