arXiv subjects

Richard W. Pogge

Publications and source records attributed to Richard W. Pogge.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Kmt-2016-blg-1397b: Kmtnet-only discovery of a microlens giant planet

We report the discovery of a giant planet in the KMT-2016-BLG-1397 microlensing event, which was found by The Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) alone. The time scale of this event is t_E = 40.0 +- 0.5 days and the mass ratio between the lens star and its companion is q = 0.016 +- 0.002. The planetary perturbation in the light curve is a smooth bump, resulting in the classical binary-lens/binary-source (2L1S/1L2S) degeneracy. We measure the V - I color of the (putative) two sources in the 1L2S model, and then effectively rule out the binary source solution. The finite-source effect is marginally detected. Combined with the limits on the blend flux and the probability distribution of the source size normalized by the Einstein radius rho, a Bayesian analysis yields the lens mass M_L = 0.45+0.33-0.28 M_sun, at distance of D_L = 6.60+1.10-1.30 kpc. Thus the companion is a super-Jupiter of a mass m_p = 7.0+5.2-4.3 M_J , at a projected separation r = 5.1+1.5-1.7 AU, indicating that the planet is well beyond the snow line of the host star.

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arXiv2018

MOA-2016-BLG-319Lb: Microlensing Planet Subject to Rare Minor-Image Perturbation Degeneracy in Determining Planet Parameter

We present the analysis of the planetary microlensing event MOA-2016-BLG-319. The event light curve is characterized by a brief ($\sim 3$ days) anomaly near the peak produced by minor-image perturbations. From modeling, we find two distinct solutions that describe the observed light curve almost equally well. From the investigation of the lens-system configurations, we find that the confusion in the lensing solution is caused by the degeneracy between the two solutions resulting from the source passages on different sides of the planetary caustic. These degeneracies can be severe for major-image perturbations but it is known that they are considerably less severe for minor-image perturbations. From the comparison of the lens-system configuration with those of two previously discovered planetary events, for which similar degeneracies were reported, we find that the degeneracies are caused by the special source trajectories that passed the star-planet axes at approximately right angles. By conducting a Bayesian analysis, it is estimated that the lens is a planetary system in which a giant planet with a mass $M_{\rm p}=0.62^{+1.16}_{-0.33}~M_{\rm J}$ ($0.65^{+1.21}_{-0.35}~M_{\rm J}$) is orbiting a low-mass M-dwarf host with a mass $M_{\rm h}=0.15^{+0.28}_{-0.08}~M_\odot$. Here the planet masses in and out of the parentheses represent the masses for the individual degenerate solutions. The projected host-planet separations are $a_\perp\sim 0.95$ au and $\sim 1.05$ au for the two solutions. The identified degeneracy indicates the need to check similar degeneracies in future analyses of planetary lensing events with minor-image perturbations.

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arXiv2018

KMT-2016-BLG-1820 and KMT-2016-BLG-2142: Two Microlensing Binaries Composed of Planetary-mass Companions and Very-Low-Mass Primaries

We present the analyses of two short-timescale $(t_{\rm E} \sim 5~{\rm days})$ microlensing events, KMT-2016-BLG-1820 and KMT-2016-BLG-2142. In both light curves, the brief anomalies were clearly captured and densely covered by the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network survey. From these analyses, we find that both events have small Einstein radii of $θ_{\rm E} = 0.12~{\rm mas}$, suggesting that the binary-lens systems are composed of very low-mass components and/or are located much closer to the lensed stars than to Earth. From Bayesian analyses, we find that these binaries have total system masses of $0.043_{-0.018}^{+0.043}~M_{\odot}$ and $0.088_{-0.041}^{+0.120}~M_{\odot}$, implying that they are well within the very-low-mass regime. The estimated lens-component masses indicate that the binary lenses consist of a giant-planet/brown-dwarf pair (KMT-2016-BLG-1820), and a dark/faint object pair (KMT-2016-BLG-2140) that are located near the deuterium-burning and hydrogen-burning mass limits, respectively. Both lens systems are likely to be in the Galactic disk with estimated distances of about $6$ kpc and $7$ kpc. The projected lens-components separations are $1.1$ AU and $0.8$ AU, and the mass ratios are $0.11$ and $0.20$. These prove that the microlensing method is effective to identify these closely-separated very-low-mass binaries having low mass-ratios.

