scholarly journals A search for transiting planets in the β Pictoris system

2018 ◽  
Vol 615 ◽  
pp. A145 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Mol Lous ◽  
E. Weenk ◽  
M. A. Kenworthy ◽  
K. Zwintz ◽  
R. Kuschnig
Keyword(s):  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Young Star ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Transiting Planets ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Exoplanet Systems ◽  
Transit Signals

Context. Transiting exoplanets provide an opportunity for the characterization of their atmospheres, and finding the brightest star in the sky with a transiting planet enables high signal-to-noise ratio observations. The Kepler satellite has detected over 365 multiple transiting exoplanet systems, a large fraction of which have nearly coplanar orbits. If one planet is seen to transit the star, then it is likely that other planets in the system will transit the star too. The bright (V = 3.86) star β Pictoris is a nearby young star with a debris disk and gas giant exoplanet, β Pictoris b, in a multi-decade orbit around it. Both the planet’s orbit and disk are almost edge-on to our line of sight. Aims. We carry out a search for any transiting planets in the β Pictoris system with orbits of less than 30 days that are coplanar with the planet β Pictoris b. Methods. We search for a planetary transit using data from the BRITE-Constellation nanosatellite BRITE-Heweliusz, analyzing the photometry using the Box-Fitting Least Squares Algorithm (BLS). The sensitivity of the method is verified by injection of artificial planetary transit signals using the Bad-Ass Transit Model cAlculatioN (BATMAN) code. Results. No planet was found in the BRITE-Constellation data set. We rule out planets larger than 0.6 RJ for periods of less than 5 days, larger than 0.75 RJ for periods of less than 10 days, and larger than 1.05 RJ for periods of less than 20 days.

scholarly journals Fe I in the β Pictoris circumstellar gas disk

2019 ◽  
Vol 621 ◽  
pp. A58 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Kiefer ◽  
A. Vidal-Madjar ◽  
A. Lecavelier des Etangs ◽  
V. Bourrier ◽  
D. Ehrenreich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Column Density ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Young Star ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Measured Temperature ◽  
Gas Source ◽  
Refractory Elements ◽  
Circumstellar Gas ◽  
Debris Disk

The young planetary system β Pictoris is surrounded by a debris disk of dust and gas. The gas source of this disk could be exocomets (or “falling and evaporating bodies”, FEBs), which produce refractory elements (Mg, Ca, Fe) through sublimation of dust grains at several tens of stellar radii. Nearly 1700 high resolution spectra of β Pictoris were obtained between 2003 and 2017 using the HARPS spectrograph. In Paper I, we showed that a high signal to noise ratio allows the detection of many weak Fe I lines in more than ten excited levels, and we derived the physical characteristics of the iron gas in the disk. The measured temperature of the gas (~1300 K) suggests that it is produced by evaporation of grains at about 0.3 au (38 R⋆) from the star. Here, we describe the yearly variations of the column densities of all Fe I components (from both ground and excited levels). The drop in the Fe I ground level column density after 2011 coincides with a drop in Fe I excited levels column density, as well as in the Ca II doublet and a ground level Ca I line at the same epoch. All drops are compatible with photoionisation-recombination equilibrium and β Pic like relative abundances, in a medium at 1300 K and at 0.3 au from β Pictoris. Interestingly, this warm medium does not correlate with the numerous exocomets in the circumstellar environnement of this young star.

scholarly journals Public HARPS radial velocity database corrected for systematic errors

2020 ◽  
Vol 636 ◽  
pp. A74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trifon Trifonov ◽  
Lev Tal-Or ◽  
Mathias Zechmeister ◽  
Adrian Kaminski ◽  
Shay Zucker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radial Velocity ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Auxiliary Information ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
High Signal ◽  
M Dwarfs ◽  
Data Set ◽  
New Public ◽  
Systematic Effects ◽  
User Friendly

