Browsing by Author "Starkey, D."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Many new variable stars discovered in the core of the globular cluster NGC. 6715 (M54) with EMCCD. observations
    (2016) Starkey, D.; Street, R.; Surdej, J.; Tronsgaard, R.; Unda-Sanzana, E.; Von Essen, C.; Wang, X.; Wertz, O.; Figuera Jaimes, R.; Rabus, Markus; Bramich, D.; Kains, N.; Skottfelt, J.; Jorgensen, U.; Horne, K.; Dominik, M.; Alsubai, K.; Bozza, V.; Burgdorf, M.; Calchi Novati, S.; Ciceri, S..
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    Orbital alignment and star-spot properties in the WASP-52 planetary system
    (OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2017) Mancini, L.; Southworth, J.; Raia, G.; Tregloan Reed, J.; Molliere, P.; Bozza, V.; Bretton, M.; Bruni, I.; Ciceri, S.; D'Ago, G.; Dominik, M.; Hinse, T. C.; Hundertmark, M.; Jorgensen, U. G.; Korhonen, H.; Rabus, M.; Rahvar, S.; Starkey, D.; Novati, S. Calchi; Jaimes, R. Figuera; Henning, Th.; Juncher, D.; Haugbolle, T.; Kains, N.; Popovas, A.; Schmidt, R. W.; Skottfelt, J.; Snodgrass, C.; Surdej, J.; Wertz, O.
    We report 13 high-precision light curves of eight transits of the exoplanet WASP-52 b, obtained by using four medium-class telescopes, through different filters, and adopting the defocussing technique. One transit was recorded simultaneously from two different observatories and another one from the same site but with two different instruments, including a multiband camera. Anomalies were clearly detected in five light curves and modelled as star-spots occulted by the planet during the transit events. We fitted the clean light curves with the JKTEBOP code, and those with the anomalies with the PRISM + GEMC codes in order to simultaneously model the photometric parameters of the transits and the position, size and contrast of each star-spot. We used these new light curves and some from the literature to revise the physical properties of the WASP-52 system. Star-spots with similar characteristics were detected in four transits over a period of 43 d. In the hypothesis that we are dealing with the same star-spot, periodically occulted by the transiting planet, we estimated the projected orbital obliquity of WASP-52 b to be. = 3 degrees.8 +/- 8 degrees.4. We also determined the true orbital obliquity, psi = 20 degrees +/- 50 degrees, which is, although very uncertain, the first measurement of. purely from star-spot crossings. We finally assembled an optical transmission spectrum of the planet and searched for variations of its radius as a function of wavelength. Our analysis suggests a flat transmission spectrum within the experimental uncertainties.
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    Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. V. Optical Spectroscopic Campaign and Emission-line Analysis for NGC 5548