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arXiv2018

KMT-2016-BLG-2052L: Microlensing Binary Composed of M Dwarfs Revealed from a Very Long Time-scale Event

We present the analysis of a binary microlensing event KMT-2016-BLG-2052, for which the lensing-induced brightening of the source star lasted for 2 seasons. We determine the lens mass from the combined measurements of the microlens parallax $\pie$ and angular Einstein radius $\thetae$. The measured mass indicates that the lens is a binary composed of M dwarfs with masses of $M_1\sim 0.34~M_\odot$ and $M_2\sim 0.17~M_\odot$. The measured relative lens-source proper motion of $μ\sim 3.9~{\rm mas}~{\rm yr}^{-1}$ is smaller than $\sim 5~{\rm mas}~{\rm yr}^{-1}$ of typical Galactic lensing events, while the estimated angular Einstein radius of $\thetae\sim 1.2~{\rm mas}$ is substantially greater than the typical value of $\sim 0.5~{\rm mas}$. Therefore, it turns out that the long time scale of the event is caused by the combination of the slow $μ$ and large $\thetae$ rather than the heavy mass of the lens. From the simulation of Galactic lensing events with very long time scales ($t_{\rm E}\gtrsim 100$ days), we find that the probabilities that long time-scale events are produced by lenses with masses $\geq 1.0~M_\odot$ and $\geq 3.0~M_\odot$ are $\sim 19\%$ and 2.6\%, respectively, indicating that events produced by heavy lenses comprise a minor fraction of long time-scale events. The results indicate that it is essential to determine lens masses by measuring both $\pie$ and $\thetae$ in order to firmly identify heavy stellar remnants such as neutron stars and black holes.

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arXiv2018

The Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) Alert Algorithm and Alert System

We describe a new microlensing-event alert algorithm that is tailored to the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) multi-observatory system. The algorithm focuses on detecting "rising" events, i.e., events whose brightness is increasing as a function of time. The algorithm proceeds in three steps. It first identifies light curves with at least $N_{\rm high}$ points that are at least $3σ$ above the median and that had been taken since shortly before the previous search for new events. It then demands that there are at least $N_{\rm high}$ $\textit{consecutive}$ high points when considering any combination of light curves from one, two, or three observatories. Finally, it fits to a "rising microlensing model" consisting of a broken line, i.e., flat before some time $t_{\rm rise}$ and rising linearly afterward. If this fit is better than a flat line by $Δχ^2>Δχ^2_{\rm thresh}$, the light curve is sent for human review. Here, $(N_{\rm high},Δχ^2_{\rm thresh})=(5,250)$ or $(10,400)$, depending on the field cadence. For 2018, KMTNet alerts will initially be restricted to a few northern bulge fields and may gradually extend to the full northern bulge. Further expansion of coverage is expected in 2019.

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arXiv2018

OGLE-2014-BLG-0962 and the First Statistical Validation of Bayesian Priors for Galactic Microlensing

OGLE-2014-BLG-0962 (OB140962) is a stellar binary microlensing event that was well-covered by observations from the Spitzer satellite as well as ground-based surveys. Modelling yields a unique physical solution: a mid-M+M-dwarf binary with $M_{\rm prim} = 0.20 \pm 0.01 M_\odot$ and $M_{\rm sec} = 0.16 \pm 0.01 M_\odot$, with projected separation of $2.0 \pm 0.3$ AU. The lens is only $D_{\rm LS} = 0.41 \pm 0.06$ kpc in front of the source, making OB140962 a bulge lens and the most distant Spitzer binary lens to date. In contrast, because the Einstein radius ($θ_{\rm E} = 0.143 \pm 0.007$ mas) is unusually small, a standard Bayesian analysis, conducted in the absence of parallax information, would predict a brown dwarf binary. We test the accuracy of Bayesian analysis over a set of Spitzer lenses, finding overall good agreement throughout the sample. We also illustrate the methodology for probing the Galactic distribution of planets by comparing the cumulative distance distribution of the Spitzer 2-body lenses to that of the Spitzer single lenses.

