The young active flare star AU Mic is the planet host star with the highest flare rate from Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite data. Therefore, it represents an ideal target for dedicated ground-based monitoring campaigns with the aim to characterize its numerous flares spectroscopically. We performed such spectroscopic monitoring with the ESO1.52-m telescope of the PLATOSpec consortium. In more than 190 h of observations, we find 24 flares suitable for detailed analysis. We compute their parameters (duration, peak flux, and energy) in eight chromospheric lines (H alpha, H beta, H gamma, H delta, Na I D1&D2, He I D3, He I 6678) and investigate their relationships. Furthermore, we obtained simultaneous photometric observations and low-resolution spectroscopy for part of the spectroscopic runs. We detect one flare in the g'-band photometry, which is associated with a spectroscopic flare. Additionally, an extreme flare event occurred on 2023-09-16 of which only a time around its possible peak was observed, during which chromospheric line fluxes were raised by up to a factor of three compared to the following night. The estimated energy of this event is around 10(33) erg in H alpha alone, i.e. a rare chromospheric line superflare.

ABSTRACT The Centaur (60558) Echeclus was discovered on 2000 March 03, orbiting between the orbits of Jupiter and Uranus. After exhibiting frequent outbursts, it also received a comet designation, 174P. If the ejected material can be a source of debris to form additional structures, studying the surroundings of an active body like Echeclus can provide clues about the formation scenarios of rings, jets, or dusty shells around small bodies. Stellar occultation is a handy technique for this kind of investigation, as it can, from Earth-based observations, detect small structures with low opacity around these objects. Stellar occultation by Echeclus was predicted and observed in 2019, 2020, and 2021. We obtain upper detection limits of rings with widths larger than 0.5 km and optical depth of τ = 0.02. These values are smaller than those of Chariklo’s main ring; in other words, a Chariklo-like ring would have been detected. The occultation observed in 2020 provided two positive chords used to derive the triaxial dimensions of Echeclus based on a 3D model and pole orientation available in the literature. We obtained a = 37.0 ± 0.6 km, b = 28.4 ± 0.5 km, and c = 24.9 ± 0.4 km, resulting in an area-equivalent radius of 30.0 ± 0.5 km. Using the projected limb at the occultation epoch and the available absolute magnitude ($\rm {H}_{\rm {v}} = 9.971 \pm 0.031$), we calculate an albedo of pv = 0.050 ± 0.003. Constraints on the object’s density and internal friction are also proposed.

Baryonic feedback is expected to play a key role in regulating the star formation of low-mass galaxies by producing galaxy-scale winds associated with mass-loading factors of β ∼ 1 − 50. We test this prediction using a sample of 19 nearby systems with stellar masses of 107 < M⋆/M⊙ < 1010, mostly lying above the main sequence of star-forming galaxies. We used MUSE at VLT optical integral field spectroscopy to study the warm ionised gas kinematics of these galaxies via a detailed modelling of their Hα emission line. The ionised gas is characterised by irregular velocity fields, indicating the presence of non-circular motions of a few tens of km s−1 within galaxy discs, but with intrinsic velocity dispersion of 40 − 60 km s−1 that are only marginally larger than those measured in main-sequence galaxies. Galactic winds, defined as gas at velocities larger than the galaxy escape speed, encompass only a few percent of the observed fluxes. Mass outflow rates and loading factors are strongly dependent on M⋆, the star formation rate (SFR), SFR surface density, and specific SFR (sSFR). For M⋆ of 108 M⊙ we find β ≃ 0.02, which is more than two orders of magnitude smaller than the values predicted by theoretical models of galaxy evolution. In our galaxy sample, baryonic feedback stimulates a gentle gas cycle rather than causing a large-scale blow-out.

