PCSYS: The optimal design integration system picture drawing system with hidden line algorithm capability for aerospace vehicle configurations

A vehicle geometric definition based upon quadrilateral surface elements to produce realistic pictures of an aerospace vehicle. The PCSYS programs can be used to visually check geometric data input, monitor geometric perturbations, and to visualize the complex spatial inter-relationships between the internal and external vehicle components. PCSYS has two major component programs. The between program, IMAGE, draws a complex aerospace vehicle pictorial representation based on either an approximate but rapid hidden line algorithm or without any hidden line algorithm. The second program, HIDDEN, draws a vehicle representation using an accurate but time consuming hidden line algorithm

Kepler-445, Kepler-446 And The Occurrence Of Compact Multiples Orbiting Mid-M Dwarf Stars

We confirm and characterize the exoplanetary systems Kepler-445 and Kepler-446: two mid-M dwarf stars, each with multiple, small, short-period transiting planets. Kepler-445 is a metal-rich ([ Fe/H] = + 0.25 0.10) M4 dwarf with three transiting planets, and Kepler-446 is a metal-poor ([ Fe/H] = -0.30 0.10) M4 dwarf also with three transiting planets. Kepler-445c is similar toGJ 1214b: both in planetary radius and the properties of the host star. The Kepler-446 system is similar to the Kepler-42 system: both are metal-poor with large galactic space velocities and three short-period, likely rocky transiting planets that were initially assigned erroneously large planet-to-star radius ratios. We independently determined stellar parameters from spectroscopy and searched for and fitted the transit light curves for the planets, imposing a strict prior on stellar density in order to remove correlations between the fitted impact parameter and planet-to-star radius ratio for short-duration transits. Combining Kepler-445, Kepler-446, and Kepler-42, and isolating all mid-M dwarf stars observed by Kepler with the precision necessary to detect similar systems, we calculate that 21+ 7 -5 % of mid-M dwarf stars host compact multiples ( multiple planets with periods of less than 10 days) for a wide range of metallicities. We suggest that the inferred planet masses for these systems support highly efficient accretion of protoplanetary disk metals by mid-M dwarf protoplanets.NSF DGE1144152, AST-1005313NASA NAS5-26555NASA Office of Space Science NNX13AC07GAstronom

The Origin of Systems of Tightly Packed Inner Planets with Misaligned, Ultra-short-period Companions

Ultra-short-period planets provide a window into the inner edge of the parameter space occupied by planetary orbits. In one particularly intriguing class of multiplanet systems, the ultra-short-period planet is flanked by short-period companions, and the outer planets occupy a discernibly distinct dynamical state. In the observational database, this phenomenon is represented by a small number of stars hosting systems of tightly packed coplanar planets as well as an ultra-short-period planet, whose orbit is misaligned relative to the mutual plane of the former. In this work, we explore two different mechanisms that can produce an ultra-short-period planet that is misaligned with the rest of its compact planetary system: natural decoupling between the inner and outer system via the stellar quadrupole moment, and decoupling forced by an external companion with finely tuned orbital parameters. These two processes operate with different timescales, and can thus occur simultaneously. In this work, we use the K2-266 system as an illustrative example to elucidate the dynamics of these two processes, and highlight the types of constraints that may arise regarding the dynamical histories of systems hosting ultra-short-period planets

Ten-fold spectral resolution boosting using TEDI at the Mt. Palomar NIR Triplespec spectrograph

An optical technique called "interferometric spectral reconstruction" (ISR) is capable of increasing a spectrograph's resolution and stability by large factors, well beyond its classical limits. We have demonstrated a 6- to 11-fold increase in the Triplespec effective spectral resolution (R=2,700) to achieve R=16,000 at 4100 cm-^(1) to 30,000 at 9600 cm^(-1) by applying special Fourier processing to a series of exposures with different delays (optical path differences) taken with the TEDI interferometer and the near-infrared Triplespec spectrograph at the Mt. Palomar Observatory 200 inch telescope. The TEDI is an externally dispersed interferometer (EDI) used for Doppler radial velocity measurements on M-stars, and now also used for ISR. The resolution improvement is observed in both stellar and telluric features simultaneously over the entire spectrograph bandwidth (0.9-2.45 μm). By expanding the delay series, we anticipate achieving resolutions of R=45,000 or more. Since the delay is not continuously scanned, the technique is advantageous for measuring time-variable phenomena or in varying conditions (e.g. planetary fly-bys). The photon limited signal to noise ratio can be 100 times better than a classic Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) due to the benefit of dispersion