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arXiv2017

SDSS-V: Pioneering Panoptic Spectroscopy

SDSS-V will be an all-sky, multi-epoch spectroscopic survey of over six million objects. It is designed to decode the history of the Milky Way, trace the emergence of the chemical elements, reveal the inner workings of stars, and investigate the origin of planets. It will also create an integral-field spectroscopic map of the gas in the Galaxy and the Local Group that is 1,000x larger than the current state of the art and at high enough spatial resolution to reveal the self-regulation mechanisms of galactic ecosystems. SDSS-V will pioneer systematic, spectroscopic monitoring across the whole sky, revealing changes on timescales from 20 minutes to 20 years. The survey will thus track the flickers, flares, and radical transformations of the most luminous persistent objects in the universe: massive black holes growing at the centers of galaxies. The scope and flexibility of SDSS-V will be unique among extant and future spectroscopic surveys: it is all-sky, with matched survey infrastructures in both hemispheres; it provides near-IR and optical multi-object fiber spectroscopy that is rapidly reconfigurable to serve high target densities, targets of opportunity, and time-domain monitoring; and it provides optical, ultra-wide-field integral field spectroscopy. SDSS-V, with its programs anticipated to start in 2020, will be well-timed to multiply the scientific output from major space missions (e.g., TESS, Gaia, eROSITA) and ground-based projects. SDSS-V builds on the 25-year heritage of SDSS's advances in data analysis, collaboration infrastructure, and product deliverables. The project is now refining its science scope, optimizing the survey strategies, and developing new hardware that builds on the SDSS-IV infrastructure. We present here an overview of the current state of these developments as we seek to build our worldwide consortium of institutional and individual members.

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arXiv2017

The DEdicated MONitor of EXotransits and Transients (DEMONEXT): System Overview and Year One Results from a Low-Cost Robotic Telescope for Follow-Up of Exoplanetary Transits and Transients

We report on the design and first year of operations of the DEdicated MONitor of EXotransits and Transients (DEMONEXT). DEMONEXT is a 20 inch (0.5-m) robotic telescope using a PlaneWave CDK20 telescope on a Mathis instruments MI-750/1000 fork mount. DEMONEXT is equipped with a $2048\times2048$ pixel Finger Lakes Instruments (FLI) detector, a 10-position filter wheel with an electronic focuser and $B$, $V$, $R$, $I$, $g'$, $r'$, $i'$, $z'$, and clear filters. DEMONEXT operates in a continuous observing mode and achieves 2-4 mmag raw, unbinned, precision on bright $V<13$ targets with 20-120 second exposures, and 1 mmag precision achieved by binning on 5-6 minute timescales. DEMONEXT maintains sub-pixel ($<0.5$ pixels) target position stability on the CCD over 8 hours in good observing conditions, with degraded performance in poor weather ($<1$ pixel). DEMONEXT achieves 1-10% photometry on single-epoch targets with $V<17$ in 5 minute exposures, with detection thresholds of $V\approx21$. The DEMONEXT automated software has produced 143 planetary candidate transit light curves for the KELT collaboration, and 48 supernovae and transient light curves for the ASAS-SN supernovae group in the first year of operation. DEMONEXT has also observed for a number of ancillary science projects including Galactic microlensing, active galactic nuclei, stellar variability, and stellar rotation.

