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TOI-561 is a galactic thick disk star hosting an ultra-short period (0.45 day orbit) planet with a radius of 1.37 R$_{\oplus}$, making it one of the most metal-poor ([Fe/H] = -0.41) and oldest ($\sim$10 Gyr) sites where an Earth-sized planet has been found. We present new simultaneous radial velocity measurements (RVs) from Gemini-N/MAROON-X and Keck/HIRES, which we combined with literature RVs to derive a mass of M$_{b}$=2.24 $\pm$ 0.20 M$_{\oplus}$. We also used two new Sectors of TESS photometry to improve the radius determination, finding R$_{b}$=$1.37 \pm 0.04 R_\oplus$, and confirming that TOI-561 b is one of the lowest-density super-Earths measured to date ($\rho_b$= 4.8 $\pm$ 0.5 g/cm$^{3}$). This density is consistent with an iron-poor rocky composition reflective of the host star's iron and rock-building element abundances; however, it is also consistent with a low-density planet with a volatile envelope. The equilibrium temperature of the planet ($\sim$2300 K) suggests that this envelope would likely be composed of high mean molecular weight species, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, or silicate vapor, and is likely not primordial. We also demonstrate that the composition determination is sensitive to the choice of stellar parameters, and that further measurements are needed to determine if TOI-561 b is a bare rocky planet, a rocky planet with an optically thin atmosphere, or a rare example of a non-primordial envelope on a planet with a radius smaller than 1.5 R$_{\oplus}$., Comment: Accepted to AJ on 11/28/2022

LTT 1445 is a hierarchical triple M-dwarf star system located at a distance of 6.86 parsecs. The primary star LTT 1445A (0.257 M_Sun) is known to host the transiting planet LTT 1445Ab with an orbital period of 5.4 days, making it the second closest known transiting exoplanet system, and the closest one for which the host is an M dwarf. Using TESS data, we present the discovery of a second planet in the LTT 1445 system, with an orbital period of 3.1 days. We combine radial velocity measurements obtained from the five spectrographs ESPRESSO, HARPS, HIRES, MAROON-X, and PFS to establish that the new world also orbits LTT 1445A. We determine the mass and radius of LTT 1445Ab to be 2.87+/-0.25 M_Earth and 1.304^{+0.067}_{-0.060} R_Earth, consistent with an Earth-like composition. For the newly discovered LTT 1445Ac, we measure a mass of 1.54^{+0.20}_{-0.19} M_Earth and a minimum radius of 1.15 R_Earth, but we cannot determine the radius directly as the signal-to-noise of our light curve permits both grazing and non-grazing configurations. Using MEarth photometry and ground-based spectroscopy, we establish that star C (0.161 M_Sun) is likely the source of the 1.4-day rotation period, and star B (0.215 M_Sun) has a likely rotation period of 6.7 days. We estimate a probable rotation period of 85 days for LTT 1445A. Thus, this triple M-dwarf system appears to be in a special evolutionary stage where the most massive M dwarf has spun down, the intermediate mass M dwarf is in the process of spinning down, while the least massive stellar component has not yet begun to spin down., Comment: Accepted to the Astronomical Journal. 4 tables, 10 figures; RV table available upon request

Spectroscopy of transiting exoplanets can be used to investigate their atmospheric properties and habitability. Combining radial velocity (RV) and transit data provides additional information on exoplanet physical properties. We detect a transiting rocky planet with an orbital period of 1.467 days around the nearby red dwarf star Gliese 486. The planet Gliese 486 b is 2.81 Earth masses and 1.31 Earth radii, with uncertainties of 5%, as determined from RV data and photometric light curves. The host star is at a distance of ~8.1 parsecs, has a J-band magnitude of ~7.2, and is observable from both hemispheres of Earth. On the basis of these properties and the planet's short orbital period and high equilibrium temperature, we show that this terrestrial planet is suitable for emission and transit spectroscopy. © 2021 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved., Funding was provided by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through research unit FOR2544 "Blue Planets around Red Stars" and priority program SPP1992 "Exploring the Diversity of Extrasolar Planets"; Agencia Estatal de Investigacion of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion and the European Regional Development Fund through projects PID2019-109522GB-C51/2/3/4, PGC2018-098153-B-C33, SEV-2017-0709, MDM-2017-0737, AYA2016-79425-C3-1/2/3-P, ESP2016-80435-C2-1-R, and SEV-2015-0548; Klaus Tschira Stiftung; European Union's Horizon 2020 through Marie Sklodowska Curie grant 713673; "la Caixa" through INPhINT grant LCF/BQ/IN17/1162033; NASA through grants NNX17AG24G, 80NSSC19K0533, 80NSSC19K1721, and 80NSSC18K158 and the NASA Science Mission Directorate; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI through grants JP17H04574, JP18H01265, and JP18H05439; and Japan Science and Technology Agency PRESTO through grant JPMJPR1775.

