Optical and NIR Spectroscopy of ɛ Aurigae at Apache Point Observatory, the First Half of the Eclipse

Details Optical and NIR Spectroscopy of ɛ Aurigae at Apache Point Observatory, the First Half of the Eclipse Optical and NIR Spectroscopy of ɛ Aurigae at Apache Point Observatory, the First Half of the Eclipse

Jan 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21725705k&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #257.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Epsilon Aurigae (ɛ Aur), first confirmed as a variable in 1821, is an eclipsing binary star system with a period of 27.1 years, one of the longest known. The primary, a pulsating F supergiant star with a variability out of eclipse of approximately 60 days and possible overtones of hundreds of days, is orbited by the secondary, a B-star enveloped by an enormous, cool, spectrally gray disk producing no evident wavelength dependence to the light output variations. The eclipse lasts for over 700 days; the current eclipse began first contact in July, 2009, and August 4, 2010 marked the estimated midway point of the eclipse. Although the components of the system have now been identified, much is still unclear such as the origin, composition and structure of the disk. Modern digital spectroscopy of bright stars not only enables asteroseismology and planetary detection, but the eclipsing binary epsilon Aurigae is an unusual case in which precise spectroscopic study of the now transiting dark disk is enabled. At Apache Point Observatory, our team has conducted high-resolution optical and NIR spectroscopic monitoring of this mysterious eclipsing system since February, 2009. We present major changes in the spectra attributable to the disk from the first half of the eclipse in the 0.4 - 2.2 μm range using ARCES, an optical echelle spectrograph (λ/Δλ=31,500), and Triplespec, a NIR cross-dispersed spectrograph (λ/Δλ=3500), on the ARC 3.5-meter telescope.

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