The LICK OBSERVER AUTOMATED PLANET FINDER (APF) BAGS FIRST SUCCESSFUL FIRST LIGHT for SHANE ADAPTIVE PLANETS by Steven S
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Volume 2 Spring 2014 Number 2 University of California Observatories Lick Observatory Est. 1888 The LICK OBSERVER AUTOMATED PLANET FINDER (APF) BAGS FIRST SUCCESSFUL FIRST LIGHT FOR SHANE ADAPTIVE PLANETS By Steven S. Vogt • UCSC Astronomer OPTICS! By Don Gavel (PI) and the ShaneAO Team • UCO The first planets Earth, Mars, and Jupiter overlaid for discovered using data from reference. ShaneAO off ShaneAO on the Automated Planet With its three gas giant planets Finder (APF) Telescope orbiting at distances similar to the are described in a paper, terrestrial planets of our own solar recently accepted for system, and an outer 4th gas giant in publication, that was authored by the an orbit similar to our own Jupiter, Lick-Carnegie Exoplanet Team, co-led this system is fundamentally alien. Yet, it is also typical of the sorts of planetary systems found around ~10% of F, G, and K stars. HD 141399 was long suspected of hosting planets from data gathered by HIRES on Keck, but there was insufficient cadence and precision to characterize the multiple orbits securely. APF's ability to get high precision with high After years of hard work from the capability for Lick astronomers and by cadence quickly clinched all the orbits, ShaneAO team (including 3 PhD providing technology proof for the characterizing each with high graduate students and one undergrad), next generation of Keck AO accuracy. Indeed, the quality of the high-performance AO correction was instruments. APF measurements shows that APF achieved within the first hour of on-sky is functioning fully as expected, and commissioning on April 12, 2014. has, since July 2013, been delivering Special thanks are due for the intensive state-of-the-art radial velocity and expert help from the entire staff by Steve Vogt of UCSC and R. Paul precision.✯ on Mt. Hamilton. Butler of Carnegie. The left frame shows the new data of The first catch was a 4-planet system M92, a famous and well-studied cluster orbiting the slightly evolved K-type star HELP SAVE LICK of stars, with no AO correction. The HD 141399, about 118 light-years right shows the same field with the new away. This system features four gas Click here to see the latest AO system turned on. The three stars Renate Kupke in the control room during giant planets in orbits with periods of news, letters, and articles in the circle are 0.42 and 0.58 arc- ShaneAO first light. 94d, 202d, 2.9y, and 10.1y, as shown in about Lick, or to become seconds apart. ShaneAO represents a ShaneAO is made possible through an top view (red lines) in the figure. This a donor or Friend of Lick leap forward for UC astronomical NSF Major Research Instrumentation figure also shows (dashed lines) the Observatory. instrumentation, with its advanced grant, #0923585. ✯ orbits of our own Mercury, Venus, LICK’S STORM PROVIDES NEW MAPS OF GAS A GLIMMER OF LIGHT FROM POLARIZED WORLDS By Sloane Wiktorowicz • Sagan Fellow at UCO SWIRLING AROUND SUPER-MASSIVE BLACK HOLES By Liuyi Pei • PhD Student at UC Irvine Forty years ago, of 0.61 in UV and blue light. However, the detection of HST photometry during stellar The Space Telescope and polarized, occultation of the planet allowed Evans Optical Reverberation scattered light et al. (2013, ApJ, 772, L16) to measure a Mapping (STORM) from Venus blue albedo of only 0.23. POLISH2 program is an international revealed the data are inconsistent with the 0.61 campaign to obtain the presence of albedo model but are possibly first-ever detailed map of the broad- Sloane with his POLISH2 s u l f u r i c a c i d line region (BLR) of a nearby active instrument at the Shane 3-meter Telescope. droplets in the galactic nucleus (AGN). Doppler- atmosphere. A broadened emission lines of the BLR 100-fold improvement in instrument are emitted by gas orbiting within sensitivity, required to obtain similar several light-days around a black hole. "is plot shows the spectral region around the H- results on distant exoplanets, is now The BLR is irradiated by the central beta emission line in NGC 5548 on two di#erent possible. Ground-based polarimetry black hole accretion disk seen as the nights. "e broad H-beta emission comes from now rivals the sensitivity of the recently spectral continuum. Reverberation ionized gas in rapid rotation around the black hole, defunct Kepler Mission (Wiktorowicz, POLISH2 linear polarimetry of the HD 189733 mapping uses the time lags between the while the narrow [O III] (doubly ionized oxygen) star+planet vs. the planet’s orbit, where 0 is changes in the continuum and emission emission lines come from a much larger region in 2009, ApJ, 696, 1116) at a fraction of during mid-transit and 0.5 is during the host galaxy. the cost ($40k). Since 2011, the occultation of the exoplanet by the host star. lines to characterize the size, structure, POLISH2 instrument (Wiktorowicz & Blue