No Arabic abstract
Aims: We present accurate photometric time series of two Be stars: NW Ser and V1446 Aql. Both stars were observed at the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada (Granada) in July 2003 with an automatic four-channel Stromgren photometer. We also present a preliminary theoretical study showing that the periodic variations exhibited by these stars can be due to pulsation. Methods: An exhaustive Fourier analysis together with a least-square fitting has been carried out on the time series for all four Stromgren bands. Several independent frequencies and non-periodic trends explain most of the variance. A theoretical non-adiabatic code applied to stellar models for these stars shows that g-modes are unstable. Results: Both stars show rapid variations in amplitude, probably due to a beating phenomenon. Four significant frequencies have been detected for each star. Comparison of the observed amplitude ratios for each pulsational frequency with those calculated from theoretical pulsation codes allows us to estimate the pulsation modes associated with the different detected frequencies. NW Ser seems also to show unstable p-modes and thus could be one of the newly discovered $beta$ Cephei and SPB hybrid stars. Further spectroscopic observations are planned to study the stability of the detected frequencies.
BVRI photometry and low-, medium- and high-resolution Echelle fluxed spectroscopy is presented and discussed for three faint, heavily reddened novae of the FeII-type which erupted in 2013. V1830 Aql reached a peak V=15.2 mag on 2013 Oct 30.3 UT and suffered from a huge E(B-V)~2.6 mag reddening. After a rapid decline, when the nova was Delta(V)=1.7 mag below maximum, it entered a flat plateau where it remained for a month until Solar conjunction prevented further observations. Similar values were observed for V556 Ser, that peaked near Rc=12.3 around 2013 Nov 25 and soon went lost in the glare of sunset sky. V809 Cep peaked at V=11.18 on 2013 Feb 3.6. The reddening is E(B-V)~1.7 and the nova is located within or immediately behind the spiral Outer Arm, at a distance of ~6.5 kpc as constrained by the velocity of interstellar atomic lines and the rate of decline from maximum. While passing at t_3, the nova begun to form a thick dust layer that caused a peak extinction of Delta(V)>5 mag, and took 125 days to completely dissolve. The dust extinction turned from neutral to selective around 6000 Ang. Monitoring the time evolution of the integrated flux of emission lines allowed to constrain the region of dust formation in the ejecta to be above the region of formation of OI 7774 Ang and below that of CaII triplet. Along the decline from maximum and before the dust obscuration, the emission line profiles of Nova Cep 2013 developed a narrow component (FWHM=210 km/sec) superimposed onto the much larger normal profile, making it a member of the so far exclusive but growing club of novae displaying this peculiar feature. Constrains based on the optical thickness of the innermost part of the ejecta and on the radiated flux, place the origin of the narrow feature within highly structured internal ejecta and well away from the central binary.
Based on a search for multi-periodic variability among the semi-regular red variable stars in the database of the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS), a sample of 72 typical examples is presented. Their period analysis was performed using Discrete Fourier Transform. In 41 stars we identified two significant periods each, simultaneously present, while the remaining 31 cases revealed even three such periods per star. They occur in a range roughly between 50 and 3000 days. Inter-relationships between these periods were analyzed using the double period diagram which compares adjacent periods, and the so-called Petersen diagram, the period ratio vs. the shorter period. In both diagrams we could identify six sequences of accumulation of the period values. For five of these sequences (containing 97% of all data points) we found an almost perfect coincidence with those of previous studies which were based on very different samples of semi-regular red variables. Therefore, existence and locations of these sequences in the diagrams seem to be universal features, which appear in any data set of semi-regularly variable red giants of the AGB; we conclude that they are caused by different pulsation modes as the typical and consistent properties of similar stellar AGB configurations. Stellar pulsations can be considered as the principal cause of the observed periodic variability of these stars, and not binary, rotation of a spotted surface or other possible reasons suggested in the literature.
We examine high-cadence space photometry taken by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) of a sample of evolved massive stars (26 Wolf-Rayet stars and 8 Luminous Blue Variables or candidate LBVs). To avoid confusion problems, only stars without bright Gaia neighbours and without evidence of bound companions are considered. This leads to a clean sample, whose variability properties should truly reflect the properties of the WR and LBV classes. Red noise is detected in all cases and its fitting reveals characteristics very similar to those found for OB-stars. Coherent variability is also detected for 20% of the WR sample. Most detections occur at moderately high frequency (3--14/d), hence are most probably linked to pulsational activity. This work doubles the number of WRs known to exhibit high-frequency signals.
We show that Be stars belong to a high velocity tail of a single B-type star rotational velocity distribution in the MS. This implies that: 1) the number fraction N(Be)/N(Be+B) is independent of the mass; 2) Bn stars having ZAMS rotational velocities higher than a given limit might become Be stars.
We present an analysis of the pulsation behaviour of the Delta Scuti stars 7 Aql (HD 174532) and 8 Aql (HD 174589) -- a new variable star -- observed in the framework of STEPHI XII campaign during 2003 June--July. 183 hours of high precision photometry were acquired by using four-channel photometers at three sites on three continents during 21 days. The light curves and amplitude spectra were obtained following a classical scheme of multi-channel photometry. Observations in different filters were also obtained and analyzed. Six and three frequencies have been unambiguously detected above a 99% confidence level in the range 0.090 mHz--0.300 mHz and 0.100 mHz-- 0.145 mHz in 7 Aql and 8 Aql respectively. A comparison of observed and theoretical frequencies shows that 7 Aql and 8 Aql may oscillate with p modes of low radial orders, typical among Delta Scuti stars. In terms of radial oscillations the range of 8 Aql goes from n=1 to n=3 while for 7 Aql the range spans from n=4 to n=7. Non-radial oscillations have to be present in both stars as well. The expected range of excited modes according to a non adiabatic analysis goes from n=1 to n=6 in both stars.