Context. The High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectrograph has been mounted since 2003 at the ESO 3.6 m telescope in La Silla and provides state-of-the-art stellar radial velocity (RV) measurements with a precision down to ∼1 m s−1. The spectra are extracted with a dedicated data-reduction software (DRS), and the RVs are computed by cross-correlating with a numerical mask. Aims. This study has three main aims: (i) Create easy access to the public HARPS RV data set. (ii) Apply the new public SpEctrum Radial Velocity AnaLyser (SERVAL) pipeline to the spectra, and produce a more precise RV data set. (iii) Determine whether the precision of the RVs can be further improved by correcting for small nightly systematic effects. Methods. For each star observed with HARPS, we downloaded the publicly available spectra from the ESO archive and recomputed the RVs with SERVAL. This was based on fitting each observed spectrum with a high signal-to-noise ratio template created by coadding all the available spectra of that star. We then computed nightly zero-points (NZPs) by averaging the RVs of quiet stars. Results. By analyzing the RVs of the most RV-quiet stars, whose RV scatter is < 5 m s−1, we find that SERVAL RVs are on average more precise than DRS RVs by a few percent. By investigating the NZP time series, we find three significant systematic effects whose magnitude is independent of the software that is used to derive the RV: (i) stochastic variations with a magnitude of ∼1 m s−1; (ii) long-term variations, with a magnitude of ∼1 m s−1 and a typical timescale of a few weeks; and (iii) 20–30 NZPs that significantly deviate by a few m s−1. In addition, we find small (≲1 m s−1) but significant intra-night drifts in DRS RVs before the 2015 intervention, and in SERVAL RVs after it. We confirm that the fibre exchange in 2015 caused a discontinuous RV jump that strongly depends on the spectral type of the observed star: from ∼14 m s−1 for late F-type stars to ∼ − 3 m s−1 for M dwarfs. The combined effect of extracting the RVs with SERVAL and correcting them for the systematics we find is an improved average RV precision: an improvement of ∼5% for spectra taken before the 2015 intervention, and an improvement of ∼15% for spectra taken after it. To demonstrate the quality of the new RV data set, we present an updated orbital solution of the GJ 253 two-planet system. Conclusions. Our NZP-corrected SERVAL RVs can be retrieved from a user-friendly public database. It provides more than 212 000 RVs for about 3000 stars along with much auxiliary information, such as the NZP corrections, various activity indices, and DRS-CCF products.

scholarly journals SDSS-IV MaNGA: Bayesian analysis of the star formation history of low-mass galaxies in the local Universe

2020 ◽  
Vol 497 (4) ◽  
pp. 4753-4772
Author(s):  
Shuang Zhou ◽  
H J Mo ◽  
Cheng Li ◽  
Médéric Boquien ◽  
Graziano Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Stellar Mass ◽  
Star Formation History ◽  
Radial Dependence ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Low Mass

ABSTRACT We measure the star formation histories (SFHs) of a sample of low-mass galaxies with M* &lt; 109 M⊙ from the SDSS-IV MaNGA survey. The large number of IFU spectra for each galaxy are either combined to reach a high signal to noise ratio or used to investigate spatial variations. We use Bayesian inferences based on full spectrum fitting. Our analysis based on Bayesian evidence ratio indicates a strong preference for a model that allows the presence of an old stellar population, and that an improper model for the SFH can significantly underestimate the old population in these galaxies. The addition of near-infrared photometry to the constraining data can further distinguish between different SFH model families and significantly tighten the constraints on the mass fraction in the old population. On average more than half of the stellar mass in present-day low-mass galaxies formed at least 8 Gyr ago, while about 30 per cent within the past 4 Gyr. Satellite galaxies on average have formed their stellar mass earlier than central galaxies. The radial dependence of the SFH is quite weak. Our results suggest that most of the low-mass galaxies have an early episode of active star formation that produces a large fraction of their present stellar mass.

scholarly journals Multi-analyser detector (MAD) for high-resolution and high-energy powder X-ray diffraction

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-157
Author(s):  
Alexander Schökel ◽  
Martin Etter ◽  
Andreas Berghäuser ◽  
Alexander Horst ◽  
Dirk Lindackers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
High Energy ◽  
High Signal ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Stepper Motors ◽  
In Operando ◽  
Characterization Of Materials

