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Register a new userThe historical vanishing of the Blazhko effect of RR Lyr from GEOS and Kepler surveys
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Added by
Jean-Francois Le Borgne
Publication date
2014
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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RR Lyr is one of the most studied variable stars. Its light curve has been regularly monitored since the discovery of the periodic variability in 1899. Analysis of all observed maxima allows us to identify two primary pulsation states defined as pulsation over a long (P0 longer than 0.56684 d) and a short (P0 shorter than 0.56682 d) primary pulsation period. These states alternate with intervals of 13-16 yr, and are well defined after 1943. The 40.8 d periodical modulations of the amplitude and the period (i.e. Blazhko effect) were noticed in 1916. We provide homogeneous determinations of the Blazhko period in the different primary pulsation states. The Blazhko period does not follow the variations of P0 and suddenly diminished from 40.8 d to around 39.0 d in 1975. The monitoring of these periodicities deserved and deserves a continuous and intensive observational effort. For this purpose we have built dedicated, transportable and autonomous small instruments, Very Tiny Telescopes (VTTs), to observe the times of maximum brightness of RR Lyr. As immediate results the VTTs recorded the last change of P0 state in mid-2009 and extended the time coverage of the Kepler observations, thus recording a maximum O-C amplitude of the Blazhko effect at the end of 2008, followed by the historically smallest O-C amplitude in late 2013. This decrease is still ongoing and VTT instruments are ready to monitor the expected increase in the next few years.
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We used the GEOS database to study the Blazhko effect of galactic RRab stars. The database is continuously enriched by maxima supplied by amateur astronomers and by a dedicated survey by means of the two TAROT robotic telescopes. The same value of the Blazhko period is observed at different values of the pulsation periods and different values of the Blazhko periods are observed at the same value of the pulsation period. There are clues suggesting that the Blazhko effect is changing from one cycle to the next. The secular changes in the pulsation and Blazhko periods of Z CVn are anticorrelated. The diagrams of magnitudes against phases of the maxima clearly show that the light curves of Blazhko variables can be explained as modulated signals, both in amplitude and in frequency. The closed curves describing the Blazhko cycles in such diagrams have different shapes, reflecting the phase shifts between the epochs of the brightest maximum and the maximum O-C. Our sample shows that both clockwise and anticlockwise directions are possible for similar shapes. The improved observational knowledge of the Blazhko effect, in addition to some peculiarities of the light curves, have still to be explained by a satisfactory physical mechanism.
We present the results of collaborative observations of three RR Lyrae stars (CX Lyr, NU Aur and VY CrB) which have a strong Blazhko effect. This work has been initiated and performed in the framework of the GEOS RR Lyr Survey (Groupe Europeen dObservations Stellaires). From the measured light curves, we have determined the times and the magnitudes at maximum. The times of maxima have been compared to ephemerides to obtain the (O-C) values and from a period analysis of these (O-C) values, the Blazhko period is derived. The Blazhko periods of NU Aur (114.8 days) and VY CrB (32.3 days) are reported here for the first time and a more accurate period for CX Lyr (68.3 days) has been obtained. The three stars are subject to strong Blazhko effect, but this effect has different characteristics for each of them. When we compare the variations of magnitude at maximum and variations of (O-C) values with respect to the Blazhko phase, these variations are either in phase, in opposition, or even in quadrature.
Though FM Del has been considered as a RR Lyr star by Preston et al. in 1959 (following discovery by Huth, 1957), Huth (1960) eventually changed his mind by showing that it is in fact a cepheid of W Vir type of period of 3.95452 days. Various authors since then have considered it as a cepheid indeed, with the exception of Wils et al. (2006) who list this star in their RR Lyr catalog with a period of 0.79688 days. On this basis, FM Del was added to Tarot RR Lyr program. We present here these observations which confirm the cepheid type.
This paper summarizes the main results of our recent study of the non-Blazhko RR Lyrae stars observed with the Kepler space telescope. These stars offer the opportunity for studying the stability of the pulsations of RR Lyrae stars and for providing a reference against which the Blazhko RR Lyrae stars can be compared. Of particular interest is the stability of the low-dispersion (sigma < 1mmag) light curves constructed from ~18,000 long-cadence (30-min) and (for FN Lyr and AW Dra) the ~150,000 short-cadence (1-min) photometric data points. Fourier-based [Fe/H] values and other physical characteristics are also derived. When the observed periods are compared with periods computed with the Warsaw non-linear convective pulsation code better agreement is achieved assuming pulsational L and M values rather than the (higher) evolutionary L and M values.
The Blazhko effect is the conspicuous amplitude and phase modulation of the pulsation of RR Lyrae stars that was discovered in the early 20th century. The field of study of this mysterious modulation has recently been invigorated thanks to the space photometric missions providing long, uninterrupted, ultra-precise time series data. In this paper I give a brief overview of the new observational findings related to the Blazhko effect, like extreme modulations, irregular modulation cycles and additional periodicities. I argue that these findings together with dedicated ground-based efforts now provide us with a fairly complete picture and a good starting point to theoretical investigations. Indeed, new, unpredicted dynamical phenomena have been discovered in Blazhko RR Lyrae stars, such as period doubling, high-order resonances, three-mode pulsation and low-dimensional chaos. These led to the proposal of a new explanation to this century-old enigma, namely a high-order resonance between radial modes. Along these lines I present the latest efforts and advances from the theoretical point of view. Lastly, amplitude variations in Cepheids are discussed.
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