We present dayside thermal emission observations of the hottest exoplanet KELT-9b using the new MAROON-X spectrograph. We detect atomic lines in emission with a signal-to-noise ratio of 10 using cross-correlation with binary masks. The detection of emission lines confirms the presence of a thermal inversion in KELT-9b's atmosphere. We also use M-dwarf stellar masks to search for TiO, which has recently been invoked to explain the unusual \textit{HST}/WFC3 spectrum of the planet. We find that the KELT-9b atmosphere is inconsistent with the M-dwarf masks. Furthermore, we use an atmospheric retrieval approach to place an upper limit on the TiO volume mixing ratio of 10$^{-8.5}$ (at 99\% confidence). This upper limit is inconsistent with the models used to match the WFC3 data, which require at least an order of magnitude more TiO, thus suggesting the need for an alternate explanation of the space-based data. Our retrieval results also strongly prefer an inverted temperature profile and atomic/ion abundances largely consistent with the expectations for a solar composition gas in thermochemcial equilibrium. The exception is the retrieved abundance of Fe$^+$, which is about 1-2 orders of magnitude greater than predictions. These results highlight the growing power of high-resolution spectrographs on large ground-based telescopes to characterize exoplanet atmospheres when used in combination with new retrieval techniques., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted to ApJL

MAROON-X is a fiber-fed, red-optical, high precision radial velocity spectrograph recently commissioned at the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i. With a resolving power of 85,000 and a wavelength coverage of 500-920 nm, it delivers radial velocity measurements for late K and M dwarfs with sub-50 cm s$^{-1}$ precision. MAROON-X is currently the only optical EPRV spectrograph on a 8m-class telescope in the northern hemisphere and the only EPRV instrument on a large telescope with full access by the entire US community. We report here on the results of the commissioning campaign in December 2019 and early science results., Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures

The Keck Planet Finder (KPF) is a fiber-fed, high-resolution, high-stability spectrometer in development at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory for the W.M. Keck Observatory. KPF is designed to characterize exoplanets via Doppler spectroscopy with a goal of a single measurement precision of 0.3 m s-1 or better, however its resolution and stability will enable a wide variety of astrophysical pursuits. Here we provide post-preliminary design review design updates for several subsystems, including: the main spectrometer, the fabrication of the Zerodur optical bench; the data reduction pipeline; fiber agitator; fiber cable design; fiber scrambler; VPH testing results and the exposure meter.

Precise wavelength calibration is a critical issue for high-resolution spectroscopic observations. The ideal calibration source should be able to provide a very stable and dense grid of evenly distributed spectral lines of constant intensity. A new method which satisfies all mentioned conditions has been developed by our group. The approach is to actively measure the exact position of a single spectral line of a Fabry-Perot etalon with very high precision with a wavelength-tuneable laser and compare it to an extremely stable wavelength standard. The ideal choice of standard is the D2 absorption line of Rubidium, which has been used as an optical frequency standard for decades. With this technique, the problem of stable wavelength calibration of spectrographs becomes a problem of how reliably we can measure and anchor one etalon line to the Rb transition. In this work we present our self-built module for Rb saturated absorption spectroscopy and discuss its stability., SPIE ANZCOP conference, Melbourne 2019

We report on the upgrade of the fiber link of FIES, the high-resolution echelle spectrograph at the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT). In order to improve the radial velocity (RV) stability of FIES, we replaced the circular fibers by octagonal and rectangular ones to utilize their superior scrambling performance. Two additional fibers for a planned polarimetry mode were added during the upgrade. The injection optics and the telescope front-end were also replaced. The first on-sky RV measurements indicate that the influence of guiding errors is greatly suppressed, and the overall RV precision of FIES has significantly improved.