    (IOP PUBLISHING LTD, 2017) Pei, L.; Fausnaugh, M. M.; Barth, A. J.; Peterson, B. M.; Bentz, M. C.; De Rosa, G.; Denney, K. D.; Goad, M. R.; Kochanek, C. S.; Korista, K. T.; Kriss, G. A.; Pogge, R. W.; Bennert, V. N.; Brotherton, M.; Clubb, K. I.; Dalla Bonta, E.; Filippenko, A. V.; Greene, J. E.; Grier, C. J.; Vestergaard, M.; Zheng, W.; Adams, Scott M.; Beatty, Thomas G.; Bigley, A.; Brown, Jacob E.; Brown, Jonathan S.; Canalizo, G.; Comerford, J. M.; Coker, Carl T.; Corsini, E. M.; Croft, S.; Croxall, K. V.; Deason, A. J.; Eracleous, Michael; Fox, O. D.; Gates, E. L.; Henderson, C. B.; Holmbeck, E.; Holoien, T. W. S.; Jensen, J. J.; Johnson, C. A.; Kelly, P. L.; Kim, S.; King, A.; Lau, M. W.; Li, Miao; Lochhaas, Cassandra; Ma, Zhiyuan; Manne Nicholas, E. R.; Mauerhan, J. C.; Malkan, M. A.; McGurk, R.; Morelli, L.; Mosquera, Ana; Mudd, Dale; Sanchez, F. Muller; Nguyen, M. L.; Ochner, P.; Ou Yang, B.; Pancoast, A.; Penny, Matthew T.; Pizzella, A.; Poleski, Radoslaw; Runnoe, Jessie; Scott, B.; Schimoia, Jaderson S.; Shappee, B. J.; Shivvers, I.; Simonian, Gregory V.; Siviero, A.; Somers, Garrett; Stevens, Daniel J.; Strauss, M. A.; Tayar, Jamie; Tejos, N.; Treu, T.; Van Saders, J.; Vican, L.; Villanueva, S., Jr.; Yuk, H.; Zakamska, N. L.; Zhu, W.; Anderson, M. D.; Arevalo, P.; Bazhaw, C.; Bisogni, S.; Borman, G. A.; Bottorff, M. C.; Brandt, W. N.; Breeveld, A. A.; Cackett, E. M.; Carini, M. T.; Crenshaw, D. M.; De Lorenzo Caceres, A.; Dietrich, M.; Edelson, R.; Efimova, N. V.; Ely, J.; Evans, P. A.; Ferland, G. J.; Flatland, K.; Gehrels, N.; Geier, S.; Gelbord, J. M.; Grupe, D.; Gupta, A.; Hall, P. B.; Hicks, S.; Horenstein, D.; Horne, Keith; Hutchison, T.; Im, M.; Joner, M. D.; Jones, J.; Kaastra, J.; Kaspi, S.; Kelly, B. C.; Kennea, J. A.; Kim, M.; Kim, S. C.; Klimanov, S. A.; Lee, J. C.; Leonard, D. C.; Lira, P.; MacInnis, F.; Mathur, S.; McHardy, I. M.; Montouri, C.; Musso, R.; Nazarov, S. V.; Netzer, H.; Norris, R. P.; Nousek, J. A.; Okhmat, D. N.; Papadakis, I.; Parks, J. R.; Pott, J. U.; Rafter, S. E.; Rix, H. W.; Saylor, D. A.; Schnuelle, K.; Sergeev, S. G.; Siegel, M.; Skielboe, A.; Spencer, M.; Starkey, D.; Sung, H. I.; Teems, K. G.; Turner, C. S.; Uttley, P.; Villforth, C.; Weiss, Y.; Woo, J. H.; Yan, H.; Young, S.; Zu, Y.
    We present the results of an optical spectroscopic monitoring program targeting NGC 5548 as part of a larger multiwavelength reverberation mapping campaign. The campaign spanned 6 months and achieved an almost daily cadence with observations from five ground-based telescopes. The H beta and He II lambda 4686 broad emission-line light curves lag that of the 5100 angstrom optical continuum by 4.17(-0.36)(+0.36) days and 0.79(-0.34)(+0.35) days, respectively. The H beta lag relative to the 1158 angstrom ultraviolet continuum light curve measured by the Hubble Space Telescope is similar to 50% longer than that measured against the optical continuum, and the lag difference is consistent with the observed lag between the optical and ultraviolet continua. This suggests that the characteristic radius of the broad-line region is similar to 50% larger than the value inferred from optical data alone. We also measured velocity-resolved emission-line lags for H beta and found a complex velocity-lag structure with shorter lags in the line wings, indicative of a broadline region dominated by Keplerian motion. The responses of both the H beta and He II emission lines to the driving continuum changed significantly halfway through the campaign, a phenomenon also observed for C IV, Lya, He II (+ O III]), and Si IV(+ O IV]) during the same monitoring period. Finally, given the optical luminosity of NGC 5548 during our campaign, the measured H beta lag is a factor of five shorter than the expected value implied by the R-BLR-L-AGN relation based on the past behavior of NGC 5548.
