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The direct imaging of rocky exoplanets is one of the major science goals for upcoming large telescopes. The contrast requirement for imaging such planets is challenging. However, the mid-IR (InfraRed) regime provides the optimum contrast to directly detect the thermal signatures of exoplanets in our solar neighbourhood. We aim to exploit novel fast chopping techniques newly developed for astronomy with the aid of adaptive optics to look for thermal signatures of exoplanets around bright stars in the solar neighbourhood. We use the upgraded VISIR (Very Large Telescope Imager and Spectrometer for the mid-InfraRed) instrument with high contrast imaging (HCI) capability optimized for observations at 10~$\mu$m to look for exoplanets around five nearby ($d$ < 4 pc) stars. The instrument provides an improved signal-to-noise (S/N) by a factor of $\sim$4 in the N-band compared to standard VISIR for a given S/N and time. In this work we achieve a detection sensitivity of sub-mJy, which is sufficient to detect few Jupiter mass planets in nearby systems. Although no detections are made we achieve most sensitive limits within $, Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

We homogeneously analyse similar to 3.2 x 10(5) photometric measurements for similar to 1100 transit light curves belonging to 17 exoplanet hosts. The photometric data cover 16 years (2004-2019) and include amateur and professional observations. Old archival light curves were reprocessed using up-to-date exoplanetary parameters and empirically debiased limb-darkening models. We also derive self-consistent transit and radial-velocity fits for 13 targets. We confirm the non-linear transit timing variation (TTV) trend in the WASP-12 data at a high significance, and with a consistent magnitude. However, Doppler data reveal hints of a radial acceleration of about -7.5 +/- 2.2 ms(-1) yr(-1), indicating the presence of unseen distant companions, and suggesting that roughly 10 per cent of the observed TTV was induced via the light-travel (or Roemer) effect. For WASP-4, a similar TTV trend suspected after the recent TESS observations appears controversial and model dependent. It is not supported by our homogeneous TTV sample, including 10 ground-based EXPANSION light curves obtained in 2018 simultaneously with TESS. Even if the TTV trend itself does exist in WASP-4, its magnitude and tidal nature are uncertain. Doppler data cannot entirely rule out the Roemer effect induced by possible distant companions.

We present new results from the Parallaxes of Southern Extremely Cool dwarfs program to measure parallaxes, proper motions and multi-epoch photometry of L and early T dwarfs. The observations were made on 108 nights over the course of 8 years using the Wide Field Imager on the ESO 2.2m telescope. We present 118 new parallaxes of L \& T dwarfs of which 52 have no published values and 24 of the 66 published values are preliminary estimates from this program. The parallax precision varies from 1.0 to 15.5 mas with a median of 3.8 mas. We find evidence for 2 objects with long term photometric variation and 24 new moving group candidates. We cross-match our sample to published photometric catalogues and find standard magnitudes in up to 16 pass-bands from which we build spectral energy distributions and H-R diagrams. This allows us to confirm the theoretically anticipated minimum in radius between stars and brown dwarfs across the hydrogen burning minimum mass. We find the minimum occurs between L2 and L6 and verify the predicted steep dependence of radius in the hydrogen burning regime and the gentle rise into the degenerate brown dwarf regime. We find a relatively young age of 2 Gyr from the kinematics of our sample., In press MNRAS

Starspots are an important manifestation of stellar activity and yet their distribution patterns on the lowest mass stars is not well known. Time series spectra of fully convective M dwarfs taken in the red-optical with UVES reveal numerous line profile distortions which are interpreted as starspots. We derive Doppler images for four M4.5V - M9V stars and find that contrast ratios corresponding to photosphere-spot temperature differences of only 200-300 K are sufficient to model the timeseries spectra. Although more starspot structure is found at high latitudes, spots are reconstructed at a range of phases and latitudes with mean spot filling factors of only a few per cent. The occurrence of low-contrast spots at predominantly high latitudes is in general likely to be responsible for the low amplitude photometric variability seen in late-M dwarfs. The recovered starspot patterns are used to assess their effect on precision radial velocity surveys aimed at detecting planets around this population of stars.

