Speckle Interferometry at SOAR in 2021

• Published in: The Astronomical journal Vol. 164; no. 2; pp. 58 - 68
• Main Authors: Tokovinin, Andrei, Mason, Brian D., Mendez, Rene A., Costa, Edgardo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Madison The American Astronomical Society 01-08-2022; IOP Publishing
• Subjects: Astronomy; Astrophysical research; Calibration; Hierarchies; Interferometry; Multiple stars; Orbital elements; Solar neighborhood; Speckle interferometry; Subsystems; Systematic errors; Visual binary stars
• ISSN: 0004-6256; 1538-3881
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/ac78e7

Abstract
The speckle interferometry program at the the 4.1 m Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR), which started in 2008, now has accumulated over 30,300 individual observations of 12,700 distinct targets. Its main goal is to monitor orbital motion of close binaries, including members of high-order hierarchies and low-mass dwarfs in the solar neighborhood. The results from 2021 are published here, totaling 2623 measurements of 2123 resolved pairs and nonresolutions of 763 targets. The median measured separation is 0.″21, and 75 pairs were closer than 30 mas. The calibration of scale and orientation is based on the observations of 103 wide pairs with well-modeled motion. These calibrators are compared to the latest Gaia data release, and minor (0.5%) systematic errors were rectified, resulting in accurate relative positions with typical errors on the order of 1 mas. Using these new measurements, orbits of 282 binaries are determined here (54 first determinations and 228 corrections). We resolved for the first time 50 new pairs, including subsystems in known binaries. A list of 94 likely spurious pairs unresolved at SOAR (mostly close Hipparcos binaries) is also given.