A Quiet Host in an Active Planet-Forming Disk: Optical Spectroscopy of WISPIT 2
WISPIT 2 is a young pre-main-sequence star hosting a multi-ringed transition disk and two directly imaged protoplanets, including the accreting WISPIT 2b, making it the closest known analogue to PDS 70. We present the first optical spectrum of its central star, obtained with HFOSC on the 2-m Himalayan Chandra Telescope, and derive its atmospheric parameters, test its youth, and constrain its accretion state. We analyse low-resolution spectra with iSpec and validate the pipeline at HFOSC resolution against Gaia FGK Benchmark Stars and K-type pre-main-sequence templates. We measure T_eff = 4551 +/- 150 K, log g = 4.32 +/- 0.18, and a low-resolution, model-dependent global metallicity [M/H] = -0.17 +/- 0.16. The surface gravity and Li I equivalent width support the pre-main-sequence nature of the host. H-alpha remains in net absorption but is partially filled by weak emission at only 1.5-2.0 sigma, approximately 1.1 dex below the expected chromospheric-noise level and therefore consistent with chromospheric activity rather than detectable accretion. We place a 95% upper limit on the stellar accretion rate of 3.6 x 10^-11 solar masses per year, below even the lowest monitored value for PDS 70 and implying a host-to-planet accretion-rate ratio below approximately 18. Both known double-protoplanet hosts therefore show strongly suppressed or undetectable stellar accretion. Larger spectroscopic samples are needed to determine whether this is common in multi-protoplanet transition disks.