ALBERT

Description: Context. EX Lup is a well-studied T Tauri star that represents the prototype of young eruptive stars known as EXors. They are characterized by repetitive outbursts that are due to enhanced accretion from the circumstellar disk onto the star. In this paper, we analyze new adaptive optics imaging and spectroscopic observations to study EX Lup and its circumstellar environment in near-infrared in its quiescent phase. Aims. We aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of the circumstellar environment around EX Lup in quiescence, building upon the vast store of data provided by the literature. Methods. We observed EX Lup in quiescence with the high contrast imager SPHERE/IRDIS in the dual-beam polarimetric imaging mode to resolve the circumstellar environment in near-infrared scattered light. We complemented the data with earlier SINFONI spectroscopy, which was also taken in quiescence. Results. We resolve, for the first time in scattered light, a compact feature around EX Lup azimuthally extending from ~280° to ~360° and radially extending from ~0.3′′ to ~0.55′′ in the plane of the disk. We explore two different scenarios for the detected emission. The first one accounts for the emission as coming from the brightened walls of the cavity excavated by the outflow whose presence was suggested by ALMA observations in the J = 3−2 line of 12CO. The second attributes the emission to an inclined disk. In this latter case, we detect, for the first time, a more extended circumstellar disk in scattered light, which shows that a region between ~10 and ~30 au is depleted of μm-size grains. We compare the J-, H-, and K-band spectra obtained with SINFONI in quiescence with the spectra taken during the outburst, showing that all the emission lines result from the episodic accretion event. Conclusions. Based on the morphology analysis, we favor the scenario that assumes the scattered light is coming from a circumstellar disk rather than the outflow around EX Lup. We determine the origin of the observed feature as either coming from a continuous circumstellar disk with a cavity, from the illuminated wall of the outer disk, or from a shadowed disk. Moreover, we discuss the potential origins of the depleted region of μm-size grains, exploring the possibility that a sub-stellar companion may be the source of this feature.

Description: Context. Detecting and characterising exoworlds around very young stars (age ≤10 Myr) are key aspects of exoplanet demographic studies, especially for understanding the mechanisms and timescales of planet formation and migration. Any reliable theory for such physical phenomena requires a robust observational database to be tested. However, detection using the radial velocity method alone can be very challenging because the amplitude of the signals caused by the magnetic activity of such stars can be orders of magnitude larger than those induced even by massive planets. Aims. We observed the very young (~2 Myr) and very active star V830 Tau with the HARPS-N spectrograph between October 2017 and March 2020 to independently confirm and characterise the previously reported hot Jupiter V830 Tau b (Kb = 68 ± 11 m s−1; mb sin ib = 0.57 ± 0.10 MJup; Pb = 4.927 ± 0.008 d). Methods. Because of the observed ~1 km s−1 radial velocity scatter that can clearly be attributed to the magnetic activity of V830 Tau, we analysed radial velocities extracted with different pipelines and modelled them using several state-of-the-art tools. We devised injection-recovery simulations to support our results and characterise our detection limits. The analysis of the radial velocities was aided by a characterisation of the stellar activity using simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic diagnostics. Results. Despite the high quality of our HARPS-N data and the diversity of tests we performed, we were unable to detect the planet V830 Tau b in our data and cannot confirm its existence. Our simulations show that a statistically significant detection of the claimed planetary Doppler signal is very challenging. Conclusions. It is important to continue Doppler searches for planets around young stars, but utmost care must be taken in the attempt to overcome the technical difficulties to be faced in order to achieve their detection and characterisation. This point must be kept in mind when assessing their occurrence rate, formation mechanisms, and migration pathways, especially without evidence of their existence from photometric transits.

