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Gerard T. van Belle

Publications and source records attributed to Gerard T. van Belle.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Observations of Binary Stars with the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument. IX. Observations of Known and Suspected Binaries, and a Partial Survey of Be Stars

We report 370 measures of 170 components of binary and multiple star systems, obtained from speckle imaging observations made with the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument at Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel Telescope in 2015 through 2017. Of the systems studied, 147 are binary stars, 10 are seen as triple systems, and 1 quadruple system is measured. Seventy-six high-quality non-detections and fifteen newly resolved components are presented in our observations. The uncertainty in relative astrometry appears to be similar to our previous work at Lowell, namely linear measurement uncertainties of approximately 2 mas, and the relative photometry appears to be uncertain at the 0.1 to 0.15 magnitude level. Using these measures and those in the literature, we calculate six new visual orbits, including one for the Be star 66 Oph, and two combined spectroscopic-visual orbits. The latter two orbits, which are for HD 22451 (YSC 127) and HD 185501 (YSC 135), yield individual masses of the components at the level of 2 percent or better, and independent distance measures that in one case agrees with the value found in the Gaia DR2, and in the other disagrees at the 2-$σ$ level. We find that HD 22451 consists of an F6V+F7V pair with orbital period of $2401.1 \pm 3.2$ days and masses of $1.342 \pm 0.029$ and $1.236 \pm 0.026$ $ M_{\odot}$. For HD 185501, both stars are G5 dwarfs that orbit one another with a period of $433.94 \pm 0.15$ days, and the masses are $0.898 \pm 0.012$ and $0.876 \pm 0.012$ $ M_{\odot}$. We discuss the details of both the new discoveries and the orbit objects.

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Observations of Binary Stars with the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument. VIII. Measures of Metal-Poor Stars and Triple Stars from 2015 to 2018

We present 248 speckle observations of 43 binary and 19 trinary star systems chosen to make progress in two main areas of investigation: the fundamental properties of metal poor stars and star formation mechanisms. The observations were taken at the Gemini North and South telescopes during the period 2015 July to 2018 April, mainly with the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI), but also with a few early results from the new 'Alopeke speckle camera at Gemini North. We find that the astrometry and photometry of these observations as a whole are consistent with previous work at Gemini. We present five new visual orbits for systems important in understanding metal-poor stars, three of which have orbital periods of less than 4 years, and we indicate the degree to which these and future observations can impact our knowledge of stellar properties and star formation. In particular, we find a decrease in mass at fixed spectral type for metal poor stars versus their solar-metallicity analogues that is consistent with predictions that are made from current stellar models.

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Fundamental Parameters of 87 Stars from the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer

We present the fundamental properties of 87 stars based on angular diameter measurements from the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer, 36 of which have not been measured previously using interferometry. Our sample consists of 5 dwarfs, 3 subgiants, 69 giants, 3 bright giants, and 7 supergiants, and span a wide range of spectral classes from B to M. We combined our angular diameters with photometric and distance information from the literature to determine each star's physical radius, effective temperature, bolometric flux, luminosity, mass, and age.

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Spectroscopic and Interferometric Measurements of Nine K Giant Stars

We present spectroscopic and interferometric measurements for a sample of nine K giant stars. These targets are of particular interest because they are slated for stellar oscillation observations. Our improved parameters will directly translate into reduced errors in the final masses for these stars when interferometric radii and asteroseismic densities are combined. Here we determine each star's limb-darkened angular diameter, physical radius, luminosity, bolometric flux, effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, and mass. When we compare our interferometric and spectroscopic results, we find no systematic offsets in the diameters and the values generally agree within the errors. Our interferometric temperatures for seven of the nine stars are hotter than those determined from spectroscopy with an average difference of about 380 K.

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Bolometric Flux Estimation for Cool Evolved Stars

Estimation of bolometric fluxes (F_BOL) is an essential component of stellar effective temperature determination with optical and near-infrared interferometry. Reliable estimation of F_BOL simply from broad-band K-band photometry data is a useful tool in those cases were contemporaneous and/or wide-range photometry is unavailable for a detailed spectral energy distribution (SED) fit, as was demonstrated in Dyck et al. (1974). Recalibrating the intrinsic F_BOL versus observed F_2.2um relationship of that study with modern SED fitting routines, which incorporate the significantly non-blackbody, empirical spectral templates of the INGS spectral library (an update of the library in Pickles 1998) and estimation of reddening, serves to greatly improve the accuracy and observational utility of this relationship. We find that F_BOL values predicted are roughly 11% less than the corresponding values predicted in Dyck et al. (1974), indicating the effects of SED absorption features across bolometric flux curves.