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arXiv2017

A giant planet undergoing extreme ultraviolet irradiation by its hot massive-star host

The amount of ultraviolet irradiation and ablation experienced by a planet depends strongly on the temperature of its host star. Of the thousands of extra-solar planets now known, only four giant planets have been found that transit hot, A-type stars (temperatures of 7300-10,000K), and none are known to transit even hotter B-type stars. WASP-33 is an A-type star with a temperature of ~7430K, which hosts the hottest known transiting planet; the planet is itself as hot as a red dwarf star of type M. The planet displays a large heat differential between its day-side and night-side, and is highly inflated, traits that have been linked to high insolation. However, even at the temperature of WASP-33b's day-side, its atmosphere likely resembles the molecule-dominated atmospheres of other planets, and at the level of ultraviolet irradiation it experiences, its atmosphere is unlikely to be significantly ablated over the lifetime of its star. Here we report observations of the bright star HD 195689, which reveal a close-in (orbital period ~1.48 days) transiting giant planet, KELT-9b. At ~10,170K, the host star is at the dividing line between stars of type A and B, and we measure the KELT-9b's day-side temperature to be ~4600K. This is as hot as stars of stellar type K4. The molecules in K stars are entirely dissociated, and thus the primary sources of opacity in the day-side atmosphere of KELT-9b are likely atomic metals. Furthermore, KELT-9b receives ~700 times more extreme ultraviolet radiation (wavelengths shorter than 91.2 nanometers) than WASP-33b, leading to a predicted range of mass-loss rates that could leave the planet largely stripped of its envelope during the main-sequence lifetime of the host star.

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arXiv2017

KELT-18b: Puffy Planet, Hot Host, Probably Perturbed

We report the discovery of KELT-18b, a transiting hot Jupiter in a 2.87d orbit around the bright (V=10.1), hot, F4V star BD+60 1538 (TYC 3865-1173-1). We present follow-up photometry, spectroscopy, and adaptive optics imaging that allow a detailed characterization of the system. Our preferred model fits yield a host stellar temperature of 6670+/-120 K and a mass of 1.524+/-0.069 Msun, situating it as one of only a handful of known transiting planets with hosts that are as hot, massive, and bright. The planet has a mass of 1.18+/-0.11 Mjup, a radius of 1.57+/-0.04 Rjup, and a density of 0.377+/-0.040 g/cm^3, making it one of the most inflated planets known around a hot star. We argue that KELT-18b's high temperature and low surface gravity, which yield an estimated ~600 km atmospheric scale height, combined with its hot, bright host make it an excellent candidate for observations aimed at atmospheric characterization. We also present evidence for a bound stellar companion at a projected separation of ~1100 AU, and speculate that it may have contributed to the strong misalignment we suspect between KELT-18's spin axis and its planet's orbital axis. The inferior conjunction time is 2457542.524998 +/-0.000416 (BJD_TDB) and the orbital period is 2.8717510 +/- 0.0000029 days. We encourage Rossiter-McLaughlin measurements in the near future to confirm the suspected spin-orbit misalignment of this system.

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arXiv2017

KELT-16b: A highly irradiated, ultra-short period hot Jupiter nearing tidal disruption