POLISH2 data are inconsistent with the and dynamics of the BLR. securing optical spectra from the Kast Matthews, 2008, PASP, 120, 1282) has black 0.61 albedo curve (original claim) but STORM’s target is the Seyfert 1 Spectrograph on the 3-m Shane monitored a handful of known possibly match the red 0.23 one (from HST). galaxy NGC 5548, which will be telescope. For each dark run from exoplanets with the Lick 3-m Shane consistent with the 0.23 one. Ongoing monitored photometrically and February to July of 2014, each group Telescope to search for polarized efforts with POLISH2 are soon to be spectroscopically for six months. UV of regularly-scheduled Kast observers scattering in blue light (B band). finished that will significantly improve spectra from an 180-orbit HST is taking two observations of NGC A reported detection of scattered light the accuracy of nightly measurements. program will monitor carbon IV lines 5548 each night. This interrupt-mode from the transiting hot Jupiter HD Therefore, the first, reliable isolation of from the inner BLR. Over the same of observing gives Lick Observatory 189733b (Berdyugina et al., 2011, ApJ, scattered light from a distant exoplanet six-month span, Lick will monitor the the unique ability to provide 728, L6 [B11a]) requires nearly the will soon be another scientific triumph changes in the hydrogen-beta line observations for a long monitoring maximum possible reflectivity (albedo) from the historic Lick 3-m telescope. ✯ which comes from the outer BLR by (Continued on page 2) The LICK OBSERVER The LICK OBSERVER Spring 2014 Page 2 LICK OBSERVATORY NEWS (Black Holes from page 1) period with only minimal interruptions to the IRISH MINISTER OF STATE VISITS observing time of other research groups using Shane. LICK OBSERVATORY Meanwhile, Lick’s robotic KAIT telescope contributes For St Patrick's day, world landmarks turn green, regular photometry from optical images. Irish Ministers of state disperse across the globe, and My thesis contribution to STORM is analyzing while presenting a bowl of shamrock, the Taoiseach optical spectra of NGC 5548 from the Lick 3-m as (Irish Prime Minister) has the ear of the US well the MDM 1.3-m and APO 3.5-m telescopes. My President. This year, Minister of Arts, Culture and job is to construct light curves to track the time lags the Gaeltacht (Gaelic Affairs) James Deenihan toured between the changing broad-lines (see Figure) and the Bay Area, which has links with Ireland through continuum. Combining data into standardized the twinning of San Jose with Dublin and San parameters and quality from different telescopes is Francisco with Cork. On March 18, the Minister was challenging and requires communication and coordination across multiple campuses and observatories, as well as the willing cooperation of fellow observers. Special times at Lick Observatory's public The results from this collaboration will be the first programs. (Image Credit: E. Gates) of its kind, and Lick Observatory’s participation in STORM has brought together observers across 2014 PUBLIC PROGRAMS AT multiple UC campuses in a combined effort to further our understanding of the structure of AGNs and LICK OBSERVATORY their role in the co-evolution of galaxies and super- massive black holes through cosmic time. ✯ In the 126 years since its inauguration, Lick Observatory has continued to offer the public opportunities to visit, observe through its telescopes, REPORT FROM LICK and share an understanding of our wondrous Universe. Thus, in addition to its pedigree as an OBSERVATORY COUNCIL active centre of forefront research and development, In March, Mr. Adam Kablanian became the newest Lick is a pioneer of science outreach. member of the Lick Observatory Council (LOC). This summer will see those traditions continue as Mr. Kablanian is currently the Executive Chairman the public programs of this iconic San Francisco Bay UCO Director Sandy Faber with Bob Kibrick present James Deenihan with a souvenir of his visit to Lick. (Image Credit: M. Bolte).) of PlasmaSi, a startup company focused on sentinel welcome thousands of participants to its becoming the leader in thin film barrier technology beautiful mountaintop setting. welcomed (in Gaelic) to Mount Hamilton, and learned of Lick's history, Irish connections, and the for OLED displays, and a board member of Cortex Summer Visitors Program TARA project (http://www.bco.ie/tara/), an initative MCP, a startup company developing a new foundational platform for the future of Mobile Every second weekend between Memorial Day and of Blackrock Castle Observatory in Cork. TARA seeks to stimulate interest in science, technology, Commerce. Mr. Kablanian has numerous inventions, Labor Day, renowned astronomers will speak about 14 patents granted in the area of micro-chip design, astronomical discoveries, ancient, modern and those engineering, math, culture, and cooperation among thousands of students in Ireland, California, and and he is the author and co-author of over 15 yet to be made.