Wolfgang Zima

KOI-54: The Kepler Discovery of Tidally Excited Pulsations and Brightenings in a Highly Eccentric Binary

Kepler observations of the star HD 187091 (KIC 8112039, hereafter KOI-54) revealed a remarkable light curve exhibiting sharp periodic brightening events every 41.8 days with a superimposed set of oscillations forming a beating pattern in phase with the brightenings. Spectroscopic observations revealed that this is a binary star with a highly eccentric orbit, e = 0.83. We are able to match the Kepler light curve and radial velocities with a nearly face-on (i = 55) binary star model in which the brightening events are caused by tidal distortion and irradiation of nearly identical A stars during their close periastron passage. The two dominant oscillations in the light curve, responsible for the beating pattern, have frequencies that are the 91st and 90th harmonic of the orbital frequency. The power spectrum of the light curve, after removing the binary star brightening component, reveals a large number of pulsations, 30 of which have a signal-to-noise ratio 7. Nearly all of these pulsations have frequencies that are either integer multiples of the orbital frequency or are tidally split multiples of the orbital frequency. This pattern of frequencies unambiguously establishes the pulsations as resonances between the dynamic tides at periastron and the free oscillation modes of one or both of the stars. KOI-54 is only the fourth star to show such a phenomenon and is by far the richest in terms of excited modes.

Post-AGB stars with hot circumstellar dust: binarity of the low-amplitude pulsators

Context. The influence of binarity on the late stages of stellar evolut ion. Aims. While the first binary post-AGB stars were serendipitously d iscovered, the distinct characteristics of their Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) allowed us to launch a more systematic search for binaries. We selected post-AGB objects which show a broad dust excess often starting already at H or K, pointing to the presence of a gravitationally bound dusty disc in the system. We started a very extensive multi-wavelength study of those systems and here we report on our radial velocity and photometric monitoring results for six stars of early F type, which are pulsators of small amplitude. Methods. To determine the radial velocity of low signal-to-noise time-series, we constructed dedicated auto-correlation masks based on high signal-to-noise spectra, used in our published chemical studies. The radial velocity variations were subjecte d to detailed analysis to differentiate between pulsational variability and variabilit y due to orbital motion. When available, the photometric monitoring data were used to complement the time series of radial velocity data and to establish the nature of the pulsation. Finally orbital minimalisation was performed to constrain the orbital elements. Results. All of the six objects are binaries, with orbital periods ran ging from 120 to 1800 days. Five systems have non-circular orbits. The mass functions range from 0.004 to 0.57 M⊙ and the companions are likely unevolved objects of (very) low initial mass. We argue that these binaries must have been subject to severe binary interaction when the primary was a cool supergiant. Although the origin of the circumstellar disc is not well understood, the disc is generally believed to be formed during this strong interaction phase. The eccentric orbits of these highly evolved objects remain poorly understood. In one object the line-of-sight is grazi ng the edge of the puffed-up inner rim of the disc. Conclusions. These results corroborate our earlier statement that evolved objects in binary stars create a Keplerian dusty circumbinary disc. With the measured orbits and mass functions we conclude that the circumbinary discs seem to have a major impact on the evolution of a significant fraction of binary systems.

Gravito-inertial and pressure modes detected in the B3 IV CoRoT target HD 43317

Context. OB stars are important building blocks of the Universe, but we have only a limited sample of them well understood enough from an asteroseismological point of view to provide feedback on the current evolutionary models. Our study adds one special case to this sample, with more observational constraints than for most of these stars. Aims. Our goal is to analyse and interpret the pulsational behaviour of the B3 IV star HD 43317 using the CoRoT light curve along with the ground-based spectroscopy gathered by the HARPS instrument. This way we continue our efforts to map the βCep and SPB instability strips. Methods. We used different techniques to reveal the abundances and fundamental stellar parameters from the newly-obtained highresolution spectra. We used various time-series analysis tools to explore the nature of variations present in the light curve. We calculated the moments and used the pixel-by-pixel method to look for line profile variations in the high-resolution spectra. Results. We find that HD 43317 is a single fast rotator (vrot ≈ 50% vcrit) and hybrid SPB/βCep-type pulsator with Solar metal abundances. We interpret the variations in photometry and spectroscopy as a result of rotational modulation connected to surface inhomogeneities, combined with the presence of both g and p mode pulsations. We detect a series of ten consecutive frequencies with an almost constant period spacing of 6339 s as well as a second shorter sequence consisting of seven frequencies with a spacing of 6380 s. The dominant frequencies fall in the regime of gravito-inertial modes.

