arXiv subjects

Mercedes Lopez-Morales

Publications and source records attributed to Mercedes Lopez-Morales.

96 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2006

Limits to Transits of the Neptune-mass planet orbiting Gl 581

We have monitored the Neptune-mass exoplanet-hosting M-dwarf Gl 581 with the 1m Swope Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory over two predicted transit epochs. A neutral density filter centered at 550nm was used during the first epoch, yielding 6.33 hours of continuous light curve coverage with an average photometric precision of 1.6 mmags and a cadence of 2.85 min. The second epoch was monitored in B-band over 5.85 hours, with an average photometric precision of 1.2 mmags and 4.28 min cadence. No transits are apparent on either night, indicating that the orbital inclination is less than 88.1 deg for all planets with radius larger than 0.38 R_Nep = 1.48 R_Earth. Because planets of most reasonable interior composition have radii larger than 1.55 R_Earth we place an inclination limit for the system of 88.1 deg. The corresponding minimum mass of Gl 581b remains 0.97 M_Nep = 16.6 M_Earth.

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arXiv2006

Chemical Abundance Study of One Red Giant Star in NGC 5694 : A Globular Cluster with Dwarf Spheroidals' Chemical Signature?

We report the abundance analysis of one red giant branch star in the metal-poor outer halo globular cluster NGC 5694. We obtain [Fe/H] = -1.93, based on the ionized lines, and our metallicity measurement is in good agreement with previous estimates. We find that [Ca+Ti/2Fe] and [Cu/Fe] of NGC 5694 are about 0.3 -- 0.4 dex lower than other globular clusters with similar metallicities, but similar to some LMC clusters and stars in some dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Differences persist, however, in the abundances of neutron capture elements. The unique chemical abundance pattern and the large Galactocentric distance (30 kpc) and radial velocity (-138.6 +/- 1.0 km/sec) indicate that NGC 5694 had an extragalactic origin.

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arXiv2006

A Chemical Abundance Study of three RHB and two RGB stars in NGC6637 (M69)

We present a detailed chemical abundance study of three red horizontal branch and two red giant branch stars in the metal-rich globular cluster NGC 6637 (M69). The value of [Fe/H] derived from LTE calculations is $-$0.77 $\pm$ 0.02 dex. We also discuss the anticorrelation between oxygen and sodium abundances in the program stars and compare the [Si/Ti] ratio of NGC 6637 with those of other globular clusters.

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arXiv2006

Very Cool Close Binaries

We present new observations of cool <6000K and low mass <1Msun binary systems that have been discovered by searching several modern stellar photometric databases. The search has led to a factor of 10 increase in the number of known cool close eclipsing binary systems.

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arXiv2006

Testing Low-Mass Stellar Models: Three New Detached Eclipsing Binaries below 0.75 Msun

Full tests to stellar models below 1 Msun have been hindered until now by the scarce number of precise measurements of the stars' most fundamental parameters: their masses and radii. With the current observational techniques, the required precision to distinguish between different models (errors < 2-3 %) can only be achieved using detached eclipsing binaries where 1) both stars are similar in mass, i.e. q = M1/M2 ~ 1.0, and 2) each star is a main sequence object below 1 Msun. Until 2003 only three such binaries had been found and analyzed in detail. Two new systems were published in 2005 (Creevey et al.; Lopez-Morales & Ribas), almost doubling the previous number of data points. Here we present preliminary results for 3 new low-mass detached eclipsing binaries. These are the first studied systems from our sample of over 41 new binaries (Shaw & Lopez-Morales, this proceedings). We also provide an updated comparison between the Mass-Radius and the Mass-Teff relations predicted by the models and the observational data from detached eclipsing binaries.

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arXiv2006

Millimag Precision Photometry of Southern Bright Stars with a 1-m Telescope and a Standard CCD

This paper summarizes a three night observing campaign aimed at achieving milli-magnitude precision photometry of bright stars (V < 9.0) with the 1-meter Swope telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. The test targets were the main sequence stars HD205739 and HD135446. The results show that, by placing a concentric diaphragm in front of the aperture of the telescope, it is possible to avoid saturation and to achieve a photometric precision of 0.0008-0.0010 mag per data point with a cadence of less than 4 minutes. It is also possible to reach an overall precision of less that 0.0015 mags for time series of 6 hours or more. The photometric precision of this setup is only limited by scintillation. Scintillation could be reduced, and therefore the photometric precision could be further improved, by using a neutral density filter instead of the aperture stop. Given that the expected median depth of extrasolar planet transits of about 0.01 mags, and their typical duration of several hours, the results of this paper show that 1-m telescopes equipped with standard CCDs can be used to detect planet transits as shallow as 0.002 mags around bright stars.

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