Baryonic feedback is expected to play a key role in regulating the star formation of low-mass galaxies by producing galaxy-scale winds associated with mass-loading factors β∼1-50. We have tested this prediction using a sample of 19 nearby systems with stellar masses 10^7<M_⋆/ M_⊙<10^10, mostly lying above the main sequence of star-forming galaxies. We used MUSE@VLT optical integral field spectroscopy to study the warm ionised gas kinematics of these galaxies via a detailed modelling of their Hα emission line. The ionised gas is characterised by irregular velocity fields, indicating the presence of non-circular motions of a few tens of km/s within galaxy discs, but with intrinsic velocity dispersion of 40-60 km/s that are only marginally larger than those measured in main-sequence galaxies. Galactic winds, defined as gas at velocities larger than the galaxy escape speed, encompass only a few percent of the observed fluxes. Mass outflow rates and loading factors are strongly dependent on M_⋆, star formation rate (SFR), SFR surface density and specific SFR. For M_⋆ of 10^8 M_⊙ we find β≃0.02, which is more than two orders of magnitude smaller than the values predicted by theoretical models of galaxy evolution. In our galaxy sample, baryonic feedback stimulates a gentle gas cycle rather than causing a large-scale blow out.

Accurate positioning of opto-mechanical elements in the focal plane of large telescopes is a challenging requirements for many state of the art observational scientific applications. In particular high multiplexing multi object spectroscopy requires precise metrology tools for performing efficient observations and calibrations of the instruments. We have developed a metrology system based on modified commercial off-the-shelf components to reach high performances with a cost effective solution. Our system is based on the photogrammetry technique and on a number of fixed off-axis cameras. The cameras acquire images of the focal plane where metrology targets and references are located. The acquisition is based on Odroid-XU4, a single-board computer running on GNU/Linux. No moving parts in the setup ensures an extremely fast acquisition of the data. The calibration and metrology data processing is based on the computer vision library OpenCV. We present a prototype system and results of the camera calibrations and metrology tests obtained in our laboratory.

Abstract We present 63 new multi-site radial velocity (RV) measurements of the K1III giant HD 76920, which was recently reported to host the most eccentric planet known to orbit an evolved star. We focused our observational efforts on the time around the predicted periastron passage and achieved near-continuous phase coverage of the corresponding RV peak. By combining our RV measurements from four different instruments with previously published ones, we confirm the highly eccentric nature of the system and find an even higher eccentricity of $e=0.8782 \pm 0.0025$ , an orbital period of $415.891^{+0.043}_{-0.039}\,\textrm{d}$ , and a minimum mass of $3.13^{+0.41}_{-0.43}\,\textrm{M}_{\textrm{J}}$ for the planet. The uncertainties in the orbital elements are greatly reduced, especially for the period and eccentricity. We also performed a detailed spectroscopic analysis to derive atmospheric stellar parameters, and thus the fundamental stellar parameters ( $M_*, R_*, L_*$ ), taking into account the parallax from Gaia DR2, and independently determined the stellar mass and radius using asteroseismology. Intriguingly, at periastron, the planet comes to within 2.4 stellar radii of its host star’s surface. However, we find that the planet is not currently experiencing any significant orbital decay and will not be engulfed by the stellar envelope for at least another 50–80 Myr. Finally, while we calculate a relatively high transit probability of 16%, we did not detect a transit in the TESS photometry.

HIRES is the high-resolution spectrograph of the European Extremely Large Telescope at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. It consists of three fibre-fed spectrographs providing a wavelength coverage of 0.4-1.8 µm (goal 0.35-2.4 µm) at a spectral resolution of 100,000. The fibre-feeding allows HIRES to have several, interchangeable observing modes including a SCAO module and a small diffraction-limited IFU in the NIR. Therefore, it will be able to operate both in seeing- and diffraction-limited modes. Its modularity will ensure that HIRES can be placed entirely on the Nasmyth platform, if enough mass and volume is available, or part on the Nasmyth and part in the Coud`e room. ELT-HIRES has a wide range of science cases spanning nearly all areas of research in astrophysics and even fundamental physics. Among the top science cases there are the detection of biosignatures from exoplanet atmospheres, finding the fingerprints of the first generation of stars (PopIII), tests on the stability of Nature's fundamental couplings, and the direct detection of the cosmic acceleration. The HIRES consortium is composed of more than 30 institutes from 14 countries, forming a team of more than 200 scientists and engineers.