Kepler photometry of KIC 10661783: a binary star with total eclipses and δ Scuti pulsations

We present Kepler satellite photometry of KIC 10661783, a short-period binary star system which shows total eclipses and multi-periodicScuti pulsations. A frequency analysis of the eclipse-subtracted light curve reveals at least 68 frequen cies of which 55 or more can be at- tributed to pulsation modes. The main limitation on this analysis is the frequency resolution within the 27-day short-cadence light curve. Most of the variability signal lies in the frequency range 18 to 31 d 1 , with amplitudes between 0.1 and 4 mmag. One harmonic term (2 × f ) and a few combination frequencies (fi + fj ) have been detected. From a plot of the residuals versus orbital phase we assign the pulsations to the primary star in the system. The pulsa- tions were removed from the short-cadence data and the light curve was modelled using the Wilson-Devinney code. We are unable to get a perfect fit due to the residual effects of pulsa- tions and also to the treatment of reflection and reprocessin g in the light curve model. A model where the secondary star fills its Roche lobe is favoured, whi ch means that KIC 10661783 can be classified as an oEA system. Further photometric and spect roscopic observations will al- low the masses and radii of the two stars to be measured to high precision and hundreds of � Scuti pulsation frequencies to be resolved. This could lead to unique constraints on theo- retical models ofScuti stars, if the evolutionary history of KIC 10661783 can be accounted for.

An asteroseismic study of the β Cephei star 12 Lacertae: multisite spectroscopic observations, mode identification and seismic modelling

We present the results of a spectroscopic multisite campaign for the β Cephei star 12 (DD) Lacertae. Our study is based on more than thousand high-resolution high S/N spectra gathered with eight different telescopes in a time span of 11 months. In addition, we make use of numerous archival spectroscopic measurements. We confirm 10 independent frequencies recently discovered from photometry, as well as harmonics and combination frequencies. In particular, the slowly pulsating B-stars (SPB)-like g-mode with frequency 0.3428 d −1 reported before is detected in our spectroscopy. We identify the four main modes as (� 1, m1) = (1, 1), (� 2, m2) = (0, 0), (� 3, m3) = (1, 0) and (� 4, m4) = (2, 1) for f 1 = 5.178 964 d −1 , f 2 = 5.334 224 d −1 , f 3 = 5.066 316 d −1 and f 4 = 5.490 133 d −1 , respectively. Our seismic modelling shows that f 2 is likely the radial first overtone and that the core overshooting parameter αov is lower than 0.4 local pressure scale heights.

A 3D study of the photosphere of HD 99563 – I. Pulsation analysis★

We have used high-speed spectroscopy of the rapidly oscillating Ap (roAp) star HD 99563 to study the pulsation amplitude and phase behaviour of elements in its stratified atmosphere over one 2.91-d rotation cycle. We identify spectral features related to patches in the surface distribution of chemical elements and study the pulsation amplitudes and phases as the patches move across the stellar disc. The variations are consistent with a distorted non-radial dipole pulsation mode. We measure a 1.6 km s ―1 rotational variation in the mean radial velocities of Hα and argue that this is the first observation of Hα abundance spots caused by He settling through suppression of convection by the magnetic field on an oblique rotator, in support of a prime theory for the excitation mechanism of roAp star pulsation. We demonstrate that HD 99563 is the second roAp star to show aspect dependence of blue-to-red running wave line profile variations in Nd m spots.

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

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.

Close binary and other variable stars in the solar-age Galactic open cluster M 67

We present multi-colour time-series CCD photometry of the solar-age galactic open cluster M 67 (NGC 2682). About 3600 frames spread over 28 nights were obtained with the 1.5 m Russian-Turkish and 1.2 m Mercator telescopes. High-precision observations of the close binary stars AH Cnc, EV Cnc, ES Cnc, the δ Scuti type systems EX Cnc and EW Cnc, and some long-period variables belonging to M 67 are presented. Three full multi-colour light curves of the overcontact binary AH Cnc were obtained during three observing seasons. Likewise we gathered three light curves of EV Cnc, an EB-type binary, and two light curves of ES Cnc, a blue straggler binary. Parts of the light change of long-term variables S 1024, S 1040, S 1045, S 1063, S 1242, and S 1264 are obtained. Period variation analysis of AH Cnc, EV Cnc, and ES Cnc were done using all times of mid-eclipse available in the literature and those obtained in this study. In addition, we analyzed multi-colour light curves of the close binaries and also determined new frequencies for the δ Scuti systems. The physical parameters of the close binary stars were determined with simultaneous solutions of multi-colour light and radial velocity curves. Finally we determined the distance of M 67 as 857(33) pc via binary star parameters, which is consistent with an independent method from earlier studies.