MAROON-X is a red-optical, high precision radial velocity spectrograph currently nearing completion and undergoing extensive performance testing at the University of Chicago. The instrument is scheduled to be installed at Gemini North in the first quarter of 2019. MAROON-X will be the only RV spectrograph on a large telescope with full access by the entire US community. In these proceedings we discuss the latest addition of the red wavelength arm and the two science grade detector systems, as well as the design and construction of the telescope front end. We also present results from ongoing RV stability tests in the lab. First results indicate that MAROON-X can be calibrated at the sub-m s−1 level, and perhaps even much better than that using a simultaneous reference approach.

The Keck Planet Finder (KPF) is a fiber-fed, high-resolution, high-stability spectrometer in development for the W.M. Keck Observatory. The instrument recently passed its preliminary design review and is currently in the detailed design phase. KPF is designed to characterize exoplanets using Doppler spectroscopy with a single measurement precision of 0.5 m s^(−1) or better; however, its resolution and stability will enable a wide variety of other astrophysical pursuits. KPF will have a 200 mm collimated beam diameter and a resolving power greater than 80,000. The design includes a green channel (445 nm to 600 nm) and red channel (600 nm to 870 nm). A novel design aspect of KPF is the use of a Zerodur optical bench, and Zerodur optics with integral mounts, to provide stability against thermal expansion and contraction effects.

We report on observations of transit events of the transiting planets XO-1b and TrES-1 with the AIU Jena telescope in Grossschwabhausen. Based on our IR photometry (in March 2007) and available transit timings (SuperWASP, XO and TLC-project-data) we improved the orbital period of XO-1b (P = 3.941497$\pm$0.000006) and TrES-1 (P = 3.0300737$\pm$0.000006), respectively. The new ephemeris for the both systems are presented., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures

The GMT-Consortium Large Earth Finder (G-CLEF) will be a cross-dispersed, optical band echelle spectrograph to be delivered as the first light scientific instrument for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) in 2022. G-CLEF is vacuum enclosed and fiber-fed to enable precision radial velocity (PRV) measurements, especially for the detection and characterization of low-mass exoplanets orbiting solar-type stars. The passband of G-CLEF is broad, extending from 3500A to 9500A. This passband provides good sensitivity at blue wavelengths for stellar abundance studies and deep red response for observations of high-redshift phenomena. The design of G-CLEF incorporates several novel technical innovations. We give an overview of the innovative features of the current design. G-CLEF will be the first PRV spectrograph to have a composite optical bench so as to exploit that material’s extremely low coefficient of thermal expansion, high in-plane thermal conductivity and high stiffness-to-mass ratio. The spectrograph camera subsystem is divided into a red and a blue channel, split by a dichroic, so there are two independent refractive spectrograph cameras. The control system software is being developed in model-driven software context that has been adopted globally by the GMT. G-CLEF has been conceived and designed within a strict systems engineering framework. As a part of this process, we have developed a analytical toolset to assess the predicted performance of G-CLEF as it has evolved through design phases.

METIS is a mid-infrared instrument proposed for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). It is designed to provide imaging and spectroscopic capabilities in the 3 - 14 micron region up to a spectral resolution of 100000. One of the novel concepts of METIS is that of a high-resolution integral field spectrograph (IFS) for a diffraction-limited mid-IR instrument. While this concept has many scientific and operational advantages over a long-slit spectrograph, one drawback is that the spectral resolution changes over the field of view. This has an impact on the procedures to correct for telluric absorption lines imprinted on the science spectra. They are a major obstacle in the quest to maximize spectral fidelity, the ability to distinguish a weak spectral feature from the continuum. The classical technique of division by a standard star spectrum, observed in a single IFS spaxel, cannot simply be applied to all spaxels, because the spectral resolution changes from spaxel to spaxel. Here we present and discuss possible techniques of telluric line correction of METIS IFS spectra, including the application of synthetic model spectra of telluric transmission, to maximize spectral fidelity., Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; Copyright (2010) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited

We report on the construction and testing of a vacuum-gap Fabry-Perot etalon calibrator for high precision radial velocity spectrographs. The etalon is referenced against hyper fine transitions of rubidium to provide a precise wavelength calibrator for MAROON-X, a new fiber-fed, red-optical, high-precision radial-velocity spectrograph currently under construction for one of the twin 6.5m Magellan Telescopes in Chile. We demonstrate a turnkey system, ready to be installed at any current and next generation radial velocity spectrograph that requires calibration over a wide spectral band-pass. Uncertainties in the position of one etalon line are at the 10 cm s -1 level in individual measurements taken at 4 Hz. Our long-term stability is mainly limited by aging effects of the spacer material Zerodur, which imprints a 12 cm s -1 daily drift. However, as the etalon position is traced by the rubidium reference with a precision of -1 for integration times longer than 10s, we can fully account for this effect at the RV data reduction level.

