No Arabic abstract
HD144941 is an evolved early-type metal-poor low-mass star with a hydrogen-poor surface. It is frequently associated with other intermediate helium-rich subdwarfs and extreme helium stars. Previous photometric studies have failed to detect any variability. New observations with the K2 mission show complex but periodic variations with a full amplitude of 4 parts per thousand. It is proposed that these are due to an inhomogeneous surface brightness distribution (spots) superimposed on a rotation period of 13.9+/-0.2 d. The cause of the surface inhomogeneity is not identified, although an oblique dipolar magnetic field origin is plausible.
Using patterns in the oscillation frequencies of a white dwarf observed by K2, we have measured the fastest rotation rate, 1.13(02) hr, of any isolated pulsating white dwarf known to date. Balmer-line fits to follow-up spectroscopy from the SOAR telescope show that the star (SDSSJ0837+1856, EPIC 211914185) is a 13,590(340) K, 0.87(03) solar-mass white dwarf. This is the highest mass measured for any pulsating white dwarf with known rotation, suggesting a possible link between high mass and fast rotation. If it is the product of single-star evolution, its progenitor was a roughly 4.0 solar-mass main-sequence B star; we know very little about the angular momentum evolution of such intermediate-mass stars. We explore the possibility that this rapidly rotating white dwarf is the byproduct of a binary merger, which we conclude is unlikely given the pulsation periods observed.
We use K2 to continue the exploration of the distribution of rotation periods in Pleiades that we began in Paper I. We have discovered complicated multi-period behavior in Pleiades stars using these K2 data, and we have grouped them into categories, which are the focal part of this paper. About 24% of the sample has multiple, real frequencies in the periodogram, sometimes manifesting as obvious beating in the light curves. Those having complex and/or structured periodogram peaks, unresolved multiple periods, and resolved close multiple periods are likely due to spot/spot group evolution and/or latitudinal differential rotation; these largely compose the slowly rotating sequence in $P$ vs.~$(V-K_{rm s})_0$ identified in Paper I. The fast sequence in $P$ vs.~$(V-K_{rm s})_0$ is dominated by single-period stars; these are likely to be rotating as solid bodies. Paper III continues the discussion, speculating about the origin and evolution of the period distribution in the Pleiades.
We analyze light curves of 284,834 unique K2 targets using a Gaussian process model with a quasi-periodic kernel function. By crossmatching K2 stars to observations from Gaia Data Release 2, we have identified 69,627 likely main-sequence stars. From these we select a subsample of 8,977 stars on the main-sequence with highly precise rotation period measurements. With this sample we recover the gap in the rotation period-color diagram first reported by cite{McQuillan2013}. While the gap was tentatively detected in cite{Reinhold2020}, this work represents the first robust detection of the gap in K2 data for field stars. This is significant because K2 observed along many lines of sight at wide angular separation, in contrast to Keplers single line of sight. Together with recent results for rotation in open clusters, we interpret this gap as evidence for a departure from the $t^{-1/2}$ Skumanich spin down law, rather than an indication of a bimodal star formation history. We provide maximum likelihood estimates and uncertainties for all parameters of the quasi-periodic light curve model for each of the 284,834 stars in our sample.
Frequency analysis of long-term ultra-precise photometry can lead to precise values of rotation frequencies of rotating stars with ``hump and spike features in their periodograms. Using these features, we computed the rotation frequencies and amplitudes. The corresponding equatorial rotational velocity ($v_{rm rot}$) and spot size were estimated. On fitting the autocorrelation functions of the light-curves with the appropriate model, we determined the starspot decay-time scale. The $v_{rm rot}$ agrees well with the projected rotational velocity ($v,{rm sin},i$) in the literature. Considering a single circular and black spot we estimate its radius from the amplitude of the ``spike. No evidence for a significant difference in the average ``spike amplitude and spot radius was found for Am/Fm and normal A stars. Indeed, we derived an average value of $rm sim 21pm2$ and $sim 19pm2,{rm ppm}$ for the photometric amplitude and of $rm 1.01,pm,0.13$ and $1.16,pm,0.12,R_{rm E}$ for the spot radius (where $R_{rm E}$ is the Earth radius), respectively. We do find a significant difference for the average spot decay-time scale, which amounts to $3.6pm0.2$ and $1.5pm0.2$ days for Am/Fm and normal A stars, respectively. In general, spots on normal A stars are similar in size to those on Am/Fm stars, and both are weaker than previously estimated. The existence of the ``spikes in the frequency spectra may not be strongly dependent on the appearance of starspots on the stellar surface. In comparison with G, K and M stars, spots in normal A and Am/Fm stars are weak which may indicate the presence of a weak magnetic field.
We present an analysis of K2 light curves (LCs) from Campaigns 4 and 13 for members of the young ($sim$3 Myr) Taurus association, in addition to an older ($sim$30 Myr) population of stars that is largely in the foreground of the Taurus molecular clouds. Out of 156 of the highest-confidence Taurus members, we find that 81% are periodic. Our sample of young foreground stars is biased and incomplete, but nearly all (37/38) are periodic. The overall distribution of rotation rates as a function of color (a proxy for mass) is similar to that found in other clusters: the slowest rotators are among the early M spectral types, with faster rotation towards both earlier FGK and later M types. The relationship between period and color/mass exhibited by older clusters such as the Pleiades is already in place by Taurus age. The foreground population has very few stars, but is consistent with the USco and Pleiades period distributions. As found in other young clusters, stars with disks rotate on average slower, and few with disks are found rotating faster than $sim$2 d. The overall amplitude of the light curves decreases with age and higher mass stars have generally lower amplitudes than lower mass stars. Stars with disks have on average larger amplitudes than stars without disks, though the physical mechanisms driving the variability and the resulting light curve morphologies are also different between these two classes.