Lucky Spectroscopy, an equivalent technique to Lucky Imaging. Spatially resolved spectroscopy of massive close visual binaries using the William Herschel Telescope

TL;DR

Lucky Spectroscopy is a novel technique that enables spatially resolved spectroscopy of close massive binaries, even with separations as small as 0.3 arcseconds, improving the characterization of these systems.

Contribution

This paper introduces Lucky Spectroscopy, a new method for obtaining spatially separated spectra of close binaries, demonstrating its effectiveness on several massive star systems.

Findings

First optical resolution of delta Ori Aa+Ab.

First-ever resolution of sigma Ori AaAb+B.

Successful spatial separation of systems with ~0.3" separation.

Abstract

CONTEXT: Many massive stars have nearby companions whose presence hamper their characterization through spectroscopy. AIMS: We want to obtain spatially resolved spectroscopy of close massive visual binaries to derive their spectral types. METHODS: We obtain a large number of short long-slit spectroscopic exposures of five close binaries under good seeing conditions, select those with the best characteristics, extract the spectra using multiple-profile fitting, and combine the results to derive spatially separated spectra. RESULTS: We demonstrate the usefulness of Lucky Spectroscopy by presenting the spatially resolved spectra of the components of each system, in two cases with separations of only ~0.3". Those are delta Ori Aa+Ab (resolved in the optical for the first time) and sigma Ori AaAb+B (first time ever resolved). We also spatially resolve 15 Mon AaAb+B, zeta Ori AaAb+B (both previously resolved with GOSSS, the Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey), and eta Ori AaAb+B, a system with two spectroscopic B+B binaries and a fifth visual component. The systems have in common that they are composed of an inner pair of slow rotators orbited by one or more fast rotators, a characteristic that could have consequences for the theories of massive star formation.