The knowledge of accurate stellar parameters is paramount in several fields of stellar astrophysics, particularly in the study of extrasolar planets, where often the star is the only visible component and therefore used to infer the planet's fundamental parameters. Another important aspect of the analysis of planetary systems is the stellar activity and the possible star-planet interaction. Here, we present a self-consistent abundance analysis of the planet-hosting star WASP-12 and a high-precision search for a structured stellar magnetic field on the basis of spectropolarimetric observations obtained with the ESPaDOnS spectropolarimeter. Our results show that the star does not have a structured magnetic field, and that the obtained fundamental parameters are in good agreement with what was previously published. In addition, we derive improved constraints on the stellar age (1.0-2.65Gyr), mass (1.23-1.49M/M_{sun}_), and distance (295-465pc). WASP-12 is an ideal object in which to look for pollution signatures in the stellar atmosphere. We analyze the WASP-12 abundances as a function of the condensation temperature and compare them with those published by several other authors on planet-hosting and non-planet-hosting stars.
A rich spectroscopic census of members of the local massive cluster A2029 includes 1215 members of A2029 and its two infalling groups, A2033 and the Southern Infalling Group. The two infalling groups are identified in spectroscopic, X-ray, and weak-lensing maps. We identify active galactic nuclei (AGNs), star-forming galaxies, E+A galaxies, and quiescent galaxies based on the spectroscopy. The fractions of AGN and post-starburst E+A galaxies in A2029 are similar to those of other clusters. We derive the stellar mass (M_*_)-metallicity relation of A2029 based on 227 star-forming members; A2029 members within 10^9^M_{sun}_<M_*_<10^9.5^M_{sun}_ are more metal-rich than Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxies within the same mass range. We utilize the spectroscopic index D_n_4000, a strong age indicator, to trace past and future evolution of the A2029 system. The median D_n_4000 of the members decreases as the projected clustercentric distance increases for all three subsystems. The D_n_4000-M_*_ relations of the members in A2029 and its two infalling groups differ significantly, indicating the importance of stochastic effects for understanding the evolution of cluster galaxy populations.
We present a radial velocity study of the rapidly rotating B star Regulus that indicates the star is a single-lined spectroscopic binary. The orbital period (40.11 days) and probable semimajor axis (0.35AU) are large enough that the system is not interacting at present. However, the mass function suggests that the secondary has a low mass (M_2_>0.30M_{sun}_), and we argue that the companion may be a white dwarf. Such a star would be the remnant of a former mass donor that was the source of the large spin angular momentum of Regulus itself.
A metallicity, chemical composition, and kinematic survey has been conducted for a sample of 340 candidate field red horizontal-branch (RHB) stars. Spectra with high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio were gathered with the McDonald Observatory 2.7 m Tull and the Hobby-Eberly Telescope echelle spectrographs, and were used to determine effective temperatures, surface gravities, microturbulent velocities, [Fe/H] metallicities, and abundance ratios [X/Fe] for seven {alpha} and Fe-group species. The derived temperatures and gravities confirm that at least half of the candidates are true RHB stars, with (average) parameters T_eff_~5000 K and log g~2.5. From the {alpha} abundances alone, the thin and thick Galactic populations are apparent in our sample. Space motions for 90% of the program stars were computed from Hipparcos and Gaia parallaxes and proper motions. Correlations between chemical compositions and Galactic kinematics clearly indicate the existence of both thin-disk and thick-disk RHB stars.
The ESA PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) mission will search for terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars. Because of telemetry limitations PLATO targets need to be pre-selected. In this paper we present an all sky catalog that will be fundamental to select the best PLATO fields and the most promising target stars, derive their fundamental parameters, analyze the instrumental performances and then plan and optimize follow-up observations. This catalog also represents a valuable resource for the general definition of stellar samples optimized for the search of transiting planets. We used Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) astrometry and photometry and 3D maps of the local interstellar medium to isolate FGK (V<=13) and M(V<=16) dwarfs and subgiant stars. We present the first public release of the all sky PLATO Input Catalog (asPIC1.1) containing a total of 2675539 stars among which 2378177 FGK dwarfs and subgiants and 297362 M dwarfs. The median distance in our sample is 428pc for FGK stars and 146 pc for M dwarfs, respectively. We derived the reddening of our targets and developed an algorithm to estimate stellar fundamental parameters (Teff, radius, mass) from astrometric and photometric measurements. We show that our overall (internal+external) uncertainties on the stellar parameters determination is ~230K (4%) for the effective temperatures, ~0.1R_{sun}_ (9%) for the stellar radii and ~0.1M_{sun}_ (11%) for the stellar mass. We release a special target list containing all known planet hosts cross-matched with our catalog.