Discovery of a New AM CVn System with the Kepler Satellite

We report the discovery of a new AM CVn system on the basis of broadband photometry obtained with the Kepler satellite supplemented by ground-based optical spectroscopy. Initially retained on Kepler target lists as a potential compact pulsator, the blue object SDSS J190817.07+394036.4 (KIC 004547333) has turned out to be a high-state AM CVn star showing the He-dominated spectrum of its accretion disk significantly reddened by interstellar absorption. We constructed new grids of NLTE synthetic spectra for accretion disks in order to analyze our spectroscopic observations. From this analysis, we infer preliminary estimates of the rate of mass transfer, the inclination angle of the disk, and the distance to the system. The AM CVn nature of the system is also evident in the Kepler light curve, from which we extracted 11 secure periodicities. The luminosity variations are dominated by a basic periodicity of 938.507 s, likely to correspond to a superhump modulation. The light curve folded on the period of 938.507 s exhibits a pulse shape that is very similar to the superhump wavefront seen in AM CVn itself, which is a high-state system and the prototype of the class. Our Fourier analysis also suggests the likely presence of a quasi-periodic oscillation similar to those already observed in some high-state AM CVn systems. Furthermore, some very low-frequency, low-amplitude aperiodic photometric activity is likely present, which is in line with what is expected in accreting binary systems. Inspired by previous work, we further looked for and found some intriguing numerical relationships between the 11 secure detected frequencies, in the sense that we can account for all of them in terms of only three basic clocks. This is further evidence in favor of the AM CVn nature of the system.

Discovery of non-radial pulsations in the spectroscopic binary Herbig Ae star RS Chamaeleontis

Context: To understand the origin of stellar activity in pre-main-sequence Herbig Ae/Be stars and to get a deeper insight into the interior of these enigmatic stars, the pulsational instability strip of Palla and Marconi is investigated. In this article we present a first discovery of non radial pulsations in the Herbig Ae spectroscopic binary star RS Cha. Aims: The goal of the present work is to detect non-radial pulsations in a Herbig Ae star for the first time directly by spectrographic means and to identify the largest amplitude pulsation modes. Methods: The spectroscopic binary Herbig Ae star RS Cha was monitored in quasi-continuous observations during 14 observing nights (Jan. 2006) at the 1 m Mt. John (New Zealand) telescope with the Hercules high-resolution echelle spectrograph. The cumulative exposure time on the star was 44 h, corresponding to 255 individual high-resolution echelle spectra with R = 45 000. Least-square deconvolved spectra (LSD) were obtained for each spectrum, representing the effective photospheric absorption profile modified by pulsations. Difference spectra were calculated by subtracting rotationally broadened artificial profiles, these residual spectra were analysed and non-radial pulsations detected. A subsequent analysis with two complementary methods, namely Fourier Parameter Fit (FPF) and Fourier 2D (F2D) has been performed and first constraints on the pulsation modes derived. Results: For the very first time, we discovered by direct observational means using high-resolution echelle spectroscopy, non-radial oscillations in a Herbig Ae star. In fact, both components of the spectroscopic binary are Herbig Ae stars and both show NRPs. The FPF method identified 2 modes for the primary component with (degree l, azimuthal order m) couples ordered by decreasing probability: f1 = 21.11 d-1 with (l, m) = (11, 11), (11, 9) or (10, 6) and f2 = 30.38 d-1 with (l, m) = ( 10, 6) or (9, 5). The F2D analysis indicates for f1 a degree l = 8-10. For the secondary component, the FPF method identified 3 modes with (l,m) ordered by decreasing probability: f1 = 12.81 d-1 with (l, m) = (2, 1) or (2, 2), f_2b = 19.11 d-1 with (l, m) = (13, 5) or (10, 5) and f3 = 24.56 d-1 with (l, m) = (6, 3) or (6,5). The F2D analysis indicates for f1 a degree l = 2 or 3, but proposes a contradictory identification of f_2b as a radial pulsation (l = 0). Based on observations collected at the 1 m McLellan telescope at Mt John, NZ.