The MOONS instrument possesses an exceptional combination of large multiplexing, high sensitivity, broad simultaneous spectral coverage (from optical to near-infrared bands), large patrol area and high fibre density. These properties provide the unprecedented potential of enabling, for the very first time, SDSS-like surveys around Cosmic Noon (z~1-2.5), when the star formation rate in the Universe peaked. The high-quality spectra delivered by MOONS will sample the same nebular and stellar diagnostics observed in extensive surveys of local galaxies, providing an accurate and consistent description of the evolution of various physical properties of galaxies, and hence a solid test of different scenarios of galaxy formation and transformation. Most importantly, by spectroscopically identifying hundreds of thousands of galaxies at high redshift, the MOONS surveys will be capable of determining the environments in which primeval galaxies lived and will reveal how such environments affected galaxy evolution. In this article, we specifically focus on the main Guaranteed Time Observation (GTO) MOONS extragalactic survey, MOONRISE, by providing an overview of its scientific goals and observing strategy.

Context. The Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA (MASCARA) and bRing are both photometric ground-based instruments with multiple stations that rely on interline charge-coupled devices with wide-field lenses to monitor bright stars in the local sky for variability. MASCARA has already discovered several planets in the northern sky, which are among the brightest known transiting hot Jupiter systems.Aims. In this paper, we aim to characterize a transiting planetary candidate in the southern skies found in the combined MASCARA and bRing data sets of HD 85628, an A7V star of V = 8.2 mag at a distance 172 pc, to establish its planetary nature.Methods. The candidate was originally detected in data obtained jointly with the MASCARA and bRing instruments using a Box Least-Square search for transit events. Further photometry was taken by the 0.7 m Chilean-Hungarian Automated Telescope (CHAT), and radial velocity measurements with the Fiber Dual Echelle Optical Spectrograph on the European Southern Observatory 1.0 m Telescope. High-resolution spectra during a transit were taken with the CTIO high-resolution spectrometer (CHIRON) on the Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System 1.5 m telescope to target the Doppler shadow of the candidate.Results. We confirm the existence of a hot Jupiter transiting the bright A7V star HD 85628, which we co-designate as MASCARA-4b and bRing-1b. It is in an orbit of 2.824 days, with an estimated planet radius of 1.53−0.04+0.07 RJup and an estimated planet mass of 3.1 ± 0.9 MJup, putting it well within the planetary regime. The CHAT observations show a partial transit, reducing the probability that the transit was around a faint background star. The CHIRON observations show a clear Doppler shadow, implying that the transiting object is in a retrograde orbit with |λ| =244.9−3.6+2.7°. The planet orbits at a distance of 0.047 ± 0.004 AU from the star and has a zero-albedo equilibrium temperature of 2100 ± 100 K. In addition, we find that HD 85628 has a previously unreported stellar companion star in the Gaia DR2 data demonstrating common proper motion and parallax at 4.3′′ separation (projected separation ~740 AU), and with absolute magnitude consistent with being a K/M dwarf.Conclusions. MASCARA-4 b/bRing-1 b is the brightest transiting hot Jupiter known to date in a retrograde orbit. It further confirms that planets in near-polar and retrograde orbits are more common around early-type stars. Due to its high apparent brightness and short orbital period, the system is particularly well suited for further atmospheric characterization.

MOONS is the new Multi-Object Optical and Near-infrared Spectrograph currently under construction for the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at ESO. This remarkable instrument combines, for the first time, the collecting power of an 8-m telescope, 1000 fibres with individual robotic positioners, and both low- and high-resolution simultaneous spectral coverage across the 0.64–1.8 μm wavelength range. This facility will provide the astronomical community with a powerful, world-leading instrument able to serve a wide range of Galactic, extragalactic and cosmological studies. Construction is now proceeding full steam ahead and this overview article presents some of the science goals and the technical description of the MOONS instrument. More detailed information on the MOONS surveys is provided in the other dedicated articles in this Messenger issue.

The study of resolved stellar populations in the Milky Way and other Local Group galaxies can provide us with a fossil record of their chemo-dynamical and star-formation histories over timescales of many billions of years. In the galactic components and stellar systems of the Milky Way and its satellites, individual stars can be resolved. Therefore, they represent a unique laboratory in which to investigate the details of the processes behind the formation and evolution of the disc and dwarf/irregular galaxies. MOONS at the VLT represents a unique combination of an efficient infrared multi-object spectrograph and a large-aperture 8-m-class telescope which will sample the cool stellar populations of the dense central regions of the Milky Way and its satellites, delivering accurate radial velocities, metallicities, and other chemical abundances for several millions of stars over its lifetime (see Cirasuolo et al., this issue). MOONS will observe up to 1000 targets across a 25-arcminute field of view in the optical and near-infrared (0.6-1.8 micron) simultaneously. A high-resolution (R~19700) setting in the H band has been designed for the accurate determination of stellar abundances such as alpha, light, iron-peak and neutron-capture elements.

