S. J. O'Toole

The GALAH survey: Scientific motivation

The Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey is a large high-resolution spectroscopic survey using the newly commissioned High Efficiency and Resolution Multi-Element Spectrograph (HERMES) on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. The HERMES spectrograph provides high-resolution (R ~ 28 000) spectra in four passbands for 392 stars simultaneously over a 2 deg field of view. The goal of the survey is to unravel the formation and evolutionary history of the Milky Way, using fossil remnants of ancient star formation events which have been disrupted and are now dispersed throughout the Galaxy. Chemical tagging seeks to identify such dispersed remnants solely from their common and unique chemical signatures; these groups are unidentifiable from their spatial, photometric or kinematic properties. To carry out chemical tagging, the GALAH survey will acquire spectra for a million stars down to V ~ 14. The HERMES spectra of FGK stars contain absorption lines from 29 elements including light proton-capture elements, α-elements, odd-Z elements, iron-peak elements and n-capture elements from the light and heavy s-process and the r-process. This paper describes the motivation and planned execution of the GALAH survey, and presents some results on the first-light performance of HERMES.

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: instrument specification and target selection

The SAMI Galaxy Survey will observe 3400 galaxies with the Sydney-AAO Multi- object Integral-field spectrograph (SAMI) on the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) in a 3-year survey which began in 2013. We present the throughput of the SAMI system, the science basis and specifications for the target selection, the survey observation plan and the combined properties of the selected galaxies. The survey includes four volume-limited galaxy samples based on cuts in a proxy for stellar mass, along with low-stellar-mass dwarf galaxies all selected from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. The GAMA regions were selected because of the vast array of ancillary data available, including ultraviolet through to radio bands. These fields are on the celestial equator at 9, 12, and 14.5 hours, and cover a total of 144 square degrees (in GAMA-I). Higher density environments are also included with the addition of eight clusters. The clusters have spectroscopy from 2dFGRS and SDSS and photometry in regions covered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and/or VLT Survey Telescope/ATLAS. The aim is to cover a broad range in stellar mass and environment, and therefore the primary survey targets cover redshifts 0.004 < z < 0.095, magnitudes rpet < 19.4, stellar masses 107– 1012M⊙, and environments from isolated field galaxies through groups to clusters of _ 1015M⊙.

A planetary system around the nearby M dwarf GJ 667C with at least one super-earth in its habitable zone

We re-analyze 4 years of HARPS spectra of the nearby M1.5 dwarf GJ 667C available through the European Southern Observatory public archive. The new radial velocity (RV) measurements were obtained using a new data analysis technique that derives the Doppler measurement and other instrumental effects using a least-squares approach. Combining these new 143 measurements with 41 additional RVs from the Magellan/Planet Finder Spectrograph and Keck/High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer spectrometers reveals three additional signals beyond the previously reported 7.2 day candidate, with periods of 28 days, 75 days, and a secular trend consistent with the presence of a gas giant (period ~10 years). The 28 day signal implies a planet candidate with a minimum mass of 4.5 M ⊕ orbiting well within the canonical definition of the stars liquid water habitable zone (HZ), that is, the region around the star at which an Earth-like planet could sustain liquid water on its surface. Still, the ultimate water supporting capability of this candidate depends on properties that are unknown such as its albedo, atmospheric composition, and interior dynamics. The 75 day signal is less certain, being significantly affected by aliasing interactions among a potential 91 day signal, and the likely rotation period of the star at 105 days detected in two activity indices. GJ 667C is the common proper motion companion to the GJ 667AB binary, which is metal-poor compared to the Sun. The presence of a super-Earth in the HZ of a metal-poor M dwarf in a triple star system supports the evidence that such worlds should be ubiquitous in the Galaxy.