For high-resolution powder diffraction in material science, high photon energies are necessary, especially for in situ and in operando experiments. For this purpose, a multi-analyser detector (MAD) was developed for the high-energy beamline P02.1 at PETRA III of the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY). In order to be able to adjust the detector for the high photon energies of 60 keV, an individually adjustable analyser–crystal setup was designed. The adjustment is performed via piezo stepper motors for each of the ten channels. The detector shows a low and flat background as well as a high signal-to-noise ratio. A range of standard materials were measured for characterizing the performance. Two exemplary experiments were performed to demonstrate the potential for sophisticated structural analysis with the MAD: (i) the structure of a complex material based on strontium niobate titanate and strontium niobate zirconate was determined and (ii) an in situ stroboscopy experiment with an applied electric field on a highly absorbing piezoceramic was performed. These experiments demonstrate the capabilities of the new MAD, which advances the frontiers of the structural characterization of materials.

scholarly journals A benchmark case study for seismic event relative location

2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (2) ◽  
pp. 1313-1326
Author(s):  
S J Gibbons ◽  
T Kværna ◽  
T Tiira ◽  
E Kozlovskaya
Keyword(s):  
Time Delay ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Source Region ◽  
Ground Truth ◽  
Double Difference ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Relative Location ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Velocity Models ◽  
Event Location

Summary ‘Precision seismology’ encompasses a set of methods which use differential measurements of time-delays to estimate the relative locations of earthquakes and explosions. Delay-times estimated from signal correlations often allow far more accurate estimates of one event location relative to another than is possible using classical hypocentre determination techniques. Many different algorithms and software implementations have been developed and different assumptions and procedures can often result in significant variability between different relative event location estimates. We present a Ground Truth (GT) dataset of 55 military surface explosions in northern Finland in 2007 that all took place within 300 m of each other. The explosions were recorded with a high signal-to-noise ratio to distances of about 2°, and the exceptional waveform similarity between the signals from the different explosions allows for accurate correlation-based time-delay measurements. With exact coordinates for the explosions, we are able to assess the fidelity of relative location estimates made using any location algorithm or implementation. Applying double-difference calculations using two different 1-D velocity models for the region results in hypocentre-to-hypocentre distances which are too short and it is clear that the wavefield leaving the source region is more complicated than predicted by the models. Using the GT event coordinates, we are able to measure the slowness vectors associated with each outgoing ray from the source region. We demonstrate that, had such corrections been available, a significant improvement in the relative location estimates would have resulted. In practice we would of course need to solve for event hypocentres and slowness corrections simultaneously, and significant work will be needed to upgrade relative location algorithms to accommodate uncertainty in the form of the outgoing wavefield. We present this data set, together with GT coordinates, raw waveforms for all events on six regional stations, and tables of time-delay measurements, as a reference benchmark by which relative location algorithms and software can be evaluated.

Biological crystals formation studied by HTREM and image analysis

1996 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 74-75
Author(s):  
P. Houlle ◽  
F.J.G. Cuisinier ◽  
J.C. Voegel ◽  
P. Schutz
Keyword(s):  
Image Analysis ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Simulation Techniques ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
Human Dentine ◽  
Simulated Images

High resolution electron microscopy (HREM) allows the determination of the molecular crystal structure by comparing HREM images with simulated images. Direct comparison was not possible for small crystalline areas such as nanometer-sized particles or for thin crystals with weak image contrast. To overcome these problems, we used numerical image analysis to gain access to the structure informations within these minute crystals. We used this approach for the characterization of the initial mineralization steps during human amelogenesis, chicken bone and human dentine crystals growth.Our method consists in HREM associated with both numerical image analysis and image simulation techniques (EMS) Image analysis was performed using the IMAGIC statistical. Nanoparticle subimages, 128 × 128 pixels in size, were extracted from the original micrographs by interactive selection. A circular mask with a radius of 50 pixels was applied. The mean intensity of each subimage was set to zero and its internal variance was normalized to 10. Double direct alignment procedures were used to align the images in rotation and translation against an alignment reference extracted from the data set. An average image was finally calculated to improve the signal to noise ratio.

scholarly journals A review and appraisal of arrival-time picking methods for downhole microseismic data

Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. KS71-KS91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jubran Akram ◽  
David W. Eaton
Keyword(s):  
Arrival Time ◽  
Hybrid Methods ◽  
Optimal Parameter ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Information Criterion ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Single Level ◽  
Microseismic Data ◽  
Arrival Time Picking

