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Register a new userEvolving pulsation of the slowly rotating magnetic $beta$ Cep star $xi^1$ CMa
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Recent BRITE-Constellation space photometry of the slowly rotating, magnetic $beta$ Cep pulsator $xi^1$ CMa permits a new analysis of its pulsation properties. Analysis of the two-colour BRITE data reveals the well-known single pulsation period of $0.209$ d, along with its first and second harmonics. A similar analysis of SMEI and TESS observations yields compatible results, with the higher precision TESS observations also revealing several low-amplitude modes with frequencies below 5 d$^{-1}$; some of these are likely $g$ modes. The phase lag between photometric and radial velocity maxima - equal to 0.334 cycles - is significantly larger than the typical value of $1/4$ observed in other large-amplitude $beta$ Cep stars. The phase lag, as well as the strong dependence of phase of maximum light on wavelength, can be reconciled with seismic models only if the dominant mode is the fundamental radial mode. We employ all published photometric and radial velocity measurements, spanning over a century, to evaluate the stability of the pulsation period. The $O-C$ diagram exhibits a clear parabolic shape consistent with a mean rate of period change $dot P=0.34pm 0.02$ s/cen. The residuals from the best-fit parabola exhibit scatter that is substantially larger than the uncertainties. In particular, dense sampling obtained during the past $sim$20 years suggests more complex and rapid period variations. Those data cannot be coherently phased with the mean rate of period change, and instead require $dot Psim0.9$ s/cen. We examine the potential contributions of binarity, stellar evolution, and stellar rotation and magnetism to understand the apparent period evolution.
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We report the latest set of spectropolarimetric observations of the magnetic $beta$ Cep star $xi^1$ CMa. The new observations confirm the long-period model of Shultz et al. (2017), who proposed a rotational period of about 30 years and predicted that in 2018 the star should pass through a magnetic null. In perfect agreement with this projection, all longitudinal magnetic field $langle B_z rangle$ measurements are close to 0 G. Remarkably, individual Stokes $V$ profiles all display a crossover signature, which is consistent with $langle B_z rangle sim 0$ but is {em not} expected when $vsin{i} sim 0$. The crossover signatures furthermore exhibit pulsationally modulated amplitude and sign variations. We show that these unexpected phenomena can all be explained by a `radial crossover effect related to the stars radial pulsations, together with an important deviation of the global field topology from a purely dipolar structure, which we explore via a dipole+quadrupole configuration as the simplest non-dipolar field.
Recently announced magnetic models for four SPB and {beta} Cep stars, along with magnetic detections for two additional stars, have potentially doubled the number of known magnetic SPB and beta Cep stars (see Grunhut et al., these proceedings). We have reanalyzed the published data and re-reduced archival low resolution spectropolarimetry collected with the FORS1/2 instruments at VLT on which the models were based, and compare them with high resolution data from the ESPaDOnS spectropolarimeter at CFHT, investigating previously noted inconsistencies between results from the two instruments.
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.
Stars are not perfectly spherically symmetric. They are deformed by rotation and magnetic fields. Until now, the study of stellar shapes has only been possible with optical interferometry for a few of the fastest-rotating nearby stars. We report an asteroseismic measurement, with much better precision than interferometry, of the asphericity of an A-type star with a rotation period of 100 days. Using the fact that different modes of oscillation probe different stellar latitudes, we infer a tiny but significant flattening of the stars shape of $Delta R/R = (1.8 pm 0.6) times 10^{-6}$. For a stellar radius $R$ that is $2.24$ times the solar radius, the difference in radius between the equator and the poles is $Delta R = 3 pm 1$ km. Because the observed $Delta R/R$ is only one-third of the expected rotational oblateness, we conjecture the presence of a weak magnetic field on a star that does not have an extended convective envelope. This calls to question the origin of the magnetic field.
Context. The existence of a significant population of Ap stars with very long rotation periods (up to several hundred years) has progressively emerged over the past two decades. However, only lower limits of the periods are known for most of them because their variations have not yet been observed over a sufficient timebase. Aims. We determine the rotation period of the slowly rotating Ap star HD 18078 and we derive constraints on the geometrical structure of its magnetic field. Methods. We combine measurements of the mean magnetic field modulus obtained from 1990 to 1997 with determinations of the mean longitudinal magnetic field spanning the 1999-2007 time interval to derive an unambiguous value of the rotation period. We show that this value is consistent with photometric variations recorded in the Stroemgren uvby photometric system between 1995 and 2004. We fit the variations of the two above-mentioned field moments with a simple model to constrain the magnetic structure. Results. The rotation period of HD 18078 is (1358 +/- 12) d. The geometrical structure of its magnetic field is consistent to first order with a colinear multipole model whose axis is offset from the centre of the star. Conclusions. HD 18078 is only the fifth Ap star with a rotation period longer than 1000 days for which the exact value of that period (as opposed to a lower limit) could be determined. The strong anharmonicity of the variations of its mean longitudinal magnetic field and the shift between their extrema and those of the mean magnetic field modulus are exceptional and indicative of a very unusual magnetic structure.
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