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Observations of Binary Stars with the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument. VI. Measures During 2014 at the Discovery Channel Telescope

We present the results of 938 speckle measures of double stars and suspected double stars drawn mainly from the Hipparcos Catalogue, as well as 208 observations where no companion was noted. One hundred fourteen pairs have been resolved for the first time. The data were obtained during four observing runs in 2014 using the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI) at Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel Telescope. The measurement precision obtained when comparing to ephemeris positions of binaries with very well-known orbits is generally less than 2 mas in separation and 0.5 degrees in position angle. Differential photometry is found to have internal precision of approximately 0.1 magnitudes and to be in very good agreement with Hipparcos measures in cases where the comparison is most relevant. We also estimate the detection limit in the cases where no companion was found. Visual orbital elements are derived for 6 systems.

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Stellar Parameters for HD 69830, a Nearby Star with Three Neptune Mass Planets and an Asteroid Belt

We used the CHARA Array to directly measure the angular diameter of HD 69830, home to three Neptune mass planets and an asteroid belt. Our measurement of 0.674+/-0.014 milli-arcseconds for the limb-darkened angular diameter of this star leads to a physical radius of R$_*$ = 0.9058$\pm$0.0190 R\sun and luminosity of L* = 0.622+/-0.014 Lsun when combined with a fit to the spectral energy distribution of the star. Placing these observed values on an Hertzsprung-Russel (HR) diagram along with stellar evolution isochrones produces an age of 10.6+/-4 Gyr and mass of 0.863$\pm$0.043 M\sun. We use archival optical echelle spectra of HD 69830 along with an iterative spectral fitting technique to measure the iron abundance ([Fe/H]=-0.04+/-0.03), effective temperature (5385+/-44 K) and surface gravity (log g = 4.49+/-0.06). We use these new values for the temperature and luminosity to calculate a more precise age of 7.5+/-Gyr. Applying the values of stellar luminosity and radius to recent models on the optimistic location of the habitable zone produces a range of 0.61-1.44 AU; partially outside the orbit of the furthest known planet (d) around HD 69830. Finally, we estimate the snow line at a distance of 1.95+/-0.19 AU, which is outside the orbit of all three planets and its asteroid belt.

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Stellar Diameters and Temperatures VI. High angular resolution measurements of the transiting exoplanet host stars HD 189733 and HD 209458 and implications for models of cool dwarfs

We present direct radii measurements of the well-known transiting exoplanet host stars HD 189733 and HD 209458 using the CHARA Array interferometer. We find the limb-darkened angular diameters to be theta_LD = 0.3848 +/- 0.0055 and 0.2254 +/- 0.0072 milliarcsec for HD 189733 and HD 209458, respectively. HD 189733 and HD 209458 are currently the only two transiting exoplanet systems where detection of the respective planetary companion's orbital motion from high resolution spectroscopy has revealed absolute masses for both star and planet. We use our new measurements together with the orbital information from radial velocity and photometric time series data, Hipparcos distances, and newly measured bolometric fluxes to determine the stellar effective temperatures (T_eff = 4875 +/- 43, 6093 +/- 103 K), stellar linear radii (R_* = 0.805 +/- 0.016, 1.203 +/- 0.061 R_sun), mean stellar densities (rho_* = 1.62 +/- 0.11, 0.58 +/- 0.14 rho_sun), planetary radii (R_p = 1.216 +/- 0.024, 1.451 +/- 0.074 R_Jup), and mean planetary densities (rho_p = 0.605 +/- 0.029, 0.196 +/- 0.033 rho_Jup) for HD 189733 b and HD 209458 b, respectively. The stellar parameters for HD 209458, a F9 dwarf, are consistent with indirect estimates derived from spectroscopic and evolutionary modeling. However, we find that models are unable to reproduce the observational results for the K2 dwarf, HD 189733. We show that, for stellar evolutionary models to match the observed stellar properties of HD 189733, adjustments lowering the solar-calibrated mixing length parameter from 1.83 to 1.34 need to be employed.

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Characterizing the Parents: Exoplanets Around Cool Stars

The large majority of stars in the Milky Way are late-type dwarfs, and the frequency of low-mass exoplanets in orbits around these late-type dwarfs appears to be high. In order to characterize the radiation environments and habitable zones of the cool exoplanet host stars, stellar radius and effective temperature, and thus luminosity, are required. It is in the stellar low-mass regime, however, where the predictive power of stellar models is often limited by sparse data volume with which to calibrate the methods. We show results from our CHARA survey that provides directly determined stellar parameters based on interferometric diameter measurements, trigonometric parallax, and spectral energy distribution fitting.