We have evaluated arrival-time picking algorithms for downhole microseismic data. The picking algorithms that we considered may be classified as window-based single-level methods (e.g., energy-ratio [ER] methods), nonwindow-based single-level methods (e.g., Akaike information criterion), multilevel- or array-based methods (e.g., crosscorrelation approaches), and hybrid methods that combine a number of single-level methods (e.g., Akazawa’s method). We have determined the key parameters for each algorithm and developed recommendations for optimal parameter selection based on our analysis and experience. We evaluated the performance of these algorithms with the use of field examples from a downhole microseismic data set recorded in western Canada as well as with pseudo-synthetic microseismic data generated by adding 100 realizations of Gaussian noise to high signal-to-noise ratio microseismic waveforms. ER-based algorithms were found to be more efficient in terms of computational speed and were therefore recommended for real-time microseismic data processing. Based on the performance on pseudo-synthetic and field data sets, we found statistical, hybrid, and multilevel crosscorrelation methods to be more efficient in terms of accuracy and precision. Pick errors for S-waves are reduced significantly when data are preconditioned by applying a transformation into ray-centered coordinates.

scholarly journals Li abundances and chromospheric activity of BY Dra type stars

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S268) ◽  
pp. 343-344
Author(s):  
Tamara V. Mishenina ◽  
Caroline Soubiran ◽  
Valery V. Kovtyukh ◽  
Stanislav I. Belik
Keyword(s):  
Cross Correlation ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Ratio Method ◽  
Clear Correlation ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Echelle Spectrograph ◽  
Active Stars ◽  
Ionization Balance ◽  
Line Depth

AbstractAtmospheric parameters and Li abundances have been determined for 162 stars observed at high resolution, high signal to noise ratio with the ELODIE echelle spectrograph (OHP, France). Among them, about 70 stars are active stars with a large fraction of BY Dra type stars. For all stars, rotational velocities were obtained with a calibration of the cross-correlation function, effective temperatures by the line depth ratio method, surface gravities by the parallaxe method and by the ionization balance of iron. The frequency of stars with observed lithium is significantly higher in active stars than in non active stars. Among active stars, no clear correlation has been found between different indicators of activity for our sample stars, but some correlation of an index R′H K and vsini is observed.

scholarly journals High Signal-To-Noise Ratio - the Spectroscopic Key to Algol Systems

1989 ◽  
Vol 107 ◽  
pp. 245-255
Author(s):  
Jocelyn Tomkin
Keyword(s):  
Main Sequence ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Algol System ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Noise Ratio ◽  
Cno Abundances

AbstractThe usefulness of high signal-to-noise-ratio spectra for both radial-velocity and abundance studies of Algol systems is emphasised. It is shown that division by a hot star is a worthwhile step in pursuit of this objective. A preliminary analysis of high signal-to-noise-ratio, red and near-infrared, Reticon observations of R CMa shows that its primary has solar CNO abundances within the 0.3 dex observational error. The low-mass (0.17 m⊙) secondary of this Algol system must have lost a large fraction of its original mass. Some of this material would have been extensively processed during the secondary’s main-sequence lifetime and would therefore have had a highly non-solar CNO-abundance distribution. The lack of serious contamination of the primary’s abundances is consistent with most, but not all, plausible mass-transfer scenarios.

scholarly journals Nonradial pulsations in the open cluster NGC 3766

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S266) ◽  
pp. 518-521
Author(s):  
Rachael M. Roettenbacher ◽  
Ernest C. Amouzou ◽  
M. Virginia McSwain
Keyword(s):  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Open Cluster ◽  
Spectroscopic Studies ◽  
High Resolution Spectroscopy ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Be Stars ◽  
B Stars ◽  
Be Star ◽  
Large Telescopes

AbstractNonradial pulsations (NRPs) are a proposed mechanism for the formation of decretion disks around Be stars. They are important tools to study the internal structure of stars. NGC 3766 has an unusually large fraction of transient Be stars, so it is an excellent location to study the formation mechanism of Be-star disks. High-resolution spectroscopy can reveal line-profile variations from NRPs, allowing measurements of both the degree, l, and azimuthal order, m. However, spectroscopic studies require large amounts of time with large telescopes to achieve the necessary high signal-to-noise ratio and time-domain coverage. On the other hand, multicolor photometry can be performed more easily with small telescopes to measure l only. Here, we present representative light curves of Be stars and nonemitting B stars in NGC 3766 from the CTIO 0.9m telescope in an effort to study NRPs in this cluster.

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