Doppler imaging of the young late-type star LO Pegasi (BD+22 degrees 4409) in 2003 September

A Doppler image of the zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) late-type rapidly rotating star LO Pegasi, based on spectra acquired between 2003 September 12 and 15 is presented. The least-squares deconvolution technique is applied to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio of the mean rotational broadened line profiles extracted from the observed spectra. In the present application, an unbroadened spectrum is used as a reference, instead of a simple line list, to improve the deconvolution technique applied to extract the mean profiles. The reconstructed image is similar to those previously obtained from observations taken in 1993 and 1998, and shows that LO Peg photospheric activity is dominated by high-latitude spots with a non-uniform polar cap. The latter seems to be a persistent feature as it has been observed since 1993 with little modifications. Small spots, observed between similar to 10 degrees and similar to 60 degrees of latitude, appears to be different with respect to those present in the 1993 and 1998 maps.