A super-earth and two Neptunes orbiting the nearby sun-like star 61 Virginis

We present precision radial velocity data that reveal a multiple exoplanet system orbiting the bright nearby G5V star 61 Virginis. Our 4.6 years of combined Keck/HIRES and Anglo-Australian Telescope precision radial velocities indicate the hitherto unknown presence of at least three planets orbiting this well-studied star. These planets are all on low-eccentricity orbits with periods of 4.2, 38.0, and 124.0 days, and projected masses (Msin i) of 5.1, 18.2, and 24.0 M ⊕, respectively. Test integrations of systems consistent with the radial velocity data suggest that the configuration is dynamically stable. Depending on the effectiveness of tidal dissipation within the inner planet, the inner two planets may have evolved into an eccentricity fixed-point configuration in which the apsidal lines of all three planets corotate. This conjecture can be tested with additional observations. We present a 16-year time series of photometric observations of 61 Virginis, which comprise 1194 individual measurements, and indicate that it has excellent photometric stability. No significant photometric variations at the periods of the proposed planets have been detected. This new system is the first known example of a G-type Sun-like star hosting a Super-Earth mass planet. It joins HD 75732 (55 Cnc), HD 69830, GJ 581, HD 40307, and GJ 876 in a growing group of exoplanet systems that have multiple planets orbiting with periods less than an Earth-year. The ubiquity of such systems portends that space-based transit-search missions such as Kepler and CoRoT will find many multi-transiting systems.

A MULTISITE CAMPAIGN TO MEASURE SOLAR-LIKE OSCILLATIONS IN PROCYON. I. OBSERVATIONS, DATA REDUCTION, AND SLOW VARIATIONS

We have carried out a multisite campaign to measure oscillations in the F5 star Procyon A. We obtained high-precision velocity observations over more than three weeks with 11 telescopes, with almost continuous coverage for the central 10 days. This represents the most extensive campaign so far organized on any solar-type oscillator. We describe in detail the methods we used for processing and combining the data. These involved calculating weights for the velocity time series from the measurement uncertainties and adjusting them in order to minimize the noise level of the combined data. The time series of velocities for Procyon shows the clear signature of oscillations, with a plateau of excess power that is centered at 0.9 mHz and is broader than has been seen for other stars. The mean amplitude of the radial modes is 38:1 AE 1:3 cm s A1 (2.0 times solar), which is consistent with previous detections from the ground and by the WIRE spacecraft, and also with the upper limit set by the MOST spacecraft. The variation of the amplitude during the observing campaign allows us to estimate the mode lifetime to be 1:5 þ1:9 A0:8 days. We also find a slow variation in the radial velocity of Procyon, with good agreement between different telescopes. These variations are remarkably similar to those seen in the Sun, and we interpret them as being due to rotational modulation from active regions on the stellar surface. The variations appear to have a period of about 10 days, which presumably equals the stellar rotation period or, perhaps, half of it. The amount of power in these slow variations indicates that the fractional area of Procyon covered by active regions is slightly higher than for the Sun.

A multi-site campaign to measure solar-like oscillations in Procyon. II. Mode frequencies

We have analyzed data from a multi-site campaign to observe oscillations in the F5 star Procyon. The data consist of high-precision velocities that we obtained over more than three weeks with 11 telescopes. A new method for adjusting the data weights allows us to suppress the sidelobes in the power spectrum. Stacking the power spectrum in a so-called echelle diagram reveals two clear ridges, which we identify with even and odd values of the angular degree (l = 0 and 2, and l = 1 and 3, respectively). We interpret a strong, narrow peak at 446 μHz that lies close to the l = 1 ridge as a mode with mixed character. We show that the frequencies of the ridge centroids and their separations are useful diagnostics for asteroseismology. In particular, variations in the large separation appear to indicate a glitch in the sound-speed profile at an acoustic depth of ~1000 s. We list frequencies for 55 modes extracted from the data spanning 20 radial orders, a range comparable to the best solar data, which will provide valuable constraints for theoretical models. A preliminary comparison with published models shows that the offset between observed and calculated frequencies for the radial modes is very different for Procyon than for the Sun and other cool stars. We find the mean lifetime of the modes in Procyon to be 1.29+0.55 -0.49 days, which is significantly shorter than the 2-4 days seen in the Sun.

