No Arabic abstract
Bromine (atomic number Z=35) and antimony (Z=51) are extremely difficult to detect in stars. In very few instances, weak and mostly uncertain identifications of Br I, Br II, and Sb II in relatively cool, chemically peculiar stars were successful. Adopted solar abundance values rely on meteoritic determinations. Here, we announce the first identification of these species in far-ultraviolet spectra of hot stars (with effective temperatures of 49,500-70,000 K), namely in helium-rich (spectral type DO) white dwarfs. We identify the Br VI resonance line at 945.96 A. A previous claim of Br detection based on this line is incorrect because its wavelength position is inaccurate by about 7 A in atomic databases. Taking advantage of precise laboratory measurements, we identify this line as well as two other, subordinate Br VI lines. Antimony is detected by the Sb V resonance doublet at 1104.23/1225.98 A, as well as two subordinate Sb VI lines. A model-atmosphere analysis reveals strongly oversolar Br and Sb abundances that are caused by radiative-levitation dominated atomic diffusion.
The main objective of this paper is to explore abundances of fluorine in hot Extreme Helium Stars (EHes). Overabundance of fluorine is a characteristic feature for cool EHes and R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars and further enforces their close connection. For hot EHes this relationship with the cooler EHes, based on their fluorine abundance is unexplored. We present in this paper the first abundance estimates of fluorine determined from singly ionised fluorine lines (F,{sc ii}) for 10 hot EHe stars from optical spectra. Fluorine abundances were determined using the F,{sc ii} lines in two windows centered at 3505 AA and 3850 AA . Six of the 10 stars show significant enhancement of fluorine similar to the cool EHes. Two carbon-poor hot EHes show no signature of fluorine and have a significant low upper limit for the F abundance. These fluorine abundances are compared with the other elemental abundances observed in these stars which provide an idea about the formation and evolution of these stars. The trends of fluorine with C, O, and Ne show that significant helium burning after a CO-He white dwarf merger can account for a majority of the observed abundances. Predictions from simulations of white dwarf mergers are discussed in light of the observed abundances.
About 22000 Kepler stars and nearly 60000 TESS stars from sectors 1-24 have been classified according to variability type. A large proportion of stars of all spectral types appear to have periods consistent with the expected rotation periods. A previous analysis of A and late B stars strongly suggests that these stars are indeed rotational variables. In this paper we have accumulated sufficient data to show that rotational modulation is present even among the early B stars. A search for flares in TESS A and B stars resulted in the detection of 110 flares in 68 stars. The flare energies exceed those of typical K and M dwarfs by at least two orders of magnitude. These results, together with severe difficulties of current models to explain stellar pulsations in A and B stars, suggest a need for revision of our current understanding of the outer layers of stars with radiative envelopes.
We present the first analysis of W Vir stars observed by the Kepler space telescope in the K2 mission. Clear cycle-to-cycle variation were detected in the light curves of KT Sco and the globular cluster member M80-V1. While the variations in the former star seems to be irregular on the short time scale of the K2 data, the latter appears to experience period doubling in its pulsation. Ground-based colour data confirmed that both stars are W Vir-type pulsators, while a comparison with historical photometric time-series data revealed drastic period changes in both stars. For comparison we reexamine ground-based observations of W Vir, the prototype of the class, and conclude that it shows period doubling instead of mode beating. These results support the notion that nonlinear dynamics plays an important role in the pulsation of W Virginis-type stars.
Hot channel (HC) is a high temperature ($sim$10 MK) structure in the inner corona revealed first by Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board textit{Solar Dynamics Observatory}. Eruption of HC is often associated with flare and coronal mass ejection. Previous studies suggest that HC is a good proxy of magnetic flux rope (MFR) in the inner corona, in addition to another well-known MFR candidate, the prominence-cavity structure that is with a normal coronal temperature ($sim$1-2 MK). In this paper, we report a high temperature structure (HTS, $sim$1.5 MK) contained in an interplanetary coronal mass ejection induced by an HC eruption. According to the observations of bidirectional electrons, high temperature and density, strong magnetic field, and its association with the shock, sheath, and plasma pile-up region, we suggest that the HTS is the interplanetary counterpart of the HC. The scale of the measured HTS is around 14 R$_odot$, and it maintained a much higher temperature than the background solar wind even at 1 AU. It is significantly different from the typical magnetic clouds (MCs), which usually have a much lower temperature. Our study suggests that the existence of a corotating interaction region ahead of the HC formed a magnetic container to inhibit the HC expansion and cooling down to a low temperature.
Magnetic confinement of the winds of hot, massive stars has far-reaching consequences on timescales ranging from hours to Myr. Understanding the long-term effects of this interplay has already led to the identification of two new evolutionary pathways to form `heavy stellar mass black holes and pair-instability supernova even at galactic metallicity. We are performing 1D stellar evolution model calculations that, for the first time, account for the surface effects and the time evolution of fossil magnetic fields. These models will be thoroughly confronted with observations and will potentially lead to a significant revision of the derived parameters of observed magnetic massive stars.