Description: Context. The detailed chemical composition of stars is important in many astrophysical fields, among which is the characterisation of exoplanetary systems. Previous studies seem to indicate an anomalous chemical pattern of the youngest stellar population in the solar vicinity that has sub-solar metal content. This can influence various observational relations linking the properties of exoplanets to the characteristics of the host stars, for example the giant planet-metallicity relation. Aims. In this framework, we aim to expand our knowledge of the chemical composition of intermediate-age stars and understand whether these peculiarities are real or related to spectroscopic analysis techniques. Methods. We analysed high-resolution optical and near-infrared spectra of intermediate-age stars (

Description: Using photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy we investigate for the first time the physical connection between the open clusters NGC 5617 and Trumpler 22. Based on new CCD photometry we report their spatial proximity and common age of ~70 Myr. Based on high-resolution spectra collected using the HERMES and UCLES spectrographs on the Anglo-Australian telescope, we present radial velocities and abundances for Fe, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, and Ni. The measured radial velocities are –38.63 ± 2.25 km s –1 for NGC 5617 and –38.46 ± 2.08 km s –1 for Trumpler 22. The mean metallicity of NGC 5617 was found to be [Fe/H] = –0.18 ± 0.02 and for Trumpler 22 was found to be [Fe/H] = –0.17 ± 0.04. The two clusters share similar abundances across the other elements, indicative of a common chemical enrichment history of these clusters. Together with common motions and ages we confirm that NGC 5617 and Trumpler 22 are a primordial binary cluster pair in the Milky Way.

Description: In this paper we analyse the evolutionary status and properties of the old open cluster NGC 2355, located in the Galactic anticentre direction, as a part of the long-term programme Bologna Open Clusters Chemical Evolution. NGC 2355 was observed with the Large Binocular Camera at the Large Binocular Telescope using the Bessel B , V , and I c filters. The cluster parameters have been obtained using the synthetic colour–magnitude diagram method, as done in other papers of this series. Additional spectroscopic observations with the Fibre-fed Echelle Spectrograph at the Nordic Optical Telescope of three giant stars were used to determine the chemical properties of the cluster. Our analysis shows that NGC 2355 has metallicity slightly less than solar, with [Fe/H]= –0.06 dex, age between 0.8 and 1 Gyr, reddening E ( B – V ) in the range 0.14–0.19 mag, and distance modulus ( m – M ) 0 of about 11 mag. We also investigate the abundances of O, Na, Al, α, iron-peak, and neutron capture elements, showing that NGC 2355 falls within the abundance distribution of similar clusters (same age and metallicity). The Galactocentric distance of NGC 2355 places it at the border between two regimes of metallicity distribution; this makes it an important cluster for the study of the chemical properties and evolution of the disc.

Description: We conduct a series of comparisons between spectroscopic and photometric observations of globular clusters and stellar models to examine their predictive power. Data from medium-to-high resolution spectroscopic surveys of lithium allow us to investigate first dredge-up and extra mixing in two clusters well separated in metallicity. Abundances at first dredge-up are satisfactorily reproduced but there is preliminary evidence to suggest that the models overestimate the luminosity at which the surface composition first changes in the lowest metallicity system. Our models also begin extra mixing at luminosities that are too high, demonstrating a significant discrepancy with observations at low metallicity. We model the abundance changes during extra mixing as a thermohaline process and determine that the usual diffusive form of this mechanism cannot simultaneously reproduce both the carbon and lithium observations. Hubble Space Telescope photometry provides turn-off and bump magnitudes in a large number of globular clusters and offers the opportunity to better test stellar modelling as function of metallicity. We directly compare the predicted main-sequence turn-off and bump magnitudes as well as the distance-independent parameter $\Delta M_V \,^{\rm {MSTO}}_{\rm {bump}}$ . We require 15 Gyr isochrones to match the main-sequence turn-off magnitude in some clusters and cannot match the bump in low-metallicity systems. Changes to the distance modulus, metallicity scale and bolometric corrections may impact on the direct comparisons but $\Delta M_V \,^{\rm {MSTO}}_{\rm {bump}}$ , which is also underestimated from the models, can only be improved through changes to the input physics. Overshooting at the base of the convective envelope with an efficiency that is metallicity dependent is required to reproduce the empirically determined value of $\Delta M_V \,^{\rm {MSTO}}_{\rm {bump}}$ .

