The multi-color passband CCD light curves of ASAS J124343+1531.7 and LINEAR 2323566 were first obtained by the 0.84 m Ritchey–Chrétien telescope with follow up observations by the WIYN 0.90 m Cassegrain telescope. The data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite of ASAS J124343+1531.7 was also applied for subsequent analysis. By analyzing the data through the W-D program, their mass ratios and fill-out factors were determined as 3.758, 1.438 and 31.8%, 14.9%, respectively. ASAS J124343+1531.7 is a W-subtype median contact binary, while LINEAR 2323566 is a W-subtype shallow contact binary, and the asymmetric light curves prove that they both have the O’Connell effect, which is generally explained by magnetic activity. The equivalent widths of H α lines were calculated, which show they certainly have magnetic activity. Moreover, LINEAR 2323566 has a stronger magnetic activity. The analysis of orbital period changes shows that ASAS J124343+1531.7 has a trend of secular period increase, which is generally explained by the mass transfer from the less massive to the more massive star. According to the estimated absolute parameters, their evolutionary states are discussed. The two components of ASAS J124343+1531.7 are both main sequence stars. While for LINEAR 2323566, the more massive star is a main sequence star, the less massive star has evolved out of main sequence and is over-luminous and over-sized.

NEID is a high-resolution red–optical precision radial velocity (RV) spectrograph recently commissioned at the WIYN 3.5 m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, Arizona, USA. NEID has an extremely stable environmental control system, and spans a wavelength range of 380–930 nm with two observing modes: a High Resolution mode at R ∼ 112,000 for maximum RV precision, and a High Efficiency mode at R ∼ 72,000 for faint targets. In this paper we present a detailed description of the components of NEID’s optical fiber feed, which include the instrument, exposure meter, calibration system, and telescope fibers. Many parts of the optical fiber feed can lead to uncalibratable RV errors, which cannot be corrected for using a stable wavelength reference source. We show how these errors directly cascade down to performance requirements on the fiber feed and the scrambling system. We detail the design, assembly, and testing of each component. Designed and built from the bottom-up with a single-visit instrument precision requirement of 27 cm s−1, close attention is paid to the error contribution from each NEID subsystem. Finally, we include the lab and on-sky tests performed during instrument commissioning to test the illumination stability, and discuss the path to achieving the instrumental stability required to search for a true Earth twin around a solar-type star.

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