209 research outputs found
Asteroseismology and evolution of EHB stars
The properties of the Extreme Horizontal Branch stars are quite well
understood, but much uncertainty surrounds the many paths that bring a star to
this peculiar configuration. Asteroseismology of pulsating EHB stars has been
performed on a number of objects, bringing us to the stage where comparisons of
the inferred properties with evolutionary models becomes feasible. In this
review I outline our current understanding of the formation and evolution of
these stars, with emphasis on recent progress. The aim is to show how the
physical parameters derived by asteroseismology can enable the discrimination
between different evolutionary models.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, invited review to appear in Communications in
Asteroseismology vol.159, "Proceedings of the JENAM 2008 Symposium No 4:
Asteroseismology and Stellar Evolution
J08069+1527: A newly discovered high amplitude, hybrid subdwarf B pulsator
We present our discovery of a new hybrid pulsating subdwarf B star,
J08069+1527. The effective temperature and surface gravity of 28,500400\,K
and 5.370.04\,dex, respectively, place this object inside the instability
strip and also among other pulsating hot subdwarfs of a hybrid nature, right
next to another fascinating star: Balloon\,090100001. From this proximity, we
anticipated this star could pulsate in both high and low frequency modes.
Indeed, our analysis of photometric data confirmed our prediction. We detected
two peaks in the high frequency region and two other peaks at low frequencies.
In addition, the amplitude of the dominant mode is very high and comparable to
the dominant peaks in other hybrid subdwarf B stars. Since this star is bright,
we performed time-series low resolution spectroscopy. Despite a low
signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, we were able to detect the main peak from these
data. All our results strongly indicate that J08069+1527 is a high amplitude
pulsating hot subdwarf B star of hybrid nature. By analogy to the other
pulsating sdB star, we judge that the dominant mode we detected here has radial
nature. Future stellar modeling should provide us with quite good constrains as
p- and g-modes presented in this star are driven in different parts of its
interior.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
The orbits of subdwarf-B + main-sequence binaries. II. Three eccentric systems; BD+29 3070, BD +34 1543 and Feige 87
The predicted orbital-period distribution of the subdwarf-B (sdB) population
is bi-modal with a peak at short ( 250 days) periods.
Observationally, many short-period sdB systems are known, but the predicted
long period peak is missing as orbits have only been determined for a few
long-period systems. As these predictions are based on poorly understood
binary-interaction processes, it is of prime importance to confront the
predictions with reliable observational data. We therefore initiated a
monitoring program to find and characterize long-period sdB stars. In this
paper we aim to determine the orbital parameters of the three long-period
sdB+MS binaries BD+29 3070, BD+34 1543 and Feige 87, to constrain their
absolute dimensions and the physical parameters of the components.
High-resolution spectroscopic time series were obtained with HERMES at the
Mercator telescope on La Palma, and analyzed to determine the radial velocities
of both the sdB and MS components. Photometry from the literature was used to
construct the spectral-energy distribution (SED) of the binaries. Atmosphere
models were used to fit these SEDs and to determine the surface gravities and
temperatures of both components of all systems. Spectral analysis was used to
check the results of the SEDs. An orbital period of 1283 +- 63 d, a mass ratio
of q = 0.39 +- 0.04 and a significant non-zero eccentricity of e = 0.15 +- 0.01
were found for BD+29 3070. For BD+34 1543 we determined P = 972 +- 2 d, q =
0.57 +- 0.01 and again a clear non-zero eccentricity of e = 0.16 +- 0.01. Last,
for Feige 87 we found P = 936 +- 2 d, q = 0.55 +- 0.01 and e = 0.11 +- 0.01.
