P. Niarchos

THE 2001 SUPEROUTBURST OF WZ SAGITTAE

ABSTRACT We report the results of a worldwide campaign to observe WZ Sagittae during its 2001 superoutburst. After a 23 yr slumber at \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcommand\sfdefault{wncyss} \renewcommand\encodingdefault{OT2} \normalfont \selectfont} \DeclareTextFontCommand{\textcyr}{\cyr} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} \landscape

Photometric multi-site campaign on the open cluster NGC 884 - I. Detection of the variable stars

V=15.5

A photometric study of BH Cas

\end{document} , the star rose within 2 days to a peak brightness of 8.2, and showed a main eruption lasting 25 days. The return to quiescence was punctuated by 12 small eruptions, of ∼1 mag amplitude and 2 day recurrence time; these “echo outbursts” are of uncertain origin, but somewhat resemble the normal outbursts of dwarf novae. After 52 ...

Irregular amplitude variations and another abrupt period change in the

Context. Recent progress in the seismic interpretation of field β Cep stars has resulted in improvements of the physics in the stellar structure and evolution models of massive stars. Further asteroseismic constraints can be obtained from studying ensembles of stars in a young open cluster, which all have similar age, distance and chemical composition. Aims. To improve our comprehension of the β Cep stars, we studied the young open cluster NGC 884 to discover new B-type pulsators, besides the two known β Cep stars, and other variable stars. Methods. An extensive multi-site campaign was set up to gather accurate CCD photometry time series in four filters (U, B, V, I )o f a field of NGC 884. Fifteen different instruments collected almost 77 500 CCD images in 1286 h. The images were calibrated and reduced to transform the CCD frames into interpretable differential light curves. Various variability indicators and frequency analyses were applied to detect variable stars in the field. Absolute photometry was taken to deduce some general cluster and stellar properties. Results. We achieved an accuracy for the brightest stars of 5.7 mmag in V, 6.9 mmag in B, 5.0 mmag in I and 5.3 mmag in U .T he noise level in the amplitude spectra is 50 μmag in the V band. Our campaign confirms the previously known pulsators, and we report more than one hundred new multi- and mono-periodic B-, A- and F-type stars. Their interpretation in terms of classical instability domains is not straightforward, pointing to imperfections in theoretical instability computations. In addition, we have discovered six new eclipsing binaries and four candidates as well as other irregular variable stars in the observed field.

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New CCD observations of the contact binary system BH Cas are presented in this paper. New times of minima and an ephemeris based on our observations are also given. Complete light curves obtained in the V , R and I lters have been analyzed with the Wilson-Devinney code to derive the geometrical and physical parameters of the system. The nal solution leads to a contact conguration (f 21 22%). We have found that the photometric mass ratio diers from the spectroscopic one by about 13%, a discrepancy which is not uncommon for other W UMa systems. The absolute elements of the system are used to study its evolutionary status. The results show that BH Cas is a fairly evolved W-type W UMa system.

Scuti star V 1162 Ori

We report that the intermediate amplitude Scuti star V 1162 Ori has changed its main pulsational period in the course of the year 2000. This new period change falls in a sequence of period changes observed during the last 5 years. While the average amplitude value of all our new data, 63 mmag, ts a cyclic amplitude variation suggested by Arentoft et al. (2001), splitting the data up in smaller subsets discloses signicant deviations from regularity, with stretches of constant amplitude during short intervals of time. The new data show that the amplitude of one of the secondary frequencies, f2, has in 3 years dropped from more than 3 mmag to now about 1 mmag, and that the previously obtained f5 probably is a 1 d 1 alias of the real frequency. We present the newly

On the performance of GAIA on photometry of eclipsing binaries: The case of four near-contact and contact systems

The light curves of four eclipsing binaries (two near-contact and two contact) are analysed by means of light curve synthesis techniques to derive the geometric and photometric elements and the physical parameters of the systems. For the analysis we used ground based photometric observations and Hipparcos/Tycho photometric data, which mimic the photometric observations that should be obtained by GAIA, the approved Cornerstone 6 mission by ESA. The results are compared and the achievable precision of the basic stellar parameters derived by GAIA photometry is discussed.

A Photometric study of the near-contact system RU Ursae Minoris

The near-contact system RU UMi with an F0 primary and a K5 secondary was observed in U, B and V wavelengths in May and July 1998, as well as in March, May and July 1999. Six new observed times of minima are given and a new ephemeris is proposed. The basic parameters of the system extracted by our observations were used for spot modelling of the light curves. A simple spot distribution was determined, based on a model with one relatively small cool spot on the surface of the secondary. Absolute elements were calculated and the evolutionary status was determined. Our data favor a semi-detached conguration, with the secondary lling its inner Roche lobe; the primary must also be near the limits of its lobe.

Towards ensemble asteroseismology of the young open clusters χ Persei and NGC 6910

As a result of the variability survey in χ Persei and NGC 6910, the number of β Cep stars that are members of these two open clusters is increased to twenty stars, nine in NGC 6910 and eleven in χ Persei. We compare pulsational properties, in particular the frequency spectra, of β Cep stars in both clusters and explain the differences in terms of the global parameters of the clusters. We also indicate that the more complicated pattern of the variability among B-type stars in χ Persei is very likely caused by higher rotational velocities of stars in this cluster. We conclude that the sample of pulsating stars in the two open clusters constitutes a very good starting point for the ensemble asteroseismology of β Cep-type stars and maybe also for other B-type pulsators (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Search for pulsation among suspected A-type binaries and the new multiperiodic Delta Scuti star HD217860

We have explored a sample of suspected A-type binaries in a systematic way, both spectroscopically and photometrically. Due to their location in the H-R diagram, indications of pulsation and/or chemical peculiarities among these suspected binary (or multiple) systems may be found. High-resolution spectroscopy obtained with the ELODIE and MUSICOS spectrographs was used in combination with a few nights of differential CCD photometry in order to search for pulsation(s). Of the 32 investigated targets, eight are spectroscopic binaries, one of which is a close binary also showing eclipses, and three have been identified as Delta Scuti pulsators with rapid line-profile variations. Among the latter stars, HD 217860 reveals interesting multiperiodic photometric and spectroscopic variations, with up to eight frequencies common to two large photometric data sets. We suggest that at least one radial overtone mode is excited among the two most dominant frequencies. We furthermore found evidence for a strong modulation of the amplitude(s) and/or the (radial) frequency content of this intriguing Delta Scuti star.