Knowledge of the stellar content near the Sun is important for a broad range of topics ranging from the search for planets to the study of Milky Way structure. The most powerful method for identifying potentially nearby stars is proper motion (PM) surveys. All old optical surveys avoid, or are at least substantially incomplete, near the Galactic plane. The depth and breadth of the "Vista Variables in Via Lactea" (VVV) near-IR survey significantly improves this situation. Taking advantage of the VVV survey database, we have measured PMs in the densest regions of the MW bulge and southern plane in order to complete the census of nearby objects. We have developed a custom PM pipeline based on VVV catalogues from the Cambridge Astronomy Survey Unit (CASU), by comparing the first epoch of JHKs with the multi-epoch Ks-bands acquired later. Taking advantage of the large time baseline between the 2MASS and the VVV observations, we also obtained 2MASS-VVV PMs. We present a near-IR proper motion catalogue for the whole area of the VVV survey, which includes 3003 moving stellar sources. All of these have been visually inspected and are real PM objects. Our catalogue is in very good agreement with the proper motion data supplied in IR catalogues outside the densest zone of the MW. The majority of the PM objects in our catalogue are nearby M-dwarfs, as expected. This new database allow us to identify 57 common proper motion binary candidates, among which are two new systems within ~30pc of the Sun., 15 pages, 7 figures, accepted in the MNRAS

We report the discovery of an L dwarf companion to the A3V star �� Circini. VVV J151721.49-585131.5, or �� Cir B, was identified in a proper motion and parallax catalogue of the Vista Variables in the V��a L��ctea survey as having near infrared luminosity and colour indicative of an early L dwarf, and a proper motion and parallax consistent with that of �� Cir. The projected separation of $\sim$3.6' corresponds to $6656$ au, which is unusually wide. The most recent published estimate of the age of the primary combined with our own estimate based on newer isochrones yields an age of $370-500$ Myr. The system therefore serves as a useful benchmark at an age greater than that of the Pleiades brown dwarfs and most other young L dwarf benchmarks. We have obtained a medium resolution echelle spectrum of the companion which indicates a spectral type of L1.0$\pm$0.5 and lacks the typical signatures of low surface gravity seen in younger brown dwarfs. This suggests that signs of low surface gravity disappear from the spectra of early L dwarfs by an age of $\sim370-500$ Myr, as expected from theoretical isochrones. The mass of �� Cir B is estimated from the BHAC15 isochrones as $0.056\pm0.007$ M$_{\odot}$., Accepted for publication in the MNRAS main journal

We report the discovery of 76 new T dwarfs from the UKIDSS Large Area Survey (LAS). Near-infrared broad and narrow-band photometry and spectroscopy are presented for the new objects, along with WISE and warm-Spitzer photometry. Proper motions for 128 UKIDSS T dwarfs are presented from a new two epoch LAS proper motion catalogue. We use these motions to identify two new benchmark systems: LHS 6176AB, a T8+M4 pair and HD118865AB, a T5.5+F8 pair. Using age constraints from the primaries and evolutionary models to constrain the radii we have estimated their physical properties from their bolometric luminosity. We compare the colours and properties of known benchmark T dwarfs to the latest model atmospheres and draw two principal conclusions. Firstly, it appears that the H - [4.5] and J - W2 colours are more sensitive to metallicity than has previously been recognised, such that differences in metallicity may dominate over differences in Teff when considering relative properties of cool objects using these colours. Secondly, the previously noted apparent dominance of young objects in the late-T dwarf sample is no longer apparent when using the new model grids and the expanded sample of late-T dwarfs and benchmarks. This is supported by the apparently similar distribution of late-T dwarfs and earlier-type T dwarfs on reduced proper motion diagrams that we present. Finally, we present updated space densities for the late-T dwarfs, and compare our values to simulation predictions and those from WISE., Comment: MNRAS accepted. Updated 9th May 2013 to correct error in column headings for Table 4

We present the first results from our Red Optical Planet Survey (ROPS) to search for low mass planets orbiting late type dwarfs (M5.5V - M9V) in their habitable zones (HZ). Our observations, with the red arm of the MIKE spectrograph (0.5 - 0.9 microns) at the 6.5 m Magellan Clay telescope at Las Campanas Observatory indicate that >= 92 per cent of the flux lies beyond 0.7 microns. We use a novel approach that is essentially a hybrid of the simultaneous iodine and ThAr methods for determining precision radial velocities. We apply least squares deconvolution to obtain a single high S/N ratio stellar line for each spectrum and cross correlate against the simultaneously observed telluric line profile, which we derive in the same way. Utilising the 0.62 - 0.90 micron region, we have achieved an r.m.s. precision of 10 m/s for an M5.5V spectral type star with spectral S/N ~160 on 5 minute timescales. By M8V spectral type, a precision of ~30 m/s at S/N = 25 is suggested, although more observations are needed. An assessment of our errors and scatter in the radial velocity points hints at the presence of stellar radial velocity variations. Of our sample of 7 stars, 2 show radial velocity signals at 6-sigma and 10-sigma of the cross correlation uncertainties. If the signals are planetary in origin, our findings are consistent with estimates of Neptune mass planets that predict a frequency of 13 - 27 per cent for early M dwarfs.Our current analysis indicates the we can achieve a sensitivity that is equivalent to the amplitude induced by a 6 M_Earth planet orbiting in the habitable zone. Based on simulations, we estimate that, MNRAS accepted: 14 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables

We describe our procedure to determine effective temperatures, rotational velocities, microturbulent velocities, and chemical abundances in the atmospheres of Sun-like stars. We use independent determinations of iron abundances using the fits to the observed Fe I and Fe II atomic absorption lines. We choose the best solution from the fits to these spectral features for the model atmosphere that provides the best confidence in the determined log N(Fe), Vt, and vsini. First, we compute the abundance of iron for a set of adopted microturbulent velocities. To determine the most self-consistent effective temperature and microturbulent velocity in any star's atmosphere, we used an additional constraint where we minimise the dependence of the derived abundances of Fe I and Fe II on the excitation potential of the corresponding lines. We analyse the spectra of the Sun and two well known solar type stars, HD1835 and HD10700 to determine their abundances, microturbulent velocity and rotational velocity. For the Sun abundances of elements obtained from the fits of their absorption features agree well enough (+/- 0.1 dex) with the known values for the Sun. We determined a rotational velocity of vsini = 1.6 +/- 0.3 km/s for the spectrum of the Sun as a star. For HD1835 the self-consistent solution for Fe I and Fe II lines log N(Fe)=+0.2 was obtained with a model atmosphere of 5807/4.47/+0.2 andmicroturbulent velocity Vt = 0.75 km/s, and leads to vsini = 7.2 $\pm$ 0.5 km/s. For HD10700 the self-consistent solution log N(Fe) = -4.93 was obtained using a model atmosphere of 5383/4.59/-0.6and microturbulent velocity Vt = 0.5 km/s. The Fe I and Fe II lines give rise to a vsini = 2.4 +/- 0.4 km/s. Using the Teff found from the ionisation equilibrium parameters for all three stars, we found abundances of a number of other elements: Ti, Ni, Ca, Si, Cr. ... Abriged., Comment: 11 pages, 7 tables, 5 figs, to appear in MNRAS

We analyse medium-resolution spectra (R\sim 18000) of 19 late type dwarfs in order to determine vsini-s using synthetic rather than observational template spectra. For this purpose observational data around 2.2 $\mu$m of stars with spectral classes from G8V to M9.5V were modelled. We find that the Na I (2.2062 and 2.2090 $\mu$m) and $^{12}$CO 2-0 band features are modelled well enough to use for vsini determination without the need for a suitable observational template spectra. Within the limit of the resolution of our spectra, we use synthetic spectra templates to derive vsini values consistent with those derived in the optical regime using observed templates. We quantify the errors in our vsini determination due to incorrect choice of model parameters \Teff, log $g$, $v_{\rm micro}$, [Fe/H] or FWHM and show that they are typically less than 10 per cent. We note that the spectral resolution of our data(\sim 16 km/s) limited this study to relatively fast rotators and that resolutions of 60000 will required to access most late-type dwarfs., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, accepted to the MNRAS

In light of the growing interest in searching for low mass, rocky planets, we investigate the impact of starspots on radial velocity searches for earth-mass planets in orbit about M dwarf stars. Since new surveys targeting M dwarfs will likely be carried out at infrared wavelengths, a comparison between V and Y band starspot induced jitter is made, indicating a reduction of up to an order of magnitude when observing in the Y band. The exact reduction in jitter is dependent on the photosphere to spot contrast ratio, with greater improvements at smaller contrasts. We extrapolate a model used to describe solar spot distributions to simulate the spot patterns that we expect to find on M dwarfs. Under the assumption that M dwarfs are near or fully convective, we randomly place starspots on the stellar surface, simulating different levels of spot coverage. Line profiles, distorted by spots are derived and are used to investigate the starspot induced jitter. By making assumptions about the degree of spot activity, detection limits for earth-mass planets in habitable zones are simulated for between 10 and 500 observation epochs. We find that = 20 km/s and dark spots., 12 pages; 8 figures; accepted for publication in MNRAS