The GMT-Consortium Large Earth Finder (G-CLEF) is an echelle spectrograph with precision radial velocity (PRV) capability that will be a first light instrument for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). G-CLEF has a PRV precision goal of 40 cm/sec (10 cm/s for multiple measurements) to enable detection of Earth-like exoplanets in the habitable zones of sun-like stars1. This precision is a primary driver of G-CLEF’s structural design. Extreme stability is necessary to minimize image motions at the CCD detectors. Minute changes in temperature, pressure, and acceleration environments cause structural deformations, inducing image motions which degrade PRV precision. The instrument’s structural design will ensure that the PRV goal is achieved under the environments G-CLEF will be subjected to as installed on the GMT azimuth platform, including: Millikelvin (0.001 °K) thermal soaks and gradients 10 millibar changes in ambient pressure Changes in acceleration due to instrument tip/tilt and telescope slewing Carbon fiber/cyanate composite was selected for the optical bench structure in order to meet performance goals. Low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and high stiffness-to-weight are key features of the composite optical bench design. Manufacturability and serviceability of the instrument are also drivers of the design. In this paper, we discuss analyses leading to technical choices made to minimize G-CLEF’s sensitivity to changing environments. Finite element analysis (FEA) and image motion sensitivity studies were conducted to determine PRV performance under operational environments. We discuss the design of the optical bench structure to optimize stiffness-to-weight and minimize deformations due to inertial and pressure effects. We also discuss quasi-kinematic mounting of optical elements and assemblies, and optimization of these to ensure minimal image motion under thermal, pressure, and inertial loads expected during PRV observations.

Optical fibers are a key component for high-resolution spectrographs to attain high precision in radial velocity measurements. We present a custom fiber with a novel core geometry - a 'D'-shape. From a theoretical standpoint, such a fiber should provide superior scrambling and modal noise mitigation, since unlike the commonly used circular and polygonal fiber cross sections, it shows chaotic scrambling. We report on the fabrication process of a test fiber and compare the optical properties, scrambling performance, and modal noise behavior of the D-fiber with those of common polygonal fibers., 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to SPIE Astronomical Telescopes & Instrumentation 2016 (9912-192)

Close M-dwarf binaries and higher multiples allow the investigation of rotational evolution and mean magnetic flux unbiased from scatter in inclination angle and age since the orientation of the spin axis of the components is most likely parallel and the individual systems are coeval. Systems composed of an early (M0.0 -- M4.0) and a late (M4.0 -- M8.0) type component offer the possibility to study differences in rotation and magnetism between partially and fully convective stars. We have selected 10 of the closest dM systems to determine the rotation velocities and the mean magnetic field strengths based on spectroscopic analysis of FeH lines of Wing-Ford transitions at 1 $\mu$m observed with VLT/CRIRES. We also studied the quality of our spectroscopic model regarding atmospheric parameters including metallicity. A modified version of the Molecular Zeeman Library (MZL) was used to compute Land\'e g-factors for FeH lines. Magnetic spectral synthesis was performed with the Synmast code. We confirmed previously reported findings that less massive M-dwarfs are braked less effectively than objects of earlier types. Strong surface magnetic fields were detected in primaries of four systems (GJ 852, GJ 234, LP 717-36, GJ 3322), and in the secondary of the triple system GJ 852. We also confirm strong 2 kG magnetic field in the primary of the triple system GJ 2005. No fields could be accurately determined in rapidly rotating stars with $\vsini>10$ \kms. For slow and moderately rotating stars we find the surface magnetic field strength to increase with the rotational velocity $\vsini$ which is consistent with other results from studying field stars.