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Direct Imaging of Planet Transit Events

Exoplanet transit events are attractive targets for the ultrahigh-resolution capabilities afforded by optical interferometers. The intersection of two developments in astronomy enable direct imaging of exoplanet transits: first, improvements in sensitivity and precision of interferometric instrumentation; and second, identification of ever-brighter host stars. Efforts are underway for the first direct high-precision detection of closure phase signatures with the CHARA Array and Navy Precision Optical Interferometer. When successful, these measurements will enable recovery of the transit position angle on the sky, along with characterization of other system parameters, such as stellar radius, planet radius, and other parameters of the transit event. This technique can directly determine the planet's radius independent of any outside observations, and appears able to improve substantially upon other determinations of that radius; it will be possible to extract wavelength dependence of that radius determination, for connection to characterization of planetary atmospheric composition & structure. Additional directly observed parameters - also not dependent on transit photometry or spectroscopy - include impact parameter, transit ingress time, and transit velocity.

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Novalike Cataclysmic Variables in the Infrared

Novalike cataclysmic variables have persistently high mass transfer rates and prominent steady state accretion disks. We present an analysis of infrared observations of twelve novalikes obtained from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer All Sky Survey. The presence of an infrared excess at >3-5 microns over the expectation of a theoretical steady state accretion disk is ubiquitous in our sample. The strength of the infrared excess is not correlated with orbital period, but shows a statistically significant correlation (but shallow trend) with system inclination that might be partially (but not completely) linked to the increasing view of the cooler outer accretion disk and disk rim at higher inclinations. We discuss the possible origin of the infrared excess in terms of emission from bremsstrahlung or circumbinary dust, with either mechanism facilitated by the mass outflows (e.g., disk wind/corona, accretion stream overflow, and so on) present in novalikes. Our comparison of the relative advantages and disadvantages of either mechanism for explaining the observations suggests that the situation is rather ambiguous, largely circumstantial, and in need of stricter observational constraints.

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NPOI Measurements of Ten Stellar Oscillators

Using the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer, we measured the angular diameters of 10 stars that have previously measured solar-like oscillations. Our sample covered a range of evolutionary stages but focused on evolved subgiant and giant stars. We combined our angular diameters with Hipparcos parallaxes to determine the stars' physical radii, and used photometry from the literature to calculate their bolometric fluxes, luminosities, and effective temperatures. We then used our results to test the scaling relations used by asteroseismology groups to calculate radii and found good agreement between the radii measured here and the radii predicted by stellar oscillation studies. The precision of the relations is not as well constrained for giant stars as it is for less evolved stars.

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Stellar Diameters and Temperatures V. Eleven Newly Characterized Exoplanet Host Stars

We use near-infrared interferometric data coupled with trigonometric parallax values and spectral energy distribution fitting to directly determine stellar radii, effective temperatures, and luminosities for the exoplanet host stars 61 Vir, $ρ$ CrB, GJ 176, GJ 614, GJ 649, GJ 876, HD 1461, HD 7924, HD 33564, HD 107383, and HD 210702. Three of these targets are M dwarfs. Statistical uncertainties in the stellar radii and effective temperatures range from 0.5% -- 5% and from 0.2% -- 2%, respectively. For eight of these targets, this work presents the first directly determined values of radius and temperature; for the other three, we provide updates to their properties. The stellar fundamental parameters are used to estimate stellar mass and calculate the location and extent of each system's circumstellar habitable zone. Two of these systems have planets that spend at least parts of their respective orbits in the system habitable zone: two of GJ 876's four planets and the planet that orbits HD 33564. We find that our value for GJ 876's stellar radius is more than 20% larger than previous estimates and frequently used values in the astronomical literature.

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Predicting Stellar Angular Sizes

Our survey of long-baseline infrared and optical interferometry measurements is producing considerable numbers of directly determined stellar angular sizes. We use our sample of 124 high-precision (5\%) angular stellar diameter values and correlate them with stellar magnitude values from the literature to produce empirical relations for main-sequence stars between observed apparent magnitudes, stellar colors, and angular sizes (surface brightness relations). We find a significant dependence on stellar metallicity for ($B-V$) colors. The scatter in the calculated relations is small ($\sim$5\%), which makes them a robust tool for the prediction of main-sequence stellar angular sizes based on photometry. We apply these relations via the calculation of the radius of the multiplanet host star GJ 667C.