We report the discovery of 47 new T dwarfs in the Fourth Data Release (DR4) from the Large Area Survey (LAS) of the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey with spectral types ranging from T0 to T8.5. These bring the total sample of LAS T dwarfs to 80 as of DR4. In assigning spectral types to our objects we have identified 8 new spectrally peculiar objects, and divide 7 of them into two classes. H2O-H-early have a H2O-H index that differs with the H2O-J index by at least 2 sub-types. CH4-J-early have a CH4-J index that disagrees with the H20-J index by at least 2 subtypes. We have ruled out binarity as a sole explanation for both types of peculiarity, and suggest that they may represent hitherto unrecognised tracers of composition and/or gravity. Clear trends in z'(AB)-J and Y-J are apparent for our sample, consistent with weakening absorption in the red wing of the KI line at 0.77microns with decreasing effective temperature. We have used our sample to estimate space densities for T6-T9 dwarfs. By comparing our sample to Monte-Carlo simulations of field T dwarfs for various mass functions of the form phi(M) \propto M^-alpha, we have placed weak constraints on the form of the field mass function. Our analysis suggests that the substellar mass function is declining at lower masses, with negative values of alpha preferred. This is at odds with results for young clusters that have been generally found to have alpha > 0., 23 pages, 10 figures. MNRAS accepted. Version 2 includes omitted authors.

We present the results from high-resolution spectroscopic measurements to determine metallicities and activities of bright stars in the southern hemisphere. We have measured the iron abundances ([Fe/H]) and chromospheric emission indices (logR'HK) of 353 solar-type stars with V=7.5-9.5. [Fe/H] abundances are determined using a custom chi^2 fitting procedure within a large grid of Kurucz model atmospheres. The chromospheric activities were determined by measuring the amount of emission in the cores of the strong CaII HK lines. The sample of metallicities has been compared to other [Fe/H] determinations and was found to agree with these at the +/-0.05 dex level for spectroscopic values and at the +/-0.1 dex level for photometric values. The distribution of chromospheric activities is found to be described by a bimodal distribution, agreeing well with the conclusions from other works. Also an analysis of Maunder Minimum status was attempted and it was found that 6+/-4 stars in the sample could be in a Maunder Minimum phase of their evolution and hence the Sun should only spend a few per cent of its main sequence lifetime in Maunder Minimum., 20 pages, 19 figures, 4 tables, accepted A&A (04/04/2008); New version has updated section references

We present a new estimate of the lithium abundance in the atmosphere of the brown dwarf LP 944-20. Our analysis is based on a self-consistent analysis of low, intermediate and high resolution optical and near-infrared spectra. We obtain log N(Li) = 3.25 +/-0.25 using fits of our synthetic spectra to the Li I resonance line doublet profiles observed with VLT/UVES and AAT/SPIRAL. This lithium abundance is over two orders of magnitude larger than previous estimates in the literature. In order to obtain good fits of the resonance lines of K I and Rb I and better fits to the TiO molecular absorption around the Li I resonance line, we invoke a semi-empirical model atmosphere with the dusty clouds located above the photosphere. The lithium abundance, however, is not changed by the effects of the dusty clouds. We discuss the implications of our estimate of the lithium abundance in LP 944-20 for the understanding of the properties of this benchmark brown dwarf., 14 pages, 17 figs, accepted by MNRAS (upgraded version)

The sub-millimetre wavelength regime is perhaps the most poorly explored over large areas of the sky, despite the considerable effort that has been expended in making deep maps over small regions. As a consequence the properties of the sub-millimetre sky as a whole, and of rare bright objects in particular, remains largely unknown. Here we describe a forthcoming survey (the SCUBA-2 ``All-Sky'' Survey, or SASSy) designed to address this issue by making a large-area map of approximately one-fifth of the sky visible from the JCMT (4800 square degrees) down to a 1 sigma noise level of 30 mJy/beam. This map forms the pilot for a much larger survey, which will potentially map the remaining sky visible from the JCMT, with the region also visible to ALMA as a priority. SASSy has been awarded 500 hours for the 4800 square degree pilot phase and will commence after the commissioning of SCUBA-2, expected in early 2008., 26 pages, 5 figures. In referee's format. Submitted to PASP. Figs 1-3 are missing due to file size constraints. A full version of the paper may be found at http://star-www.herts.ac.uk/~mat/sassy_pasp.pdf Version 2 fixes author list and link to full version of paper