Lowrance et al. (2000) found a faint companion candidate about 4 arcsec south of the young A0-type star HR 7329. Its spectral type of M7-8 is consistent with a young brown dwarf companion. Here we report spectroscopic J band observations using the integral field spectrograph SINFONI at VLT, enabling a new estimation of effective temperature, extinction and surface gravity of the object and hence its mass. Although the data were reduced carefully, the presence of a spike within the point spread function of the object in each spectral image hampered the precise estimation of the properties of HR 7329. Nevertheless, we will show with the example of this sub-stellar companion how mass estimates independent of evolutionary models of directly imaged sub-stellar companions can be obtained, after removing most of the strong influence of the spike in the present data, and present a new mass estimation of HR 7329 B/b based on the values gained.

The Echelon-cross-Echelle Spectrograph (EXES), one of the first generation instruments for the Statospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) will provide a unique tool for examining the ISM and star formation. The EXES high spectral resolution mode, R ≤ 120 000 from 4.5 μ m to 28.3 μ m, is designed for line observations of gas-phase molecules. The improved atmospheric transmission guaranteed by SOFIA will make observations of molecules such as H 2 O and CH 4 fairly routine. EXES will also have medium and low resolution modes to enable a wide range of science projects. EXES is a PI instrument open for collaborative proposals following the model of the successful TEXES instrument (Lacy et al. ). It is currently scheduled for first science flights on SOFIA in 2013.

We present the software package, Echelle++, an open-source C++ code to simulate realistic raw spectra based on the Zemax model of any spectrograph, with a particular emphasis on cross-dispersed Echelle spectrographs. Echelle++ generates realistic spectra of astronomical and calibration sources, with accurate representation of optical aberrations, the shape of the point-spread function, detector characteristics, and photon noise. It produces high-fidelity spectra fast, a very important feature when testing data reduction pipelines with a large set of different input spectra, when making critical choices about order spacing in the design phase of the instrument, or while aligning the spectrograph during construction. Echelle++ also works with low-resolution, low signal-to-noise, multi-object, IFU, or long-slit spectra, for simulating a wide array of spectrographs. We chose to initially generate our own spectrograph model from the optical prescription in Zemax. Echelle++ can then be used independently, without access to commercial ray tracing software.

Near-infrared bands due to the iron monohydride (FeH) molecule are a characteristic feature of late-M and -L dwarfs. We have created a line list at 2200 K for the FeH E 4Π-A 4Π electronic transition near 1.58 μm (6300 cm–1) based on laboratory spectra and an ab initio calculation of the band strength. A variety of M and L dwarfs were observed near 1.6 μm with high spectral resolution (R ~ 70,000) using the Phoenix spectrograph on the 8.1 m Gemini South telescope. The FeH E-A transition made a surprisingly strong contribution to the observed spectral energy distributions and needs to be included in modeling of late-M and L dwarfs.

We present high-precision relative radial velocities of the very low mass star VB 10 that were obtained over a time span of 0.61 years as part of an ongoing search for planets around stars at the end of the main sequence. The radial velocities were measured from high-resolution near-infrared spectra obtained using the CRIRES instrument on the Very Large Telescope with an ammonia gas cell. The typical internal precision of the measurements is 10 m s(-1). These data do not exhibit significant variability and are essentially constant at a level consistent with the measurement uncertainties. Therefore, we do not detect the radial velocity variations of VB 10 expected due to the presence of an orbiting giant planet similar to that recently proposed by Pravdo & Shaklan based on apparent astrometric perturbations. In addition, we do not confirm the similar to 1 km s(-1) radial velocity variability of the star tentatively detected by Zapatero Osorio and colleagues with lower precision measurements. Our measurements rule out planets with M-p > 3 M-Jup and the orbital period and inclination suggested by Pravdo & Shaklan at better than 5 sigma confidence. We conclude that the planet detection claimed by Pravdo & Shaklan is spurious on the basis of this result. Although the outcome of this work is a non-detection, it illustrates the potential of using ammonia cell radial velocities to detect planets around very low mass stars.

We present a method to measure the dynamical mass of extrasolar planets in multiple stellar systems with a single aperture from the ground using high-precision relative astrometry. To reach the precision needed, accurate monitoring of the astrometric stability (pixel scale, orientation, and field distortions of the detector) is necessary. Thus, we always observe an astrometric calibration cluster to compare these astrometric criteria with those of our observations. For our first target observed, the binary HD 19994, we achieved a relative precision of 100...150 µas which is sufficient to detect an astrometric companion around the A component down to about 5 M Jup .