Description: 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.

Description: The presence of multiple populations in globular clusters has been well established thanks to high-resolution spectroscopy. It is widely accepted that distinct populations are a consequence of different stellar generations: intracluster pollution episodes are required to produce the peculiar chemistry observed in almost all clusters. Unfortunately, the progenitors responsible have left an ambiguous signature and their nature remains unresolved. To constrain the candidate polluters, we have measured lithium and aluminium abundances in more than 180 giants across three systems: NGC 1904, NGC 2808, and NGC 362. The present investigation along with our previous analysis of M12 and M5 affords us the largest data base of simultaneous determinations of Li and Al abundances. Our results indicate that Li production has occurred in each of the three clusters. In NGC 362, we detected an M12-like behaviour, with first- and second-generation stars sharing very similar Li abundances favouring a progenitor that is able to produce Li, such as asymptotic giant branches stars. Multiple progenitor types are possible in NGC 1904 and NGC 2808, as they possess both an intermediate population comparable in lithium to the first generation stars and also an extreme population, that is enriched in Al but depleted in Li. A simple dilution model fails in reproducing this complex pattern. Finally, the internal Li variation seems to suggest that the production efficiency of this element is a function of the cluster's mass and metallicity – low-mass or relatively metal-rich clusters are more adept at producing Li.

Description: In this paper we analyse the evolutionary status and properties of the old open cluster NGC 2355, located in the Galactic anticentre direction, as a part of the long-term programme Bologna Open Clusters Chemical Evolution. NGC 2355 was observed with the Large Binocular Camera at the Large Binocular Telescope using the Bessel B , V , and I c filters. The cluster parameters have been obtained using the synthetic colour–magnitude diagram method, as done in other papers of this series. Additional spectroscopic observations with the Fibre-fed Echelle Spectrograph at the Nordic Optical Telescope of three giant stars were used to determine the chemical properties of the cluster. Our analysis shows that NGC 2355 has metallicity slightly less than solar, with [Fe/H]= –0.06 dex, age between 0.8 and 1 Gyr, reddening E ( B – V ) in the range 0.14–0.19 mag, and distance modulus ( m – M ) 0 of about 11 mag. We also investigate the abundances of O, Na, Al, α, iron-peak, and neutron capture elements, showing that NGC 2355 falls within the abundance distribution of similar clusters (same age and metallicity). The Galactocentric distance of NGC 2355 places it at the border between two regimes of metallicity distribution; this makes it an important cluster for the study of the chemical properties and evolution of the disc.

Description: We present the results of the analysis of high-resolution spectra obtained with UVES-FLAMES at the Very Large Telescope for six red giant branch stars in the outer-halo metal-poor ([Fe/H] i  = –1.98 and [Fe/H] ii  = –1.83) Galactic globular cluster NGC 5694, which has been suggested as a possible incomer by Lee et al. based on the anomalous chemical composition of a single cluster giant. We obtain accurate abundances for a large number of elements and we find that (a)the six target stars have the same chemical composition within the uncertainties, except for Na and Al; (b) the average cluster abundance of α elements (with the only exception of Si) is nearly solar, at odds with typical halo stars and globular clusters of similar metallicity; (c) Y, Ba, La and Eu abundances are also significantly lower than in Galactic field stars and star clusters of similar metallicity. Hence, we confirm the Lee et al. classification of NGC 5694 as a cluster of extragalactic origin. We provide the first insight on the Na-O and Mg-Al anticorrelations in this cluster: all the considered stars have very similar abundance ratios for these elements, except one that has significantly lower [Na/Fe] and [Al/Fe] ratios, suggesting that some degree of early self-enrichment has occurred also in this cluster.