Line bisectors and radial velocity jitter from SARG spectra

We present an analysis of spectral line bisector variations for a few stars observed in the SARG high precision radial velocity planet survey, and discuss their relationship with differential radial velocities. The spectra we consider are the same used for determining radial velocities. The iodine cell lines employed in the measurement of radial velocities were removed before bisector analysis. The line bisectors were then computed from average absorption profiles obtained by cross correlation of the stellar spectra with a mask made from suitable lines of a solar catalog. Bisector velocity spans were then determined: errors in these quantities compare well with theoretical expectations based on resolution, S/N and line shape. The plot of bisector velocity span against radial velocity was studied to search for correlations between line asymmetries and radial velocity variations. A correlation was seen for HD 166435 due to stellar activity, and for HD 8071B due to spectral contamination by the companion. No correlation was seen for 51 Peg and rho CrB, stars hosting planets. We conclude that this technique may be useful to separate radial velocity variations due to barycenter motion from spurious signals in spectra acquired with the iodine cell.