Using relative astrometry and ground based imaging, we study nearby stellar multiple systems in order to detect the astrometric signal of exoplanets around one of the stellar components. We suppress differential chromatic refraction effects by observing in the near infrared with a narrow-band filter and by choosing an iterative calibration strategy (using a stellar cluster) we obtain a precision down to 100 μ as in our relative astrometric measurements. This allows us to study the occurence and properties of exoplanets in nearby (less than 100 pc) stellar multiple systems. While trying to detect the astrometric signal of the exoplanet orbiting HD19994 A (Mayor et al. 2004), we detected the astrometric signal of a further object around the B component. This astrometric detection is confirmed by speckle interferometry and follow-up radial velocity (RV) observations. Thus, HD19994 is an exoplanet host-triple system.

We report on observations of transit events of the transiting planets XO-1b and TrES-1 with a 25 cm telescope of the University Observatory Jena. With the transit timings for XO-1b from all 50 available XO, SuperWASP, Transit Light Curve (TLC)-Project- and Exoplanet Transit Database (ETD)-data, including our own I-band photometry obtained in March 2007, we find that the orbital period is P= (3.941501 +/- 0.000001) d, a slight change by ~3 s compared to the previously published period. We present new ephemeris for this transiting planet. Furthermore, we present new R-band photometry of two transits of TrES-1. With the help of all available transit times from literature this allows us to refine the estimate of the orbital period: P=(3.0300722 +/- 0.0000002) d. Our observations will be useful for future investigations of timing variations caused by additional perturbing planets and/or stellar spots and/or moons., Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in AN

We present a new code for the calculation of the 1D structure and synthetic spectra of accretion disks. The code is an extension of the general purpose stellar atmosphere code PHOENIX and is therefore capable of including extensive lists of atomic and molecular lines as well as dust in the calculations. We assume that the average viscosity can be represented by a critical Reynolds number in a geometrically thin disk and solve the structure and radiative transfer equations for a number of disk rings in the vertical direction. The combination of these rings provides the total disk structure and spectrum. Since the warm inner regions of protoplanetary disks show a rich molecular spectrum, they are well suited for a spectral analysis with our models. In this paper we test our code by comparing our models with high-resolution VLT CRIRES spectra of the T Tauri star GQ Lup., Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

We present a combined analysis of previously published high-precision radial velocities and astrometry for the GJ876 planetary system using a self-consistent model that accounts for the planet-planet interactions. Assuming the three planets so far identified in the system are coplanar, we find that including the astrometry in the analysis does not result in a best-fit inclination significantly different than that found by Rivera and collaborators from analyzing the radial velocities alone. In this unique case, the planet-planet interactions are of such significance that the radial velocity data set is more sensitive to the inclination of the system through the dependence of the interactions on the true masses of the two gas giant planets in the system (planets b and c). The astrometry does allow determination of the absolute orbital inclination (i.e. distinguishing between i and 180-i) and longitude of the ascending node for planet b, which allows us to quantify the mutual inclination angle between its orbit and planet c's orbit when combined with the dynamical considerations. We find that the planets have a mutual inclination of 5.0 +3.9 -2.3 degrees. This result constitutes the first determination of the degree of coplanarity in an exoplanetary system around a normal star. That we find the two planets' orbits are nearly coplanar, like the orbits of the Solar System planets, indicates that the planets likely formed in a circumstellar disk, and that their subsequent dynamical evolution into a 2:1 mean motion resonance only led to excitation of a small mutual inclination. This investigation demonstrates how the degree of coplanarity for other exoplanetary systems could also be established using data obtained from existing facilities., 9 pages, accepted for publication in A&A

