The Calar Alto Lunar Occultation Program: Update and New Results

Abstract

We present an update of the lunar occultation program which is routinely carried out in the near-IR at the Calar Alto Observatory. A total of 350 events were recorded since our last report (Fors et al. 2004, A&A, 419, 285). In the course of eight runs we have observed, among others, late-type giants, T-Tauri stars, and infrared sources. Noteworthy was a passage of the Moon close to the galactic center, which produced a large number of events during just a few hours in July 2004. Results include the determinations of the angular diameter of RZ Ari, and the projected separations and brightness ratios for one triple and 13 binary stars, almost all of which representing first time detections. Projected separations range from 0farcs09 to 0farcs007. We provide a quantitative analysis of the performance achieved in our observations in terms of angular resolution and sensitivity, which reach about 0farcs003 and K ≈8.5 mag, respectively. We also present a statistical discussion of our sample, and in particular of the frequency of detection of binaries among field stars.