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    Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. VII. Understanding the Ultraviolet Anomaly in NGC 5548 with X-Ray Spectroscopy
    (IOP PUBLISHING LTD, 2017) Mathur, S.; Gupta, A.; Page, K.; Pogge, R. W.; Krongold, Y.; Goad, M. R.; Adams, S. M.; Anderson, M. D.; Arevalo, P.; Barth, A. J.; Bazhaw, C.; Beatty, T. G.; Bentz, M. C.; Bigley, A.; Bisogni, S.; Borman, G. A.; Boroson, T. A.; Bottorff, M. C.; Brandt, W. N.; Breeveld, A. A.; Brown, J. E.; Brown, J. S.; Cackett, E. M.; Canalizo, G.; Carini, M. T.; Clubb, K. I.; Comerford, J. M.; Coker, C. T.; Corsini, E. M.; Crenshaw, D. M.; Croft, S.; Croxall, K. V.; Dalla Bonta, E.; Deason, A. J.; Denney, K. D.; De Lorenzo Caceres, A.; De Rosa, G.; Dietrich, M.; Edelson, R.; Ely, J.; Eracleous, M.; Evans, P. A.; Fausnaugh, M. M.; Ferland, G. J.; Filippenko, A. V.; Flatland, K.; Fox, O. D.; Gates, E. L.; Gehrels, N.; Geier, S.; Gelbord, J. M.; Gorjian, V.; Greene, J. E.; Grier, C. J.; Grupe, D.; Hall, P. B.; Henderson, C. B.; Hicks, S.; Holmbeck, E.; Holoien, T. W. S.; Horenstein, D.; Horne, Keith; Hutchison, T.; Im, M.; Jensen, J. J.; Johnson, C. A.; Joner, M. D.; Jones, J.; Kaastra, J.; Kaspi, S.; Kelly, B. C.; Kelly, P. L.; Kennea, J. A.; Kim, M.; Kim, S.; Kim, S. C.; King, A.; Klimanov, S. A.; Kochanek, C. S.; Korista, K. T.; Kriss, G. A.; Lau, M. W.; Lee, J. C.; Leonard, D. C.; Li, M.; Lira, P.; Ma, Z.; MacInnis, F.; Manne Nicholas, E. R.; Malkan, M. A.; Mauerhan, J. C.; McGurk, R.; McHardy, I. M.; Montouri, C.; Morelli, L.; Mosquera, A.; Mudd, D.; Muller Sanchez, F.; Musso, R.; Nazarov, S. V.; Netzer, H.; Nguyen, M. L.; Norris, R. P.; Nousek, J. A.; Ochner, P.; Okhmat, D. N.; Ou Yang, B.; Pancoast, A.; Papadakis, I.; Parks, J. R.; Pei, L.; Peterson, B. M.; Pizzella, A.; Poleski, R.; Pott, J. U.; Rafter, S. E.; Rix, H. W.; Runnoe, J.; Saylor, D. A.; Schimoia, J. S.; Schnuelle, K.; Sergeev, S. G.; Shappee, B. J.; Shivvers, I.; Siegel, M.; Simonian, G. V.; Siviero, A.; Skielboe, A.; Somers, G.; Spencer, M.; Starkey, D.; Stevens, D. J.; Sung, H. I.; Tayar, J.; Tejos, N.; Turner, C. S.; Uttley, P.; Van Saders, J.; Vestergaard, M.; Vican, L.; Villanueva, S., Jr.; Villforth, C.; Weiss, Y.; Woo, J. H.; Yan, H.; Young, S.; Yuk, H.; Zheng, W.; Zhu, W.; Zu, Y.
    During the Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project observations of NGC 5548, the continuum and emission-line variability became decorrelated during the second half of the six-month-long observing campaign. Here we present Swift and Chandra X-ray spectra of NGC 5548 obtained as part of the campaign. The Swift spectra show that excess flux (relative to a power-law continuum) in the soft X-ray band appears before the start of the anomalous emission-line behavior, peaks during the period of the anomaly, and then declines. This is a model-independent result suggesting that the soft excess is related to the anomaly. We divide the Swift data into on-and off-anomaly spectra to characterize the soft excess via spectral fitting. The cause of the spectral differences is likely due to a change in the intrinsic spectrum rather than to variable obscuration or partial covering. The Chandra spectra have lower signal-to-noise ratios, but are consistent with the Swift data. Our preferred model of the soft excess is emission from an optically thick, warm Comptonizing corona, the effective optical depth of which increases during the anomaly. This model simultaneously explains all three observations: the UV emission-line flux decrease, the soft-excess increase, and the emission-line anomaly.