High precision radial velocity (RV) measurements in the near infrared are on high demand, especially in the context of exoplanet search campaigns shifting their interest to late type stars in order to detect planets with ever lower mass or targeting embedded pre-main-sequence objects. ESO is offering a new spectrograph at the VLT -- CRIRES -- designed for high resolution near-infrared spectroscopy with a comparably broad wavelength coverage and the possibility to use gas-cells to provide a stable RV zero-point. We investigate here the intrinsic short-term RV stability of CRIRES, both with gas-cell calibration data and on-sky measurements using the absorption lines of the Earth's atmosphere imprinted in the source spectrum as a local RV rest frame. Moreover, we also investigate for the first time the intrinsic stability of telluric lines at 4100 nm for features originating in the lower troposphere. Our analysis of nearly 5 hours of consecutive observations of MS Vel, a M2II bright giant centred at two SiO first overtone band-heads at 4100 nm, demonstrates that the intrinsic short-term stability of CRIRES is very high, showing only a slow and fully compensateable drift of up to 60 m/s after 4.5 hours. The radial velocity of the telluric lines is constant down to a level of approx. +/- 10 m/s (or 7/1000 of one pixel). Utilising the same telluriclines as a rest frame for our radial velocity measurements of the science target, we obtain a constant RV with a precision of approx. +/- 20 m/s for MS Vel as expected for a M-giant., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, accepted by A&A

The characterization of a physically-diverse set of transiting exoplanets is an important and necessary step towards establishing the physical properties linked to the production of obscuring clouds or hazes. It is those planets with identifiable spectroscopic features that can most effectively enhance our understanding of atmospheric chemistry and metallicity. The newly-commissioned LDSS-3C instrument on Magellan provides enhanced sensitivity and suppressed fringing in the red optical, thus advancing the search for the spectroscopic signature of water in exoplanetary atmospheres from the ground. Using data acquired by LDSS-3C and the Spitzer Space Telescope, we search for evidence of water vapor in the transmission spectrum of the Neptune-mass planet HAT-P-26b. Our measured spectrum is best explained by the presence of water vapor, a lack of potassium, and either a high-metallicity, cloud-free atmosphere or a solar-metallicity atmosphere with a cloud deck at ~10 mbar. The emergence of multi-scale-height spectral features in our data suggests that future observations at higher precision could break this degeneracy and reveal the planet's atmospheric chemical abundances. We also update HAT-P-26b's transit ephemeris, t_0 = 2455304.65218(25) BJD_TDB, and orbital period, p = 4.2345023(7) days., 9 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ

We report on the development and construction of a new fiber-fed, red-optical, high-precision radial-velocity spectrograph for one of the twin 6.5m Magellan Telescopes in Chile. MAROON-X will be optimized to find and characterize rocky planets around nearby M dwarfs with an intrinsic per measurement noise floor below 1 m/s. The instrument is based on a commercial echelle spectrograph customized for high stability and throughput. A microlens array based pupil slicer and double scrambler, as well as a rubidium-referenced etalon comb calibrator will turn this spectrograph into a high-precision radial-velocity machine. MAROON-X will undergo extensive lab tests in the second half of 2016., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, submitted to SPIE Astronomical Telescopes & Instrumentation 2016 (9908-45)

We report on the scrambling performance and focal-ratio-degradation (FRD) of various octagonal and rectangular fibers considered for MAROON-X. Our measurements demonstrate the detrimental effect of thin claddings on the FRD of octagonal and rectangular fibers and that stress induced at the connectors can further increase the FRD. We find that fibers with a thick, round cladding show low FRD. We further demonstrate that the scrambling behavior of non-circular fibers is often complex and introduce a new metric to fully capture non-linear scrambling performance, leading to much lower scrambling gain values than are typically reported in the literature (, 10 pages, 8 figures, submitted to SPIE Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016 (9912-185)

We report on the design and construction of a microlens-array (MLA)-based pupil slicer and double scrambler for MAROON-X, a new fiber-fed, red-optical, high-precision radial-velocity spectrograph for one of the twin 6.5m Magellan Telescopes in Chile. We have constructed a 3X slicer based on a single cylindrical MLA and show that geometric efficiencies of >85% can be achieved, limited by the fill factor and optical surface quality of the MLA. We present here the final design of the 3x pupil slicer and double scrambler for MAROON-X, based on a dual MLA design with (a)spherical lenslets. We also discuss the techniques used to create a pseudo-slit of rectangular core fibers with low FRD levels., 9 pages, 6 figures, submitted to SPIE Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016 (9912-61)

We present our search program for substellar companions using high-precision relative astronomy. Due to its orbital motion around the star, an unseen substellar companion would produce a periodic “wobble” of the host star, which is the astrometric signal of the unseen companion. By measuring the separation between the components of stellar double and triple systems, we want to measure this astrometric signal of a possible unseen companion indirectly as a relative and periodic change of these separations. Using a new observation mode (the “cube-mode”) where the frames were directly saved in cubes with nearly no loss of time during the readout, an adaptive optics system to correct for atmospheric noise and an infrared narrow band filter in the near infrared to suppress differential chromatic refraction (DCR) effects we achieve for our first target (the double star HD 19994) a relative precision for the separation measurements of about 100. . . 150μas per epoch. To reach a precision in the μas-regime, we use a statistical approach. We take several thousand frames per target and epoche and after a verification of a Gaussian distribution the measurement precision can be calculated as the standard deviation of our measurements divided by the square root of the number of Gaussian distributed measurements. Our first observed target is the stellar binary HD 19994 A & B, where the A component has a known radial velocity planet candidate.

