The Astronomical Journal (Jan 2024)
Resolving the Young 2 Cygni Runaway Star into a Binary Using iLocater
- Justin R. Crepp,
- Jonathan Crass,
- Andrew J. Bechter,
- Brian L. Sands,
- Ryan Ketterer,
- David King,
- Derek Kopon,
- Randall Hamper,
- Matthew Engstrom,
- James E. Smous,
- Eric B. Bechter,
- Robert Harris,
- Marshall C. Johnson,
- Nicholas Baggett,
- Shannon Dulz,
- Michael Vansickle,
- Al Conrad,
- Steve Ertel,
- B. Scott Gaudi,
- Philip Hinz,
- Marc Kuchner,
- Manny Montoya,
- Eleanya Onuma,
- Melanie Ott,
- Richard Pogge,
- Gustavo Rahmer,
- Robert Reynolds,
- Christian Schwab,
- Karl Stapelfeldt,
- Joseph Thomes,
- Amali Vaz,
- Ji Wang,
- Charles E. Woodward
Affiliations
- Justin R. Crepp
- ORCiD
- University of Notre Dame , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Notre Dame, IN, USA ; [email protected]
- Jonathan Crass
- ORCiD
- University of Notre Dame , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Notre Dame, IN, USA ; [email protected]; The Ohio State University , Department of Astronomy, Columbus, OH, USA
- Andrew J. Bechter
- ORCiD
- University of Notre Dame , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Notre Dame, IN, USA ; [email protected]
- Brian L. Sands
- ORCiD
- University of Notre Dame , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Notre Dame, IN, USA ; [email protected]
- Ryan Ketterer
- University of Notre Dame , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Notre Dame, IN, USA ; [email protected]
- David King
- Durham University , Department of Physics, Durham, UK; University of Cambridge , Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK
- Derek Kopon
- ORCiD
- University of Notre Dame , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Notre Dame, IN, USA ; [email protected]
- Randall Hamper
- University of Notre Dame , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Notre Dame, IN, USA ; [email protected]
- Matthew Engstrom
- ORCiD
- University of Notre Dame , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Notre Dame, IN, USA ; [email protected]
- James E. Smous
- ORCiD
- University of Notre Dame , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Notre Dame, IN, USA ; [email protected]
- Eric B. Bechter
- ORCiD
- University of Notre Dame , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Notre Dame, IN, USA ; [email protected]
- Robert Harris
- ORCiD
- Durham University , Department of Physics, Durham, UK
- Marshall C. Johnson
- ORCiD
- The Ohio State University , Department of Astronomy, Columbus, OH, USA
- Nicholas Baggett
- University of Notre Dame , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Notre Dame, IN, USA ; [email protected]
- Shannon Dulz
- University of Notre Dame , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Notre Dame, IN, USA ; [email protected]
- Michael Vansickle
- University of Notre Dame , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Notre Dame, IN, USA ; [email protected]
- Al Conrad
- Large Binocular Telescope Observatory , Tucson, AZ, USA
- Steve Ertel
- ORCiD
- Large Binocular Telescope Observatory , Tucson, AZ, USA; University of Arizona , Department of Astronomy, Tucson, AZ, USA
- B. Scott Gaudi
- ORCiD
- The Ohio State University , Department of Astronomy, Columbus, OH, USA
- Philip Hinz
- ORCiD
- University of Arizona , Department of Astronomy, Tucson, AZ, USA; UC Santa Cruz , Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- Marc Kuchner
- ORCiD
- Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Manny Montoya
- University of Arizona , Department of Astronomy, Tucson, AZ, USA
- Eleanya Onuma
- Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Melanie Ott
- Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Richard Pogge
- ORCiD
- The Ohio State University , Department of Astronomy, Columbus, OH, USA
- Gustavo Rahmer
- Large Binocular Telescope Observatory , Tucson, AZ, USA
- Robert Reynolds
- Large Binocular Telescope Observatory , Tucson, AZ, USA
- Christian Schwab
- ORCiD
- Macquarie University , School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Karl Stapelfeldt
- ORCiD
- Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD, USA; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA, USA
- Joseph Thomes
- Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Amali Vaz
- University of Arizona , Department of Astronomy, Tucson, AZ, USA
- Ji Wang
- ORCiD
- The Ohio State University , Department of Astronomy, Columbus, OH, USA
- Charles E. Woodward
- ORCiD
- University of Minnesota , Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad9b1d
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 169,
no. 1
p. 48
Abstract
Precision radial velocity spectrographs that use adaptive optics (AO) show promise to advance telescope observing capabilities beyond those of seeing-limited designs. We are building a spectrograph for the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) named iLocater that uses AO to inject starlight directly into single mode fibers. iLocater's first acquisition camera system (the SX camera), which receives light from one of the 8.4 m diameter primary mirrors of the LBT, was initially installed in summer 2019 and has since been used for several commissioning runs. We present results from first-light observations that include on-sky measurements as part of commissioning activities. Imaging measurements of the bright B3IV star 2 Cygni ( V = 4.98) resulted in the direct detection of a candidate companion star at an angular separation of only θ = 70 mas. Follow-up AO measurements using Keck/NIRC2 recover the candidate companion in multiple filters. An R ≈ 1500 miniature spectrograph recently installed at the LBT named Lili provides spatially resolved spectra of each binary component, indicating similar spectral types and strengthening the case for companionship. Studying the multiplicity of young runaway star systems like 2 Cygni (36.6 ± 0.5 Myr) can help to understand formation mechanisms for stars that exhibit anomalous velocities through the Galaxy. This on-sky demonstration illustrates the spatial resolution of the iLocater SX acquisition camera working in tandem with the LBT AO system; it further derisks a number of technical hurdles involved in combining AO with Doppler spectroscopy.
Keywords
