Abstract. We describe the updated version of the "Vienna Atomic Line Data Base" (VALD, Piskunov et al. 1995) which represents a considerable improvement over the first installation from 1994. The original line lists have been complemented with critically evaluated data obtained from experimental measurements and theoretical calculations which are necessary for computing state-ofthe-art line opacities in stellar atmospheres, as well as for synthesizing spectra for high precision analyses. In this paper, we present new and improved data sets for neutral species and ions of Si, P, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Ru, Xe, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Re, Pt, Au, Hg, and Pb. For some species data are available in VALD for the first time. We explain our choice of quality rankings by reviewing the literature for the new data and by comparison with source lists included into VALD. For some cases, we produced new line data by weighted averaging of data from different sources with individual error estimates in order to increase the reliability of VALD line lists.Software modifications allow remote users of VALD to specify individual extraction parameters as an alternative to the default settings of the VALD team and to have direct control over the quality ranking of line data. A World-Wide-Web interface is described which provides easy access to all new features.To simplify proper crediting of all authors of atomic data, VALD now includes a compilation of all publications used in each type of reply.Finally, we briefly discuss the future roadmap of VALD developments, including the incorporation of molecular transitions and integration with external data bases.Send offprint requests to: F. Kupka

We present precise Doppler measurements of four stars obtained during the past decade at Keck Observatory by the California Planet Survey (CPS). These stars, namely, HD 34445, HD 126614, HD 13931, and Gl 179, all show evidence for a single planet in Keplerian motion. We also present Doppler measurements from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) for two of the stars, HD 34445 and Gl 179, that confirm the Keck detections and significantly refine the orbital parameters. These planets add to the statistical properties of giant planets orbiting near or beyond the ice line, and merit followup by astrometry, imaging, and space-borne spectroscopy. Their orbital parameters span wide ranges of planetary minimum mass (M sin i = 0.38-1.9 M Jup ), orbital period (P = 2.87-11.5 yr), semi-major axis (a = 2.1-5.2 AU), and eccentricity (e = 0.02-0.41). HD 34445 b (P = 2.87 yr, M sin i = 0.79 M Jup , e = 0.27) is a massive planet orbiting an old, G-type star. We announce a planet, HD 126614 Ab, and an M dwarf, HD 126614 B, orbiting the metal-rich star HD 126614 (which we now refer to as HD 126614 A). The planet, HD 126614 Ab, has minimum mass M sin i = 0.38 M Jup and orbits the stellar primary with period P = 3.41 yr and orbital separation a = 2.3 AU. The faint M dwarf companion, HD 126614 B, is separated from the stellar primary by 489 mas (33 AU) and was discovered with direct observations using adaptive optics and the PHARO camera at Palomar Observatory. The stellar primary in this new system, HD 126614 A, has the highest measured metallicity ([Fe/H] = +0.56) of any known planetbearing star. HD 13931 b (P = 11.5 yr, M sin i = 1.88 M Jup , e = 0.02) is a Jupiter analog orbiting a near solar twin. Gl 179 b (P = 6.3 yr, M sin i = 0.82 M Jup , e = 0.21) is a massive planet orbiting a faint M dwarf. The high metallicity of Gl 179 is consistent with the planet-metallicity correlation among M dwarfs, as documented recently by Johnson & Apps.

Vienna atomic line database (VALD) is a collection of critically evaluated laboratory parameters for individual atomic transitions, complemented by theoretical calculations. VALD is actively used by astronomers for stellar spectroscopic studies-model atmosphere calculations, atmospheric parameter determinations, abundance analysis etc. The two first VALD releases contained parameters for atomic transitions only. In a major upgrade of VALD-VALD3, publically available from spring 2014, atomic data was complemented with parameters of molecular lines. The diatomic molecules C 2 , CH, CN, CO, OH, MgH, SiH, TiO are now included. For each transition VALD provides species name, wavelength, energy, quantum number J and Landé-factor of the lower and upper levels, radiative, Stark and van der Waals damping factors and a full description of electronic configurarion and term information of both levels. Compared to the previous versions we have revised and verify all of the existing data and added new measurements and calculations for transitions in the range between 20 Å and 200 microns. All transitions were complemented with term designations in a consistent way and electron configurations when available. All data were checked for consistency: listed wavelength versus Ritz, selection rules etc. A new bibliographic system keeps track of literature references for each parameter in a given transition throughout the merging process so that every selected data entry can be traced to the original source. The query language and the extraction tools can now handle various units, vacuum and air wavelengths. In the upgrade process we had an intensive interaction with data producers, which was very helpful for improving the quality of the VALD content.

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We present a catalog of uniformly determined stellar properties and abundances for 1,617 F, G, and K stars using an automated spectral synthesis modeling procedure. All stars were observed using the HIRES spectrograph at Keck Observatory. Our procedure used a single line list to fit model spectra to observations of all stars to determine effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, projected rotational velocity, and the abundances of 15 elements (C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, & Y). Sixty percent of the sample had Hipparcos parallaxes and V-band photometry which we combined with the spectroscopic results to obtain mass, radius, and luminosity. Additionally, we used the luminosity, effective temperature, metallicity and α-element enhancement to interpolate in the Yonsei-Yale isochrones to derive mass, radius, gravity, and age ranges for those stars. Finally, we determined new relations between effective temperature and macroturbulence for dwarfs and subgiants. Our analysis achieved precisions of 25 K in T eff , 0.01 dex in [M/H], 0.028 dex for log g and 0.5 km s −1 in v sin ibased on multiple observations of the same stars. The abundance results were similarly precise, between ∼ 0.01 and ∼ 0.04 dex, though trends with respect to T eff remained for which we derived empirical corrections. The trends, though small, were much larger than our uncertainties and are shared with published abundances. We show that changing our model atmosphere grid accounts for most of the trend in [M/H] between 5000 K and 5500 K indicating a possible problem with the atmosphere models or opacities.