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Register a new userStellar ages and convective cores in field main-sequence stars: first asteroseismic application to two Kepler targets
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Added by
Victor Silva Aguirre
Publication date
2013
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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Using asteroseismic data and stellar evolution models we make the first detection of a convective core in a Kepler field main-sequence star, putting a stringent constraint on the total size of the mixed zone and showing that extra mixing beyond the formal convective boundary exists. In a slightly less massive target the presence of a convective core cannot be conclusively discarded, and thus its remaining main-sequence life time is uncertain. Our results reveal that best-fit models found solely by matching individual frequencies of oscillations corrected for surface effects do not always properly reproduce frequency combinations. Moreover, slightly different criteria to define what the best-fit model is can lead to solutions with similar global properties but very different interior structures. We argue that the use of frequency ratios is a more reliable way to obtain accurate stellar parameters, and show that our analysis in field main-sequence stars can yield an overall precision of 1.5%, 4%, and 10% in radius, mass and age, respectively. We compare our results with those obtained from global oscillation properties, and discuss the possible sources of uncertainties in asteroseismic stellar modeling where further studies are still needed.
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Stellar structure and evolution can be studied in great detail by asteroseismic methods, provided data of high precision are available. We determine the effective temperature (Teff), surface gravity (log g), metallicity, and the projected rotational velocity (v sin i) of 44 Kepler asteroseismic targets using our high-resolution (R > 20,000) spectroscopic observations; these parameters will then be used to compute asteroseismic models of these stars and to interpret the Kepler light curves.We use the method of cross correlation to measure the radial velocity (RV) of our targets, while atmospheric parameters are derived using the ROTFIT code and spectral synthesis method. We discover three double-lined spectroscopic binaries, HIP 94924, HIP 95115, and HIP 97321 - for the last system, we provide the orbital solution, and we report two suspected single-lined spectroscopic binaries, HIP94112 and HIP 96062. For all stars from our sample we derive RV, v sin i, Teff, log g, and metallicity, and for six stars, we perform a detailed abundance analysis. A spectral classification is done for 33 targets. Finally, we show that the early-type star HIP 94472 is rotating slowly (v sin i = 13 kms/1) and we confirm its classification to the Am spectral type which makes it an interesting and promising target for asteroseismic modeling. The comparison of the results reported in this paper with the information in the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC) shows an urgent need for verification and refinement of the atmospheric parameters listed in the KIC. That refinement is crucial for making a full use of the data delivered by Kepler and can be achieved only by a detailed ground-based study.
Brightness variations due to dark spots on the stellar surface encode information about stellar surface rotation and magnetic activity. In this work, we analyze the Kepler long-cadence data of 26,521 main-sequence stars of spectral types M and K in order to measure their surface rotation and photometric activity level. Rotation-period estimates are obtained by the combination of a wavelet analysis and autocorrelation function of the light curves. Reliable rotation estimates are determined by comparing the results from the different rotation diagnostics and four data sets. We also measure the photometric activity proxy Sph using the amplitude of the flux variations on an appropriate timescale. We report rotation periods and photometric activity proxies for about 60 per cent of the sample, including 4,431 targets for which McQuillan et al. (2013a,2014) did not report a rotation period. For the common targets with rotation estimates in this study and in McQuillan et al. (2013a,2014), our rotation periods agree within 99 per cent. In this work, we also identify potential polluters, such as misclassified red giants and classical pulsator candidates. Within the parameter range we study, there is a mild tendency for hotter stars to have shorter rotation periods. The photometric activity proxy spans a wider range of values with increasing effective temperature. The rotation period and photometric activity proxy are also related, with Sph being larger for fast rotators. Similar to McQuillan et al. (2013a,2014), we find a bimodal distribution of rotation periods.
3D hydrodynamics models of deep stellar convection exhibit turbulent entrainment at the convective-radiative boundary which follows the entrainment law, varying with boundary penetrability. We implement the entrainment law in the 1D Geneva stellar evolution code. We then calculate models between 1.5 and 60 M$_{odot}$ at solar metallicity ($Z=0.014$) and compare them to previous generations of models and observations on the main sequence. The boundary penetrability, quantified by the bulk Richardson number, $Ri_{mathrm{B}}$, varies with mass and to a smaller extent with time. The variation of $Ri_{mathrm{B}}$ with mass is due to the mass dependence of typical convective velocities in the core and hence the luminosity of the star. The chemical gradient above the convective core dominates the variation of $Ri_{mathrm{B}}$ with time. An entrainment law method can therefore explain the apparent mass dependence of convective boundary mixing through $Ri_{mathrm{B}}$. New models including entrainment can better reproduce the mass dependence of the main sequence width using entrainment law parameters $A sim 2 times 10^{-4}$ and $n=1$. We compare these empirically constrained values to the results of 3D hydrodynamics simulations and discuss implications.
The accuracy of masses of pre-main sequence (PMS) stars derived from their locations on the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (HRD) can be tested by comparison with accurate and precise masses determined independently. We present 29 single stars in the Taurus star-forming region (SFR) and 3 in the Ophiuchus SFR with masses measured dynamically to a precision of at least $10 %$. Our results include 9 updated mass determinations and 3 that have not had their dynamical masses published before. This list of stars with fundamental, dynamical masses, M$_{dyn}$, is drawn from a larger list of 39 targets in the Taurus SFR and 6 in the Ophiuchus SFR. Placing the stars with accurate and precise dynamical masses on HRDs that do not include internal magnetic fields underestimates the mass compared to M$_{dyn}$ by about $30 %$. Placing them on an HRD that does include magnetic fields yields mass estimates in much better agreement with M$_{dyn}$, with an average difference between M$_{dyn}$ and the estimated track mass of $0.01pm0.02$~msun. The ages of the stars, 3--10 MY on tracks that include magnetic fields, is older than the 1--3 MY indicated by the non-magnetic models. The older ages of T Tauri stars predicted by the magnetic models increase the time available for evolution of their disks and formation of the giant gas exoplanets. The agreement between our M$_{dyn}$ values and the masses on the magnetic field tracks provides indirect support for these older ages.
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