No Arabic abstract
We report an analysis of the first known Beta Cep pulsator observed by the TESS mission, the runaway star PHL 346 = HN Aqr. The star, previously known as a singly-periodic pulsator, has at least 34 oscillation modes excited, 12 of those in the g-mode domain and 22 p modes. Analysis of archival data implies that the amplitude and frequency of the dominant mode and the stellar radial velocity were variable over time. A binary nature would be inconsistent with the inferred ejection velocity from the Galactic disc of 420 km/s, which is too large to be survivable by a runaway binary system. A kinematic analysis of the star results in an age constraint (23 +- 1 Myr) that can be imposed on asteroseismic modelling and that can be used to remove degeneracies in the modelling process. Our attempts to match the excitation of the observed frequency spectrum resulted in pulsation models that were too young. Hence, asteroseismic studies of runaway pulsators can become vital not only in tracing the evolutionary history of such objects, but to understand the interior structure of massive stars in general. TESS is now opening up these stars for detailed asteroseismic investigation.
We undertake another attempt towards seismic modelling of the most intensive studied main sequence pulsators of the early B spectral type, $ u$ Eridani. Our analysis is extended by a requirement of fitting not only pulsational frequencies but also the complex amplitude of the bolometric flux variation, $f$, related to each mode frequency. This approach, called {it complex asteroseismology}, provides a unique test of stellar parameters, atmospheres and opacities. In particular, the concordance of the empirical and theoretical values of $f$ we obtained for the high-order g mode opens a new gate in seismic studies of the main-sequence hybrid pulsators. The most intriguing and challenging result is that whereas an agreement of the theoretical and empirical values of $f$ for the radial mode can be achieved only with the OPAL data, a preference for the OP tables is derived from the analysis of the high-order gravity mode.
Most previous efforts to calibrate how rotation and magnetic activity depend on stellar age and mass have relied on observations of clusters, where isochrones from stellar evolution models are used to determine the properties of the ensemble. Asteroseismology employs similar models to measure the properties of an individual star by matching its normal modes of oscillation, yielding the stellar age and mass with high precision. We use 27 days of photometry from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite to characterize solar-like oscillations in the G8 subgiant of the 94 Aqr triple system. The resulting stellar properties, when combined with a reanalysis of 35 yr of activity measurements from the Mount Wilson HK project, allow us to probe the evolution of rotation and magnetic activity in the system. The asteroseismic age of the subgiant agrees with a stellar isochrone fit, but the rotation period is much shorter than expected from standard models of angular momentum evolution. We conclude that weakened magnetic braking may be needed to reproduce the stellar properties, and that evolved subgiants in the hydrogen shell-burning phase can reinvigorate large-scale dynamo action and briefly sustain magnetic activity cycles before ascending the red giant branch.
In addition to its search for extra-solar planets, the NASA Kepler Mission provides exquisite data on stellar oscillations. We report the detections of oscillations in 500 solartype stars in the Kepler field of view, an ensemble that is large enough to allow statistical studies of intrinsic stellar properties (such as mass, radius and age) and to test theories of stellar evolution. We find that the distribution of observed masses of these stars shows intriguing differences to predictions from models of synthetic stellar populations in the Galaxy.
HD 156424 (B2 V) is a little-studied magnetic hot star in the Sco OB4 association, previously noted to display both high-frequency radial velocity (RV) variability and magnetospheric H$alpha$ emission. We have analysed the TESS light curve, and find that it is a $beta$ Cep pulsator with 11 detectable frequencies, 4 of which are independent $p$-modes. The strongest frequency is also detectable in RVs from ground-based high-resolution spectroscopy. RVs also show a long-term variation, suggestive of orbital motion with a period of $sim$years; significant differences in the frequencies determined from TESS and RV datasets are consistent with a light-time effect from orbital motion. Close examination of the stars spectrum reveals the presence of a spectroscopic companion, however as its RV is not variable it cannot be responsible for the orbital motion and we therefore infer that the system is a hierarchical triple with a so-far undetected third star. Reanalysis of LSD profiles from ESPaDOnS and HARPSpol spectropolarimetry reveals the surprising presence of a strong magnetic field in the companion star, with $langle B_z rangle$ about $+1.5$ kG as compared to $langle B_z rangle sim -0.8$ kG for the primary. HD 156424 is thus the second hot binary with two magnetic stars. We are unable to identify a rotational period for HD 156424A. The magnetospheric H$alpha$ emission appears to originate around HD 156424B. Using H$alpha$, as well as other variable spectral lines, we determine a period of about 0.52 d, making HD 156424B one of the most rapidly rotating magnetic hot stars.
We present the first asteroseismic results for $delta$ Scuti and $gamma$ Doradus stars observed in Sectors 1 and 2 of the TESS mission. We utilise the 2-min cadence TESS data for a sample of 117 stars to classify their behaviour regarding variability and place them in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram using Gaia DR2 data. Included within our sample are the eponymous members of two pulsator classes, $gamma$ Doradus and SX Phoenicis. Our sample of pulsating intermediate-mass stars observed by TESS also allows us to confront theoretical models of pulsation driving in the classical instability strip for the first time and show that mixing processes in the outer envelope play an important role. We derive an empirical estimate of 74% for the relative amplitude suppression factor as a result of the redder TESS passband compared to the Kepler mission using a pulsating eclipsing binary system. Furthermore, our sample contains many high-frequency pulsators, allowing us to probe the frequency variability of hot young $delta$ Scuti stars, which were lacking in the Kepler mission data set, and identify promising targets for future asteroseismic modelling. The TESS data also allow us to refine the stellar parameters of SX Phoenicis, which is believed to be a blue straggler.