EPIC 220204960: A Quadruple Star System Containing Two Strongly Interacting Eclipsing Binaries

We present a strongly interacting quadruple system associated with the K2 target EPIC 220204960. The K2 target itself is a Kp = 12.7 magnitude star at Teff ~ 6100 K which we designate as "B-N" (blue northerly image). The host of the quadruple system, however, is a Kp = 17 magnitude star with a composite M-star spectrum, which we designate as "R-S" (red southerly image). With a 3.2" separation and similar radial velocities and photometric distances, 'B-N' is likely physically associated with 'R-S', making this a quintuple system, but that is incidental to our main claim of a strongly interacting quadruple system in 'R-S'. The two binaries in 'R-S' have orbital periods of 13.27 d and 14.41 d, respectively, and each has an inclination angle of >89 degrees. From our analysis of radial velocity measurements, and of the photometric lightcurve, we conclude that all four stars are very similar with masses close to 0.4 Msun. Both of the binaries exhibit significant ETVs where those of the primary and secondary eclipses 'diverge' by 0.05 days over the course of the 80-day observations. Via a systematic set of numerical simulations of quadruple systems consisting of two interacting binaries, we conclude that the outer orbital period is very likely to be between 300 and 500 days. If sufficient time is devoted to RV studies of this faint target, the outer orbit should be measurable within a year.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figures, 7 tables; accepted for publication in MNRA

GJ 1252 b: A 1.2 R\u3csub\u3e⊕\u3c/sub\u3e Planet Transiting An M3 Dwarf At 20.4 pc

We report the discovery of GJ 1252 b, a planet with a radius of 1.193 ± 0.074 R⊕ and an orbital period of 0.52 days around an M3-type star (0.381 ± 0.019 M⊕, 0.391 ± 0.020 R⊕) located 20.385 ± 0.019 pc away. We use Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) data, ground-based photometry and spectroscopy, Gaia astrometry, and high angular resolution imaging to show that the transit signal seen in the TESS data must originate from a transiting planet. We do so by ruling out all false-positive scenarios that attempt to explain the transit signal as originating from an eclipsing stellar binary. Precise Doppler monitoring also leads to a tentative mass measurement of 2.09 ± 0.56 M⊕. The host star proximity, brightness (V = 12.19 mag, K = 7.92 mag), low stellar activity, and the system\u27s short orbital period make this planet an attractive target for detailed characterization, including precise mass measurement, looking for other objects in the system, and planet atmosphere characterization

The single-sided pulsator CO Camelopardalis

Abstract CO Cam (TIC 160268882) is the second “single-sided pulsator” to be discovered. These are stars where one hemisphere pulsates with a significantly higher amplitude than the other side of the star. CO Cam is a binary star comprised of an Am δ Sct primary star with Teff = 7070 ± 150 K, and a spectroscopically undetected G main-sequence secondary star. The dominant pulsating side of the primary star is centred on the L1 point. We have modelled the spectral energy distribution combined with radial velocities, and independently the TESS light curve combined with radial velocities. Both of these give excellent agreement and robust system parameters for both stars. The δ Sct star is an oblique pulsator with at least four low radial overtone (probably) f modes with the pulsation axis coinciding with the tidal axis of the star, the line of apsides. Preliminary theoretical modelling indicates that the modes must produce much larger flux perturbations near the L1 point, although this is difficult to understand because the pulsating star does not come near to filling its Roche lobe. More detailed models of distorted pulsating stars should be developed. These newly discovered single-sided pulsators offer new opportunities for astrophysical inference from stars that are oblique pulsators in close binary stars