We announce the discovery of KELT-16b, a highly irradiated, ultra-short period hot Jupiter transiting the relatively bright ($V = 11.7$) star TYC 2688-1839-1. A global analysis of the system shows KELT-16 to be an F7V star with $T_\textrm{eff} = 6236\pm54$ K, $\log{g_\star} = 4.253_{-0.036}^{+0.031}$, [Fe/H] = -0.002$_{-0.085}^{+0.086}$, $M_\star = 1.211_{-0.046}^{+0.043} M_\odot$, and $R_\star = 1.360_{-0.053}^{+0.064} R_\odot$. The planet is a relatively high mass inflated gas giant with $M_\textrm{P} = 2.75_{-0.15}^{+0.16} M_\textrm{J}$, $R_\textrm{P} = 1.415_{-0.067}^{+0.084} R_\textrm{J}$, density $ρ_\textrm{P} = 1.20\pm0.18$ g cm$^{-3}$, surface gravity $\log{g_\textrm{P}} = 3.530_{-0.049}^{+0.042}$, and $T_\textrm{eq} = 2453_{-47}^{+55}$ K. The best-fitting linear ephemeris is $T_\textrm{C} = 2457247.24791\pm0.00019$ BJD$_{tdb}$ and $P = 0.9689951 \pm 0.0000024$ d. KELT-16b joins WASP-18b, -19b, -43b, -103b, and HATS-18b as the only giant transiting planets with $P < 1$ day. Its ultra-short period and high irradiation make it a benchmark target for atmospheric studies by HST, Spitzer, and eventually JWST. For example, as a hotter, higher mass analog of WASP-43b, KELT-16b may feature an atmospheric temperature-pressure inversion and day-to-night temperature swing extreme enough for TiO to rain out at the terminator. KELT-16b could also join WASP-43b in extending tests of the observed mass-metallicity relation of the Solar System gas giants to higher masses. KELT-16b currently orbits at a mere $\sim$ 1.7 Roche radii from its host star, and could be tidally disrupted in as little as a few $\times 10^{5}$ years (for a stellar tidal quality factor of $Q_*' = 10^5$). Finally, the likely existence of a widely separated bound stellar companion in the KELT-16 system makes it possible that Kozai-Lidov oscillations played a role in driving KELT-16b inward to its current precarious orbit.

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arXiv2016

KELT-12b: A $P \sim 5$ Day, Highly Inflated Hot Jupiter Transiting a Mildly Evolved Hot Star

We report the discovery of KELT-12b, a highly inflated Jupiter-mass planet transiting a mildly evolved host star. We identified the initial transit signal in the KELT-North survey data and established the planetary nature of the companion through precise follow-up photometry, high-resolution spectroscopy, precise radial velocity measurements, and high-resolution adaptive optics imaging. Our preferred best-fit model indicates that the $V = 10.64$ host, TYC 2619-1057-1, has $T_{\rm eff} = 6278 \pm 51$ K, $\log{g_\star} = 3.89^{+0.054}_{-0.051}$, and [Fe/H] = $0.19^{+0.083}_{-0.085}$, with an inferred mass $M_{\star} = 1.59^{+0.071}_{-0.091} M_\odot$ and radius $R_\star = 2.37 \pm 0.18 R_\odot$. The planetary companion has $M_{\rm P} = 0.95 \pm 0.14 M_{\rm J}$, $R_{\rm P} = 1.79^{+0.18}_{-0.17} R_{\rm J}$, $\log{g_{\rm P}} = 2.87^{+0.097}_{-0.098}$, and density $ρ_{\rm P} = 0.21^{+0.075}_{-0.054}$ g cm$^{-3}$, making it one of the most inflated giant planets known. The time of inferior conjunction in ${\rm BJD_{TDB}}$ is $2457088.692055 \pm 0.0009$ and the period is $P = 5.0316144 \pm 0.0000306$ days. Despite the relatively large separation of $\sim0.07$ AU implied by its $\sim 5.03$-day orbital period, KELT-12b receives significant flux of $2.93^{+0.33}_{-0.30} \times 10^9$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ from its host. We compare the radii and insolations of transiting gas-giant planets around hot ($T_{\rm eff} \geq 6250$ K) and cool stars, noting that the observed paucity of known transiting giants around hot stars with low insolation is likely due to selection effects. We underscore the significance of long-term ground-based monitoring of hot stars and space-based targeting of hot stars with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to search for inflated giants in longer-period orbits.

