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Resolving the Young 2 Cygni Runaway Star into a Binary Using iLocater

Crepp, Justin R.; Crass, Jonathan; Bechter, Andrew J.; Sands, Brian L.; Ketterer, Ryan; King, David; Kopon, Derek; Hamper, Randall; Engstrom, Matthew; Smous, James E.; Bechter, Eric B.; Harris, Robert; Johnson, Marshall C.; Baggett, Nicholas; Dulz, Shannon; Vansickle, Michael; Conrad, Al; Ertel, Steve; Gaudi, B. Scott; Hinz, Philip; Kuchner, Marc; Montoya, Manny; Onuma, Eleanya; Ott, Melanie; Pogge, Richard; Rahmer, Gustavo; Reynolds, Robert; Schwab, Christian; Stapelfeldt, Karl; Thomes, Joseph; Vaz, Amali; Wang, Ji; Woodward, Charles E.

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Authors

Justin R. Crepp

Jonathan Crass

Andrew J. Bechter

Brian L. Sands

Ryan Ketterer

Derek Kopon

Randall Hamper

Matthew Engstrom

James E. Smous

Eric B. Bechter

Marshall C. Johnson

Nicholas Baggett

Shannon Dulz

Michael Vansickle

Al Conrad

Steve Ertel

B. Scott Gaudi

Philip Hinz

Marc Kuchner

Manny Montoya

Eleanya Onuma

Melanie Ott

Richard Pogge

Gustavo Rahmer

Robert Reynolds

Christian Schwab

Karl Stapelfeldt

Joseph Thomes

Amali Vaz

Ji Wang

Charles E. Woodward



Abstract

Precision radial velocity spectrographs that use adaptive optics (AO) show promise to advance telescope observing capabilities beyond those of seeing-limited designs. We are building a spectrograph for the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) named iLocater that uses AO to inject starlight directly into single mode fibers. iLocater's first acquisition camera system (the SX camera), which receives light from one of the 8.4 m diameter primary mirrors of the LBT, was initially installed in summer 2019 and has since been used for several commissioning runs. We present results from first-light observations that include on-sky measurements as part of commissioning activities. Imaging measurements of the bright B3IV star 2 Cygni (V = 4.98) resulted in the direct detection of a candidate companion star at an angular separation of only θ = 70 mas. Follow-up AO measurements using Keck/NIRC2 recover the candidate companion in multiple filters. An R ≈ 1500 miniature spectrograph recently installed at the LBT named Lili provides spatially resolved spectra of each binary component, indicating similar spectral types and strengthening the case for companionship. Studying the multiplicity of young runaway star systems like 2 Cygni (36.6 ± 0.5 Myr) can help to understand formation mechanisms for stars that exhibit anomalous velocities through the Galaxy. This on-sky demonstration illustrates the spatial resolution of the iLocater SX acquisition camera working in tandem with the LBT AO system; it further derisks a number of technical hurdles involved in combining AO with Doppler spectroscopy.

Citation

Crepp, J. R., Crass, J., Bechter, A. J., Sands, B. L., Ketterer, R., King, D., Kopon, D., Hamper, R., Engstrom, M., Smous, J. E., Bechter, E. B., Harris, R., Johnson, M. C., Baggett, N., Dulz, S., Vansickle, M., Conrad, A., Ertel, S., Gaudi, B. S., Hinz, P., …Woodward, C. E. (2024). Resolving the Young 2 Cygni Runaway Star into a Binary Using iLocater. Astronomical Journal, 169(1), Article 48. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad9b1d

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 5, 2024
Online Publication Date Dec 24, 2024
Publication Date 2024-12
Deposit Date Jun 5, 2025
Publicly Available Date Jun 5, 2025
Journal Astronomical Journal
Print ISSN 0004-6256
Electronic ISSN 1538-3881
Publisher IOP Publishing
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 169
Issue 1
Article Number 48
DOI https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad9b1d
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4089691

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