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The PTI Carbon Star Angular Size Survey: Effective Temperatures and Non-Sphericity

We report new interferometric angular diameter observations of 41 carbon stars observed with the Palomar Testbed Interferometer (PTI). Two of these stars are CH carbon stars and represent the first such measurements for this subtype. Of these, 39 have Yamashita (1972,1975) spectral classes and are of sufficiently high quality that we may determine the dependence of effective temperature on spectral type. We find that there is a tendency for the effective temperature to increase with increasing temperature index by ~120K per step, starting at T_EFF ~= 2500K for C3,y, although there is a large amount of scatter about this relationship. Overall, the median effective temperature for the carbon star sample is found to be 2800 +- 270K, and the median linear radius is 360 +- 100 R_SUN. We also find agreement on average within 15K with the T_EFF determinations of Bergeat (2001,2002a,b), and a refinement of carbon star angular size prediction based on V & K magnitudes is presented that is good to an rms of 12%. A subsample of our stars have sufficient {u,v} coverage to permit non-spherical modeling of their photospheres, and a general tendency for detection of statistically significant departures from sphericity with increasing signal-to-noise of the interferometric data is seen. The implications of most - and potentially all - carbon stars being non-spherical is considered in the context of surface inhomogeneities and a rotation-mass loss connection.

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NPOI Observations of the Exoplanet Host kappa Coronae Borealis and Their Implications for the Star's and Planet's Masses and Ages

We used the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer to measure the limb-darkened angular diameter of the exoplanet host star kappa CrB and obtained a value of 1.543 +/- 0.009 mas. We calculated its physical radius (5.06 +/- 0.04 R_Sun) and used photometric measurements from the literature with our diameter to determine kappa CrB's effective temperature (4788 +/- 17 K) and luminosity (12.13 +/- 0.09 L_Sun). We then placed the star on an H-R diagram to ascertain the star's age (3.42 +0.32/-0.25 Gyr) and mass (1.47 +/- 0.04 M_Sun) using a metallicity of [Fe/H] = +0.15. With this mass, we calculated the system's mass function with the orbital elements from a variety of sources, which produced a range of planetary masses: m_p sin i = 1.61 to 1.88 M_Jup. We also updated the extent of the habitable zone for the system using our new temperature.

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Characterization of the Red Giant HR 2582 Using the CHARA Array

We present the fundamental parameters of HR 2582, a high-mass red giant star whose evolutionary state is a mystery. We used the CHARA Array interferometer to directly measure the star's limb-darkened angular diameter (1.006+/-0.020 mas) and combined our measurement with parallax and photometry from the literature to calculate its physical radius (35.76+/-5.31 R_Sun), luminosity (517.8+/-17.5 L_Sun), bolometric flux (14.8+/-0.5 e-8 erg s-1 cm-2) and effective temperature (4577+/-60 K). We then determined the star's mass (5.6+/-1.7 M_Sun) using our new values with stellar oscillation results from Baudin et al. Finally, using the Yonsei-Yale evolutionary models, we estimated HR 2582's age to be 165 +20/-15 Myr. While our measurements do not provide the precision required to definitively state where the star is in its evolution, it remains an excellent test case for evaluating stellar interior models.

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The GJ 436 System: Directly Determined Astrophysical Parameters of an M-Dwarf and Implications for the Transiting Hot Neptune

The late-type dwarf GJ 436 is known to host a transiting Neptune-mass planet in a 2.6-day orbit. We present results of our interferometric measurements to directly determine the stellar diameter ($R_{\star} = 0.455 \pm 0.018 R_{\odot}$) and effective temperature ($T_{\rm EFF} = 3416 \pm 54$ K). We combine our stellar parameters with literature time-series data, which allows us to calculate physical and orbital system parameters, including GJ 436's stellar mass ($M_{\star} = 0.507^{+ 0.071}_{- 0.062} M_{\odot}$) and density ($ρ_* = 5.37^{+ 0.30}_{- 0.27} ρ_\odot$), planetary radius ($R_{p} = 0.369^{+ 0.015}_{- 0.015} R_{Jupiter}$), planetary mass ($M_{p} = 0.078^{+ 0.007}_{- 0.008} M_{Jupiter}$), implying a mean planetary density of $ρ_{p} = 1.55^{+ 0.12}_{- 0.10} ρ_{Jupiter}$. These values are generally in good agreement with previous literature estimates based on assumed stellar mass and photometric light curve fitting. Finally, we examine the expected phase curves of the hot Neptune GJ 436b, based on various assumptions concerning the efficiency of energy redistribution in the planetary atmosphere, and find that it could be constrained with {\it Spitzer} monitoring observations.

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