BD+29 3070, BD+34 1543 and Feige 87 are long period sdB + MS binaries on
clearly eccentric orbits. These results are in conflict with the predictions of
stable Roche-lobe overflow models.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, Accepted by A&
EC03089−6421: A new, very rapidly pulsating sdO star
EC 03089−6421, classified sdO in the Edinburgh-Cape (EC) blue object survey, is shown to have unusually rapid pulsations with a dominant frequency near 32 mHz (amplitude ∼0.02 mag; period 31.1 s) – which appears to be strongly variable in amplitude on time-scales of hours and days – and a generally weaker frequency near 29 mHz (amplitude ∼0.004 mag; period 34.2 s), which is also variable in amplitude. This star varies at twice the frequency of any known hot subdwarf pulsator. Although the low-resolution EC spectrogram appears very similar to those of DAO stars, our analysis derives T eff = 40 200 ± 1600 K; log g = 6.25 ± 0.23 and log N(He)/N(H) = −1.63 ± 0.55; more recent spectrograms give T eff = 37 400 ± 1000 K; log g = 5.70 ± 0.13 and log N(He)/N(H) = −2.02 ± 0.17, both of which indicate that the gravity is too low for a white dwarf star, although the low temperature derived from the Balmer lines is at odds with the absence of neutral Helium and the strength of He II 4686. It is possible that EC 03089−6421 is a field analogue of the ω Cen sdO variables
Absolute dimensions of solar-type eclipsing binaries. EF Aquarii: a G0 test for stellar evolution models
Recent studies have shown that stellar chromospheric activity, and its effect
on convective energy transport in the envelope, is most likely the cause of
significant radius and temperature discrepancies between theoretical evolution
models and observations. We aim to determine absolute dimensions and abundances
for the solar-type detached eclipsing binary EF Aqr, and to perform a detailed
comparison with results from recent stellar evolutionary models. uvby-beta
standard photometry was obtained with the Stromgren Automatic Telescope. The
broadening function formalism was applied on spectra observed with HERMES at
the Mercator telescope in La Palma, to obtain radial velocity curves. Masses
and radii with a precision of 0.6% and 1.0% respectively have been established
for both components of EF Aqr. The active 0.956 M_sol secondary shows star
spots and strong Ca II H and K emission lines. The 1.224 M_sol primary shows
signs of activity as well, but at a lower level. An [Fe/H] abundance of
0.00+-0.10 is derived with similar abundances for Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Co,
and Ni. Solar calibrated evolutionary models such as Yonsei-Yale,
Victoria-Regina and BaSTI isochrones and evolutionary tracks are unable to
reproduce EF Aqr, especially for the secondary, which is 9% larger and 400 K
cooler than predicted. Models adopting significantly lower mixing length
parameters l/H_p remove these discrepancies, as seen in other solar type
binaries. For the observed metallicity, Granada models with a mixing length of
l/H_p=1.30 (primary) and 1.05 (secondary) reproduce both components at a common
age of 1.5+-0.6 Gyr. Observations of EF Aqr suggests that magnetic activity,
and its effect on envelope convection, is likely to be the cause of
discrepancies in both radius and temperature, which can be removed by adjusting
the mixing length parameter of the models downwards.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication by A&
First Kepler results on compact pulsators VIII: Mode identifications via period spacings in mode pulsating Subdwarf B stars
We investigate the possibility of nearly-equally spaced periods in 13 hot
subdwarf B (sdB) stars observed with the Kepler spacecraft and one observed
with CoRoT. Asymptotic limits for gravity (g-)mode pulsations provide
relationships between equal period spacings of modes with differing degrees and
relationships between periods of the same radial order but differing degrees.
Period transforms, Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, and linear least-squares fits have
been used to detect and determine the significance of equal period spacings. We
have also used Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the likelihood that the
detected spacings could be produced randomly.
Period transforms for nine of the Kepler stars indicate ell=1 period
spacings, with five also showing peaks for ell=2 modes. 12 stars indicate ell=1
modes using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test while another shows solely ell=2 modes.
Monte Carlo results indicate that equal period spacings are significant in 10
stars above 99% confidence and 13 of the 14 are above 94% confidence. For 12
stars, the various methods find consistent regular period spacing values to
within the errors, two others show some inconsistencies, likely caused by
binarity, and the last has significant detections but the mode assignment
disagrees between methods.
We find a common ell=1 period spacing spanning a range from 231 to 272 s
allowing us to correlate pulsation modes with 222 periodicities and that the
ell=2 period spacings are related to the ell=1 spacings by the asymptotic
relationship . We briefly discuss the impact of equal period
spacings which indicate low-degree modes with a lack of significant mode
trappings.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures, 17 tables. Accepted for publication in Monthly
Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ
Detection of a planet in the sdB + M dwarf binary system 2M 1938+4603
We analyze 37 months of Kepler photometry of 2M 1938+4603, a binary system with a pulsating hot subdwarf primary and an M-dwarf companion that shows strong reflection effect. We measured the eclipse timings from more than 16 000 primary and secondary eclipses and discovered a periodic variation in the timing signal that we ascribe to a third body in the system. We also discovered a significant long-term trend that may be an evolutionary effect or a hint of more bodies. Upon the assumption that the third body is orbiting in the same plane as the primary, we establish that it must be a Jupiter-mass object orbiting with a period of 416 days at a distance of 0.92 AU. This mass is the lowest among all tertiary components detected in similar systems
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