Dwarf galaxies are ideal laboratories to study the physics of the interstellar medium (ISM). Emission lines have been widely used to this aim. Retrieving the full information encoded in the spectra is therefore essential. This can be efficiently and reliably done using Machine Learning (ML) algorithms. Here, we apply the ML code GAME to MUSE (Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) and PMAS (Potsdam Multi Aperture Spectrophotometer) integral field unit observations of two nearby blue compact galaxies: Henize 2-10 and IZw18. We derive spatially resolved maps of several key ISM physical properties. We find that both galaxies show a remarkably uniform metallicity distribution. Henize 2-10 is a star-forming-dominated galaxy, with a star formation rate (SFR) of about 1.2 M-circle dot yr(-1). Henize 2-10 features dense and dusty (AV up to 5-7 mag) star-forming central sites. We find IZw18 to be very metal-poor (Z = 1/20 Z(circle dot)). IZw18 has a strong interstellar radiation field, with a large ionization parameter. We also use models of PopIII stars spectral energy distribution as a possible ionizing source for the He II lambda 4686 emission detected in the IZw18 NW component. We find that PopIII stars could provide a significant contribution to the line intensity. The upper limit to the PopIII star formation is 52 per cent of the total IZw18 SFR.

In this paper, we aim to characterize a transiting planetary candidate in the southern skies found in the combined MASCARA and bRing data sets of HD 85628, an A3V star of V = 8.2 mag at a distance 172 pc, to confirm its planetary nature. The candidate was originally detected in data obtained jointly with the MASCARA and bRing instruments using a BLS search for transit events. Further photometry was taken by the 0.7 m CHAT, and radial velocity measurements with FIDEOS on the ESO 1.0 m Telescope. High resolution spectra during a transit were taken with CHIRON on the SMARTS 1.5 m telescope to target the Doppler shadow of the candidate. We confirm the existence of a hot Jupiter transiting the bright A3V star HD 85628, which we co-designate as MASCARA-4b and bRing-1b. It is in a 2.824 day orbit, with an estimated planet radius of $1.53 ^{0.07}_{0.04}$ $R_{\rm{Jup}}$ and an estimated planet mass of $3.1 \pm 0.9$ $M_{\rm{Jup}}$, putting it well within the planet mass regime.. The CHAT observations show a partial transit, reducing the probability that the transit was around a faint background star. The CHIRON observations show a clear Doppler shadow, implying that the transiting object is in a retrograde orbit with $|\lambda| = 247.5 \pm 1.6 $\textdegree. The planet orbits at at a distance of 0.047 $\pm$ 0.004 AU from the star and has a zero-albedo equilibrium temperature of 2100 $\pm$ 100 K. In addition, we find that HD 85628 has a previously unreported stellar companion star in the Gaia DR2 data demonstrating common proper motion and parallax at 4.3 arcsecond separation (projected separation $\sim$740 AU), and with absolute magnitude consistent with being a K/M dwarf.

One limitation in characterizing exoplanet candidates is the availability of infrared, high-resolution spectrographs. An important factor in the scarcity of high precision IR spectrographs is the high cost of these instruments. We present a new optical design, which leads to a cost-effective solution. Our instrument is a high-resolution (R = 60,000) infrared spectrograph with a R6 Echelle grating and an image slicer. We compare the best possible performance of quasi-Littrow and White Pupil setups, and prefer the latter because it achieves higher image quality. The instrument is proposed for the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO) 6.5 m telescope in Chile. The Tao Aiuc high Resolution (d) Y band Spectrograph (TARdYS) covers 0.843-1.117 μ m. To reduce the cost, we squeeze 42 spectral orders onto a 1K detector with a semi-cryogenic solution. We obtain excellent resolution even when taking realistic manufacturing and alignment tolerances as well as thermal variations into account. In this paper, we present early results from the prototype of this spectrograph at ambient temperature.