Lunar occultations of 184 stellar sources in two crowded regions towards the galactic bulge

TL;DR

This study used lunar occultations at the ESO Very Large Telescope to discover 24 new binary star systems and characterize unresolved sources in the galactic bulge, achieving high angular resolution in near-infrared.

Contribution

First application of lunar occultation technique at the VLT to detect and characterize binary stars and unresolved sources in crowded galactic bulge regions.

Findings

Discovered 24 new binary or multiple star systems.

Resolved at least two stars with circumstellar emission.

Placed upper limits on the sizes of 165 unresolved stars.

Abstract

Lunar occultations (LO) provide a unique combination of high angular resolution and sensitivity at near-infrared wavelenghts. At the ESO Very Large Telescope, it is possible to achieve about 1 milliarcsecond (mas) resolution and detect sources as faint as K$\approx$12\,mag. We have taken advantage of a passage of the Moon over two crowded and reddened regions in the direction of the inner part of the galactic bulge, in order to obtain a high number of occultation light curves over two half nights. Our goal was to detect and characterize new binary systems, and to investigate highly extincted and relatively unknown infrared sources in search of circumstellar shells and similar peculiarities. Our target list included a significant number of very late-type stars, but in fact the majority of the sources was without spectral classification. A LO event requires the sampling of the light curve at millisecond rates in order to permit a detailed study of the diffraction fringes. For this, we used the so-called burst mode of the ISAAC instrument at the Melipal telescope. Our observing efficiency was ultimately limited by overheads for telescope pointing and data storage, to about one event every three minutes. We could record useful light curves for 184 sources. Of these, 24 were found to be binaries or multiples, all previously unknown. The projected separations are as small as 7.5\,mas, and the magnitude differences as high as $\Delta$K=6.5\,mag. Additionally we could establish, also for the first time, the resolved nature of at least two more stars, with indication of circumstellar emission. We could also put upper limits on the angular size of about 165 unresolved stars, an information that combined with previous and future observations will be very helpful in establishing a list of reliable calibrators for long baseline interferometers.