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arXiv2016

CHAOS III: Gas-Phase Abundances in NGC5457

The CHemical Abundances of Spirals (CHAOS) project leverages the combined power of the Large Binocular Telescope with the broad spectral range and sensitivity of the Multi Object Double Spectrograph (MODS) to measure direct abundances in large samples of HII regions in spiral galaxies. We present LBT MODS observations of 109 Hii regions in NGC5457, of which 74 have robust measurements of key auroral lines, a factor of 3 larger than all previous published detections of auroral lines in the HII regions of NGC5457. Comparing the temperatures derived from the different ionic species we find: (1) strong correlations of T[NII] with T[SIII] and T[OIII], consistent with little or no intrinsic scatter; (2) a correlation of T[SIII] with T[OIII], but with significant intrinsic dispersion; (3) overall agreement between T[NII], T[SII], and T[OII], as expected, but with significant outliers; (4) the correlations of T[NII] with T[SIII] and T[OIII] match the predictions of photoionization modeling while the correlation of T[SIII] with T[OIII] is offset from the prediction of photoionization modeling. Based on these observations, which include significantly more observations of lower excitation HII regions, missing in many analyses, we inspect the commonly used ionization correction factors (ICFs) for unobserved ionic species and propose new empirical ICFs for S and Ar. We have discovered an unexpected population of HII regions with a significant offset to low values in Ne/O, which defies explanation. We derive radial gradients in O/H and N/O which agree with previous studies. Our large observational database allows us to examine the dispersion in abundances, and we find intrinsic dispersions of 0.074 in O/H and 0.095 in N/O (at a given radius). We stress that this measurement of the intrinsic dispersion comes exclusively from direct measurements of HII regions in NGC5457.

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arXiv2016

ALFALFA Discovery of the Most Metal-Poor Gas-Rich Galaxy Known: AGC 198691

We present spectroscopic observations of the nearby dwarf galaxy AGC 198691. This object is part of the Survey of HI in Extremely Low-Mass Dwarfs (SHIELD) project, which is a multi-wavelength study of galaxies with HI masses in the range of 10$^{6}$-10$^{7.2}$~M$_{\odot}$ discovered by the ALFALFA survey. We have obtained spectra of the lone HII region in AGC 198691 with the new high-throughput KPNO Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph (KOSMOS) on the Mayall 4-m as well as with the Blue Channel spectrograph on the MMT 6.5-m telescope. These observations enable the measurement of the temperature-sensitive [OIII]$λ$4363 line and hence the determination of a "direct" oxygen abundance for AGC 198691. We find this system to be an extremely metal-deficient (XMD) system with an oxygen abundance of 12+log(O/H) = 7.02 $\pm$ 0.03, making AGC 198691 the lowest-abundance star-forming galaxy known in the local universe. Two of the five lowest-abundance galaxies known have been discovered by the ALFALFA blind HI survey; this high yield of XMD galaxies represents a paradigm shift in the search for extremely metal-poor galaxies.

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arXiv2015

KELT-4Ab: An inflated Hot Jupiter transiting the bright (V~10) component of a hierarchical triple

We report the discovery of KELT-4Ab, an inflated, transiting Hot Jupiter orbiting the brightest component of a hierarchical triple stellar system. The host star is an F star with $T_{\rm eff}=6206\pm75$ K, $\log g=4.108\pm0.014$, $\left[{\rm Fe}/{\rm H}\right]=-0.116_{-0.069}^{+0.065}$, ${\rm M_*}=1.201_{-0.061}^{+0.067} \ {\rm M}_{\odot}$, and ${\rm R_*}=1.610_{-0.068}^{+0.078} \ {\rm R}_{\odot}$. The best-fit linear ephemeris is $\rm {BJD_{TDB}} = 2456193.29157 \pm 0.00021 + E\left(2.9895936 \pm 0.0000048\right)$. With a magnitude of $V\sim10$, a planetary radius of $1.699_{-0.045}^{+0.046} \ {\rm R_J}$, and a mass of $0.902_{-0.059}^{+0.060} \ {\rm M_J}$, it is the brightest host among the population of inflated Hot Jupiters ($R_P > 1.5R_J$), making it a valuable discovery for probing the nature of inflated planets. In addition, its existence within a hierarchical triple and its proximity to Earth ($210$ pc) provides a unique opportunity for dynamical studies with continued monitoring with high resolution imaging and precision radial velocities. In particular, the motion of the binary stars around each other and of both stars around the primary star relative to the measured epoch in this work should be detectable when it rises in October 2015.

