Evidence for enhanced mixing on the super-meteoritic Li-rich red giant HD 233517

Context. HD 233517 is among the most Li-rich stars in the sky. It is a rapidly rotating, single K giant thought to be on its first ascent on the red giant branch. The star has also the highest known infrared excess among any of the known first-ascent giants. Aims. We revisit the physical parameters of the system and aim to map its surface temperature distribution. Methods. New time-series photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy were obtained with our robotic facilities STELLA and Amadeus Automatic Photoelectric Telescope (APT) in 2007–2011. Inverse line-profile modelling is performed on a total of 167 échelle spectra and six Doppler images are presented. Results. Light and radial-velocity variations suggest a stellar rotation period of 47.6±0.3 d. The atmospheric parameters agree with previous studies and verify a super-meteoritic log 7Li abundance of 4.29±0.10 with undetected 6Li, while the metals are generally deficient by –0.4 dex with respect to the Sun. We determine a lower than normal isotopic carbon ratio of 12C/13C = 9+4-2. Our Doppler images indicate warm and cool spots with an average temperature contrast of just ±65 K with respect to the effective temperature. Doppler maps from Li