  We embarked on a high-resolution optical spectroscopic survey of bright
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) stars around the Northern Ecliptic
Pole (NEP), dubbed the Vatican-Potsdam-NEP (VPNEP) survey. Our NEP coverage
comprises 1067 stars, of which 352 are bona fide dwarf stars and 715 are giant
stars, all cooler than spectral type F0 and brighter than V=8. m 5. Our aim is
to characterize these stars for the benefit of future studies in the community.
We analyzed the spectra via comparisons with synthetic spectra. Particular line
profiles were analyzed by means of eigen-profiles, equivalent widths, and
relative emission-line fluxes (when applicable). Two R=200 000 spectra were
obtained for each of the dwarf stars with the Vatican Advanced Technology
Telescope (VATT) and the Potsdam Echelle Polarimetric and Spectroscopic
Instrument (PEPSI), with typically three R=55 000 spectra obtained for the
giant stars with STELLA and the STELLA Echelle Spectrograph (SES). Combined
with V-band magnitudes, Gaia eDR3 parallaxes, and isochrones from the Padova
and Trieste Stellar Evolutionary Code, the spectra can be used to obtain radial
velocities, effective temperatures, gravities, rotational and turbulence
broadenings, stellar masses and ages, and abundances for 27 chemical elements,
as well as isotope ratios for lithium and carbon, line bisector spans,
convective blue-shifts (when feasible), and levels of magnetic activity from
H{\alpha}, H{\beta}, and the Ca ii infrared triplet. In this initial paper, we
discuss our analysis tools and biases, presenting our first results from a
pilot sub-sample of 54 stars (27 bona-fide dwarf stars observed with VATT+PEPSI
and 27 bona-fide giant stars observed with STELLA+SES) and making all reduced
spectra available to the community.