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arXiv2015

CHAOS I: Direct Chemical Abundances for HII Regions in NGC 628

The CHemical Abundances of Spirals (CHAOS) project leverages the combined power of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) with the broad spectral range and sensitivity of the Multi Object Double Spectrograph (MODS) to measure "direct" abundances in large samples of HII regions in spiral galaxies. We present LBT MODS observations of 62 HII regions in the nearby NGC628. We measure one or more auroral lines ([OIII] 4363, [NII] 5755, [SIII] 6312, or [OII] 7320,7330) in a large number of HII regions (40). Comparing derived temperatures from multiple auroral line measurements, we find: a strong correlation between temperatures based on [SIII] and [NII]; and large discrepancies for some temperatures based on [OII] and [OIII]. These trends are consistent with other observations in the literature, yet, given the widespread use and acceptance of [OIII] as a temperature determinant, the magnitude of the T[OIII] discrepancies still came as a surprise. Based on these results, we conduct a uniform abundance analysis using the temperatures derived from [SIII] and [NII], and report the gas-phase abundance gradients for NGC628. Relative abundances of S/O, Ne/O, and Ar/O are constant across the galaxy, consistent with no systematic change in the upper IMF over the sampled range in metallicity. These alpha-element ratios, along with N/O, all show small dispersions consistent with no intrinsic dispersion (0.05) over 70% of the azimuthally averaged radius. We interpret these results as an indication that, at a given radius, the interstellar medium in NGC628 is chemically well-mixed. Unlike the nearly temperature-independent gradients, O/H abundances have a larger intrinsic dispersion of ~0.13 dex. We posit that this dispersion represents an upper limit to the true dispersion in O/H at a given radius and that some of that dispersion is due to systematic uncertainties arising from temperature measurements.

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arXiv2015

CHAOS II: Gas-Phase Abundances in NGC 5194

We have observed NGC5194 (M51a) as part of the CHemical Abundances of Spirals (CHAOS) project. Using the Multi Object Double Spectrographs (MODS) on the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) we are able to measure one or more of the temperature-sensitive auroral lines ([O III] 4363, [N II] 5755, [S III] 6312) and thus measure "direct" gas-phase abundances in 29 individual HII regions. [O III] 4363 is only detected in two HII regions both of which show indications of excitation by shocks. We compare our data to previous direct abundances measured in NGC5194 and find excellent agreement for all but one region (Delta[log(O/H)] ~ 0.04). We find no evidence of trends in Ar/O, Ne/O, or S/O within NGC5194 or compared to other galaxies. We find modest negative gradients in both O/H and N/O with very little scatter (sigma < 0.08 dex), most of which can be attributed to random error and not to intrinsic dispersion. The gas-phase abundance gradient is consistent with the gradients observed in other interacting galaxies, which tend to be shallower than gradients measured in isolated galaxies. The N/O ratio ( = -0.62) suggests secondary nitrogen production is responsible for a significantly larger fraction of nitrogen (e.g., factor of 8-10) relative to primary production mechanisms than predicted by theoretical models.

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arXiv2014

Direct Method Gas Phase Oxygen Abundances of 4 Lyman Break Analogs

We measure the gas-phase oxygen abundances in 4 Lyman Break Analogs (LBAs) using auroral emission lines to derive direct abundances. The direct method oxygen abundances of these objects are generally consistent with the empirically-derived strong-line method values, confirming that these objects are low oxygen abundance outliers from the Mass-Metallicity (MZ) relation defined by star forming SDSS galaxies. We find slightly anomalous excitation conditions (Wolf-Rayet features) that could potentially bias the empirical estimates towards high values if caution is not exercised in the selection of the strong-line calibration used. The high rate of star formation and low oxygen abundance of these objects is consistent with the predictions of the Fundamental Metallicity Relation (FMR), in which the infall of relatively unenriched gas simultaneously triggers an episode of star formation and dilutes ISM of the host galaxy.

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