Eclipse Spectropolarimetry of the epsilon Aurigae System
Kathleen M. Geise
Robert E. Stencel
University of Denver, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 2112 E. Wesley Avenue, Denver, CO 80208
Nadine Manset
Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corporation (CFHT), Waimea Headquarters, 65-1238 Mamalahoa Highway, Kamuela, HI 96743
David Harrington
Jeffrey Kuhn
Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822
Received April 13, 2012; revised August 27, 2012, October 17, 2012; accepted November 4, 2012
Abstract
The recent eclipse of the enigmatic binary star system, epsilon Aurigae, offered a special opportunity to explore the role of spectropolarimetry in discovery of unknown facets of the objects involved. Here we present spectropolarimetric results for H-alpha, H-beta, Ca I (422.6 nm), and K I (769.9 nm) based on more than 50 epochs of high dispersion spectra obtained with the ESPaDOnS instrument at CFHT during 2006–2012.