The Robo-AO Kepler Planetary Candidate Survey is observing every Kepler planet candidate host star with laser adaptive optics imaging to search for blended nearby stars, which may be physically associated companions and/or responsible for transit false positives. In this paper we present the results from the 2012 observing season, searching for stars close to 715 Kepler planet candidate hosts. We find 53 companions, 43 of which are new discoveries. We detail the Robo-AO survey data reduction methods including a method of using the large ensemble of target observations as mutual point-spread-function references, along with a new automated companion-detection algorithm designed for large adaptive optics surveys. Our survey is sensitive to objects from ≈0. 15 to 2. 5 separation, with magnitude differences up to ∆m ≈ 6. We measure an overall nearby-star-probability for Kepler planet candidates of 7.4%±1.0%, and calculate the effects of each detected nearby star on the Kepler -measured planetary radius. We discuss several KOIs of particular interest, including KOI-191 and KOI-1151, which are both multi-planet systems with detected stellar companions whose unusual planetary system architecture might be best explained if they are "coincident multiple" systems, with several transiting planets shared between the two stars. Finally, we find 98%-confidence evidence that short-period giant planets are 2-3× more likely than longer period planets to be found in wide stellar binaries.

We present first results on polarization swings in optical emission of blazars obtained by RoboPol, a monitoring programme of an unbiased sample of gamma-ray bright blazars specially designed for effective detection of such events. A possible connection of polarization swing events with periods of high activity in gamma rays is investigated using the data set obtained during the first season of operation. It was found that the brightest gamma-ray flares tend to be located closer in time to rotation events, which may be an indication of two separate mechanisms responsible for the rotations. Blazars with detected rotations during non-rotating periods have significantly larger amplitude and faster variations of polarization angle than blazars without rotations. Our simulations show that the full set of observed rotations is not a likely outcome (probability ≤ 1.5 × 10 −2 ) of a random walk of the polarization vector simulated by a multicell model. Furthermore, it is highly unlikely (∼ 5 × 10 −5 ) that none of our rotations is physically connected with an increase in gamma-ray activity.

We present measurements of rotations of the optical polarization of blazars during the second year of operation of RoboPol, a monitoring programme of an unbiased sample of gamma-ray bright blazars specially designed for effective detection of such events, and we analyse the large set of rotation events discovered in two years of observation. We investigate patterns of variability in the polarization parameters and total flux density during the rotation events and compare them to the behaviour in a non-rotating state. We have searched for possible correlations between average parameters of the polarization-plane rotations and average parameters of polarization, with the following results: (1) there is no statistical association of the rotations with contemporaneous optical flares; (2) the average fractional polarization during the rotations tends to be lower than that in a non-rotating state; (3) the average fractional polarization during rotations is correlated with the rotation rate of the polarization plane in the jet rest frame; (4) it is likely that distributions of amplitudes and durations of the rotations have physical upper bounds, so arbitrarily long rotations are not realised in nature.

As new large-scale astronomical surveys greatly increase the number of objects targeted and discoveries made, the requirement for efficient follow-up observations is crucial. Adaptive optics imaging, which compensates for the image-blurring effects of Earth's turbulent atmosphere, is essential for these surveys, but the scarcity, complexity and high demand of current systems limits their availability for following up large numbers of targets. To address this need, we have engineered and implemented Robo-AO, a fully autonomous laser adaptive optics and imaging system that routinely images over 200 objects per night with an acuity 10 times sharper at visible wavelengths than typically possible from the ground. By greatly improving the angular resolution, sensitivity, and efficiency of 1-3 m class telescopes, we have eliminated a major obstacle in the follow-up of the discoveries from current and future large astronomical surveys.