A Jupiter-Like Planet Orbiting the Nearby M dwarf GJ 832

Precision Doppler velocity measurements from the Anglo-Australian Telescope reveal a planet with a 9.4 ± 0.4 year period orbiting the M1.5 dwarf GJ 832. Within measurement uncertainty the orbit is circular, and the minimum mass (msin i) of the planet is 0.64 ± 0.06 M JUP. GJ 832 appears to be depleted in metals by at least 50% relative to the Sun, as are a significant fraction of the M dwarfs known to host exoplanets. GJ 832 adds another Jupiter-mass planet to the known census of M dwarf exoplanets, which currently includes a significant number of Neptune-mass planets. GJ 832 is an excellent candidate for astrometric orbit determination with αsin i = 0.95 mas. GJ 832b has the second largest angular distance from its star among radial velocity detected exoplanets (0.69 arcsec) making it a potentially interesting target for future direct detection.

Discovery of magnetic fields in central stars of planetary nebulae

For the first time we have directly detected magnetic fields in central stars of planetary nebulae by means of spectro- polarimetry with FORS1 at the VLT. In all four objects of our sample we found kilogauss magnetic fields, in NGC 1360 and LSS 1362 with very high significance, while in EGB 5 and Abell 36 the existence of a magnetic field is probable but with less certainty. This discovery supports the hypothesis that the non-spherical symmetry of most planetary nebulae is caused by magnetic fields in AGB stars. Our high discovery rate demands mechanisms to prevent full conservation of magnetic flux during the transition to white dwarfs.

The Pan-Pacific planet search. I. a giant planet orbiting 7 CMa

We introduce the Pan-Pacific Planet Search, a survey of 170 metal-rich Southern Hemisphere subgiants using the 3.9 m Anglo-Australian Telescope. We report the first discovery from this program, a giant planet orbiting 7 CMa (HD 47205) with a period of 763 ± 17 days, eccentricity e = 0.14 ± 0.06, and msin i = 2.6 ± 0.6 M_Jup. The host star is a K giant with a mass of 1.5 ± 0.3 M_☉ and metallicity [Fe/H] = 0.21 ± 0.10. The mass and period of 7 CMa b are typical of planets which have been found to orbit intermediate-mass stars (M_* > 1.3 M_☉). Hipparcos photometry shows this star to be stable to 0.0004 mag on the radial-velocity period, giving confidence that this signal can be attributed to reflex motion caused by an orbiting planet.

First Kepler results on compact pulsators – VI. Targets in the final half of the survey phase

We present results from the final 6 months of a survey to search for pulsations in white dwarfs (WDs) and hot subdwarf stars with the Kepler spacecraft. Spectroscopic observations are used to separate the objects into accurate classes, and we explore the physical parameters of the subdwarf B (sdB) stars and white dwarfs in the sample. From the Kepler photometry and our spectroscopic data, we find that the sample contains five new pulsators of the V1093 Her type, one AMCVn type cataclysmic variable and a number of other binary systems. This completes the survey for compact pulsators with Kepler. No V361 Hya type of short-period pulsating sdB stars were found in this half, leaving us with a total of one single multiperiodic V361 Hya and 13 V1093 Her pulsators for the full survey. Except for the sdB pulsators, no other clearly pulsating hot subdwarfs or white dwarfs were found, although a few low-amplitude candidates still remain. The most interesting targets discovered in this survey will be observed throughout the remainder of the Kepler mission, providing the most long-term photometric data sets ever made on such compact, evolved stars. Asteroseismic investigations of these data sets will be invaluable in revealing the interior structure of these stars and will boost our understanding of their evolutionary history.