We present an observation method to obtain a relative astrometric precision of about 100 . . . 150 μas with ground-based and single-aperture observations. By measuring the separation of double or triple stars we want to determine the astrometric signal of an unseen substellar companion as a periodic change in the separation between the stellar components. Using an adaptive optics system we correct for atmospheric turbulences and furthermore by using a narrow band filter in the near infrared we can suppress differential chromatic refraction effects. To reach a high precision we use a statistical approach. Using the new observation mode “cube-mode” (where the frames were directly saved in cubes with nearly no loss of time during the readout), we obtain several thousand frames within half an hour. After the verification of the Gaussian distributed behaviour of our measurements (done with a Kolmogorov-Smirnov-Test) the measurement precision can be calculated as the standard deviation of our measurements divided by the square root of the number of frames.To monitor the stability of the pixel scale between our observations, we use the old globular cluster 47 Tuc as a calibration system.

We present new results from our ongoing multiplicity study of exoplanet host stars, carried out with the infrared camera SofI at ESO-NTT. We have identified new low mass companions to the planet host stars HD101930 and HD65216. HD101930AB is a wide binary systems composed of the planet host star HD101930A and its companion HD101930B which is a M0 to M1 dwarf with a mass of about 0.7Msun separated from the primary by ~73arcsec (2200AU projected separation). HD65216 forms a hierarchical triple system, with a projected separation of 253AU (angular separation of about 7arcsec) between the planet host star HD65216A and its close binary companion HD65216BC, whose two components are separated by only ~0.17arcsec (6AU of projected separation). Two VLT-NACO images separated by 3 years confirm that this system is co-moving to the planet host star. The infrared photometry of HD65216B and C is consistent with a M7 to M8 (0.089Msun), and a L2 to L3 dwarf (0.078Msun), respectively, both close to the sub-stellar limit. An infrared spectrum with VLT-ISAAC of the pair HD65216BC, even though not resolved spatially, confirms this late spectral type. Furthermore, we present H- and K-band ISAAC infrared spectra of HD16141B, the recently detected co-moving companion of the planet host star HD16141A. The infrared spectroscopy as well as the apparent infrared photometry of HD16141B are both fully consistent with a M2 to M3 dwarf located at the distance of the planet host star., MNRAS accepted, 8 pages, 6 figures, and 1 table

Context. The first substellar companion of possibly planetary mass around a normal star, GQ Lup, has been directly imaged (Neuhauser et al. 2005, A&A, 435, L13). Besides the unknown formation history, the mass of such an object is a criterion to decide about its true nature. Aims. We aim to determine the physical properties of the GQ Lup companion - effective temperate (T eff ) and surface gravity (log g), and thus its mass independently from evolutionary models. Methods. We use the adaptive optics integral-field spectrograph SINFONI at the VLT for near-infrared spectroscopy from 1.1 to 2.5 μm with a resolution of R 2500-4000. We compare these spectra with synthetic atmospheric models (GAIA v2.0 cond). Results. From the complete set of spectra we find a consistent effective temperature and surface gravity of Ten = 2650 ± 100 K and log g = 3.7 ± 0.5 dex. Combined with a slightly revised luminosity of log L/L ⊙ = -2.25 ± 0.24 dex for the companion, we determine a radius of R = 3.50+1.50 R jup and thus a mass of ∼25 M Jup . The uncertainty of this value is rather high. Due to the large uncertainty of the surface gravity, the mass could range from 4 to 155 M Jup . By comparing the paramaters of the companion of GQ Lup to the ones of 2MASS J05352184-0546085, published by Stassun et al. (2006, Nature, 440, 311), we conclude that the companion to GQ Lup A has a mass lower than 36 ± 3 M Jup .