Pushing the limits: K2 observations of the trans-Neptunian objects 2002 GV31 and (278361) 2007 JJ43

We present the first photometric observations of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) taken with the Kepler space telescope, obtained in the course of the K2 ecliptic survey. Two faint objects have been monitored in specifically designed pixel masks that were centered on the stationary points of the objects, when their daily motion was the slowest. In the design of the experiment, only the apparent path of these objects were retrieved from the detectors, i.e. the costs in terms of Kepler pixels were minimized. Because of the faintness of the targets we employ specific reduction techniques and co-added images. We measure rotational periods and amplitudes in the unfiltered Kepler band as follows: for (278361) 2007 JJ43 and 2002 GV31 we get P_rot=12.097 h and P_rot=29.2 h while 0.10 and 0.35 mag for the total amplitudes, respectively. Future space missions, like TESS and PLATO are not well suited to this kind of observations. Therefore, we encourage to include the brightest TNOs around their stationary points in each observing campaign to exploit this unique capability of the K2 Mission -- and therefore to provide unbiased rotational, shape and albedo characteristics of many objects.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters, 5.2 pages in emulateapj style, misspelled 2007 JJ43 designation correcte

Frozen to death? -- Detection of comet Hale-Bopp at 30.7 AU

Comet Hale--Bopp (C/1995 O1) has been the single most significant comet encountered by modern astronomy, still having displayed significant activity at 25.7 AU solar distance in late 2007. It is a puzzling question when and where this activity will finally cease. Here we present new observations with the ESO 2.2m telescope at La Silla to check the activity of Hale--Bopp at 30.7 AU solar distance. On 2010-12-04, 26 CCD images were taken with 180 s exposure times for photometry and morphology. The comet was detected in R and had a total brightness of 23.3+-0.2 mag, referring to an absolute brightness of R(1,1,0)=8.3. The profile of the coma was star-like at a seeing of 1.9", without any evidence of a coma or tail extending farther than 2.5" (=55,000 km in projection) and exceeding 26.5 mag/arcs^2 surface brightness. The measured total brightness corresponds to a relative total reflecting surface, a_RC, of 485 km^2, nine times less than three years before. The calculated a_RC value would imply a nucleus with 60--65 km radius assuming 4% albedo. This size estimate is in significant contradiction with the previous results scattering around 35 km. Therefore we suggest that the comet may still be in a low-level activity, despite the lack of a prominent coma. Alternatively, if the nucleus is already dormant, the albedo should be as high as 13%, assuming a radius of 35 km. With this observation, Hale--Bopp has been the most distant comet ever observed, far beyond the orbit of Neptune.Comment: 4 pages, accepted by A&

Main-Belt Asteroids in the K2 Engineering Field of View

Unlike NASA's original Kepler Discovery Mission, the renewed K2 Mission will stare at the plane of the Ecliptic, observing each field for approximately 75 days. This will bring new opportunities and challenges, in particular the presence of a large number of main-belt asteroids that will contaminate the photometry. The large pixel size makes K2 data susceptible to the effect of apparent minor planet encounters. Here we investigate the effects of asteroid encounters on photometric precision using a sub-sample of the K2 Engineering data taken in February, 2014. We show examples of asteroid contamination to facilitate their recognition and distinguish these events from other error sources. We conclude that main-belt asteroids will have considerable effects on K2 photometry of a large number of photometric targets during the Mission, that will have to be taken into account. These results will be readily applicable for future space photometric missions applying large-format CCDs, such as TESS and PLATO.Comment: accepted for publication in AJ, 6 page

Mapping a star with transits: orbit precession effects in the Kepler-13 system

Kepler-13b (KOI-13.01) is a most intriguing exoplanet system due to the rapid precession rate, exhibiting several exotic phenomena. We analyzed $Kepler$ Short Cadence data up to Quarter 14, with a total time-span of 928 days, to reveal changes in transit duration, depth, asymmetry, and identify the possible signals of stellar rotation and low-level activity. We investigated long-term variations of transit light curves, testing for duration, peak depth and asymmetry. We also performed cluster analysis on $Kepler$ quarters. We computed the autocorrelation function of the out-of-transit light variations. Transit duration, peak depth, and asymmetry evolve slowly, due to the slowly drifting transit path through the stellar disk. The detected transit shapes will map the stellar surface on the time scale of decades. We found a very significant clustering pattern with 3-orbit period. Its source is very probably the rotating stellar surface, in the 5:3 spin-orbit resonance reported in a previous study. The autocorrelation function of the out-of-transit light variations, filtered to 25.4 hours and harmonics, shows slow variations and a peak around 300--360 day period, which could be related to the activity cycle of the host star.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, accepted in MNRA

Metal-rich or misclassified? The case of four RR Lyrae stars

We analysed the light curve of four, apparently extremely metal-rich fundamental-mode RR Lyrae stars. We identified two stars, MT Tel and ASAS J091803-3022.6 as RRc (first-overtone) pulsators that were misclassified as RRab ones in the ASAS survey. In the case of the other two stars, V397 Gem and ASAS J075127-4136.3, we could not decide conclusively, as they are outliers in the period-Fourier-coefficient space from the loci of both classes, but their photometric metallicities also favour the RRc classification.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, published in IBVS: http://ibvs.konkoly.hu/cgi-bin/IBVS?617

Constraining RRc candidates using SDSS colours

The light variations of first-overtone RR Lyrae stars and contact eclipsing binaries can be difficult to distinguish. The Catalina Periodic Variable Star catalog contains several misclassified objects, despite the classification efforts by Drake et al. (2014). They used metallicity and surface gravity derived from spectroscopic data (from the SDSS database) to rule out binaries. Our aim is to further constrain the catalog using SDSS colours to estimate physical parameters for stars that did not have spectroscopic data.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, proceedings of the RRL2015 - High-Precision Studies of RR Lyrae Stars conference, to appear in the Communications from the Konkoly Observator

A modulated RRd star observed by K2

We report the analysis of the double-mode RR Lyrae star EPIC 205209951, the first modulated RRd star observed from space. The amplitude and phase modulation are present in both modes.Comment: 2 pages, 3 figures, proceedings of the Joint TASC2-KASC9-SPACEINN-HELAS8 Conference "Seismology of the Sun and the Distant Stars 2016", to be published in EPJ Wo