We conducted a survey of nearby binary systems composed of main sequence stars of spectral types F and G in order to improve our understanding of the hierarchical nature of multiple star systems. Using Robo-AO, the first robotic adaptive optics instrument, we collected high angular resolution images with deep and well-defined detection limits in the SDSS i band. A total of 695 components belonging to 595 systems were observed. We prioritized observations of faint secondary components with separations over 10 to quantify the still poorly constrained frequency of their sub-systems. Of the 214 secondaries observed, 39 contain such subsystems; 19 of those were discovered with Robo-AO. The selection-corrected frequency of secondary sub-systems with periods from 10 3.5 to 10 5 days is 0.12±0.03, the same as the frequency of such companions to the primary. Half of the secondary pairs belong to quadruple systems where the primary is also a close pair, showing that the presence of subsystems in both components of the outer binary is correlated. The relatively large abundance of 2+2 quadruple systems is a new finding, and will require more exploration of the formation mechanism of multiple star systems. We also targeted close binaries with periods less than 100 yr, searching for their distant tertiary components, and discovered 17 certain and 2 potential new triples. In a subsample of 241 close binaries, 71 have additional outer companions. The overall frequency of tertiary components is not enhanced, compared to all (non-binary) targets, but in the range of outer periods from 10 6 to 10 7.5 days (separations on the order of 500 AU), the frequency of tertiary components is 0.16±0.03, exceeding by almost a factor of two the frequency of similar systems among all targets (0.09). Measurements of binary stars with Robo-AO allowed us to compute first orbits for 9 pairs and to improve orbits of another 11 pairs.

We report that Kepler Object of Interest 256 (KOI-256) is a mutually eclipsing post-common envelope binary (ePCEB), consisting of a cool white dwarf (M ⋆ = 0.592 ± 0.089M ⊙ , R ⋆ = 0.01345 ± 0.00091 R ⊙ , T eff = 7100±700 K) and an active M3 dwarf (M ⋆ = 0.51±0.16M ⊙ , R ⋆ = 0.540±0.014R ⊙ , T eff = 3450 ± 50 K) with an orbital period of 1.37865 ± 0.00001 days. KOI-256 is listed as hosting a transiting planet-candidate by Borucki et al. and Batalha et al.; here we report that the planetcandidate transit signal is in fact the occultation of a white dwarf as it passes behind the M dwarf. We combine publicly-available long-and short-cadence Kepler light curves with ground-based measurements to robustly determine the system parameters. The occultation events are readily apparent in the Kepler light curve, as is spin-orbit synchronization of the M dwarf, and we detect the transit of the white dwarf in front of the M dwarf halfway between the occultation events. The size of the white dwarf with respect to the Einstein ring during transit (R Ein = 0.00473 ± 0.00055 R ⊙ ) causes the transit depth to be shallower than expected from pure geometry due to gravitational lensing. KOI-256 is an old, long-period ePCEB and serves as a benchmark object for studying the evolution of binary star systems as well as white dwarfs themselves, thanks largely to the availability of near-continuous, ultra-precise Kepler photometry.

We compiled the polarimetric data for a sample of lines of sight with known abundances of Mg, Si, and Fe. We correlated the degree of interstellar polarization P and polarization efficiency (the ratio of P to the colour excess E(B − V) or extinction A V ) with dust phase abundances. We detect an anticorrelation between P and the dust phase abundance of iron in non silicate-containing grains [Fe(rest)/H] d , a correlation between P and the abundance of Si, and no correlation between P/E(B − V) or P/A V and dust phase abundances. These findings can be explained if mainly the silicate grains aligned by the radiative mechanism are responsible for the observed interstellar linear polarization.

We present the design and performance of RoboPol, a four-channel optical polarimeter operating at the Skinakas Observatory in Crete, Greece. RoboPol is capable of measuring both relative linear Stokes parameters q and u (and the total intensity I) in one sky exposure. Though primarily used to measure the polarization of point sources in the R-band, the instrument features additional filters (B, V and I), enabling multi-wavelength imaging polarimetry over a large field of view (13.6 ′ × 13.6 ′ ). We demonstrate the accuracy and stability of the instrument throughout its five years of operation. Best performance is achieved within the central region of the field of view and in the R band. For such measurements the systematic uncertainty is below 0.1% in fractional linear polarization, p (0.05% maximum likelihood). Throughout all observing seasons the instrumental polarization varies within 0.1% in p and within ∼1 • in polarization angle.