206 research outputs found
Asymptotic and measured large frequency separations
With the space-borne missions CoRoT and Kepler, a large amount of
asteroseismic data is now available. So-called global oscillation parameters
are inferred to characterize the large sets of stars, to perform ensemble
asteroseismology, and to derive scaling relations. The mean large separation is
such a key parameter. It is therefore crucial to measure it with the highest
accuracy. As the conditions of measurement of the large separation do not
coincide with its theoretical definition, we revisit the asymptotic expressions
used for analysing the observed oscillation spectra. Then, we examine the
consequence of the difference between the observed and asymptotic values of the
mean large separation. The analysis is focused on radial modes. We use series
of radial-mode frequencies to compare the asymptotic and observational values
of the large separation. We propose a simple formulation to correct the
observed value of the large separation and then derive its asymptotic
counterpart. We prove that, apart from glitches due to stellar structure
discontinuities, the asymptotic expansion is valid from main-sequence stars to
red giants. Our model shows that the asymptotic offset is close to 1/4, as in
the theoretical development. High-quality solar-like oscillation spectra
derived from precise photometric measurements are definitely better described
with the second-order asymptotic expansion. The second-order term is
responsible for the curvature observed in the \'echelle diagrams used for
analysing the oscillation spectra and this curvature is responsible for the
difference between the observed and asymptotic values of the large separation.
Taking it into account yields a revision of the scaling relations providing
more accurate asteroseismic estimates of the stellar mass and radius.Comment: accepted in A&
The universal red-giant oscillation pattern; an automated determination with CoRoT data
The CoRoT and Kepler satellites have provided thousands of red-giant
oscillation spectra. The analysis of these spectra requires efficient methods
for identifying all eigenmode parameters. The assumption of new scaling laws
allows us to construct a theoretical oscillation pattern. We then obtain a
highly precise determination of the large separation by correlating the
observed patterns with this reference. We demonstrate that this pattern is
universal and are able to unambiguously assign the eigenmode radial orders and
angular degrees. This solves one of the current outstanding problems of
asteroseismology hence allowing precise theoretical investigation of red-giant
interiors.Comment: Accepted in A&A letter
Models of red giants in the CoRoT asteroseismology fields combining asteroseismic and spectroscopic constraints
Context. The availability of asteroseismic constraints for a large sample of
red giant stars from the CoRoT and Kepler missions paves the way for various
statistical studies of the seismic properties of stellar populations.
Aims. We use the first detailed spectroscopic study of 19 CoRoT red-giant
stars (Morel et al 2014) to compare theoretical stellar evolution models to
observations of the open cluster NGC 6633 and field stars.
Methods. In order to explore the effects of rotation-induced mixing and
thermohaline instability, we compare surface abundances of carbon isotopic
ratio and lithium with stellar evolution predictions. These chemicals are
sensitive to extra-mixing on the red-giant branch.
Results. We estimate mass, radius, and distance for each star using the
seismic constraints. We note that the Hipparcos and seismic distances are
different. However, the uncertainties are such that this may not be
significant. Although the seismic distances for the cluster members are self
consistent they are somewhat larger than the Hipparcos distance. This is an
issue that should be considered elsewhere. Models including thermohaline
instability and rotation-induced mixing, together with the seismically
determined masses can explain the chemical properties of red-giants targets.
However, with this sample of stars we cannot perform stringent tests of the
current stellar models. Tighter constraints on the physics of the models would
require the measurement of the core and surface rotation rates, and of the
period spacing of gravity-dominated mixed modes. A larger number of stars with
longer times series, as provided by Kepler or expected with Plato, would help
for ensemble asteroseismology.Comment: Accepted 03/05/201
Helium signature in red giant oscillation patterns observed by Kepler
International audienceContext. The space-borne missions CoRoT and Kepler have provided a large amount of precise photometric data. Among the stars observed, red giants show a rich oscillation pattern that allows their precise characterization. Long-duration observations allow for investigating the fine structure of this oscillation patternAims. A common pattern of oscillation frequency was observed in red giant stars, which corresponds to the second-order development of the asymptotic theory. This pattern, called the universal red giant oscillation pattern, describes the frequencies of stellar acoustic modes. We aim to investigate the deviations observed from this universal pattern, thereby characterizing them in terms of the location of the second ionization zone of helium. We also show how this seismic signature depends on stellar evolution.Methods. We measured the frequencies of radial modes with a maximum likelihood estimator method, then we identified a modulation corresponding to the departure from the universal oscillation pattern.Results. We identify the modulation component of the radial mode frequency spacings in more than five hundred red giants. The variation in the modulation that we observe at different evolutionary states brings new constraints on the interior models for these stars. We also derive an updated form of the universal pattern that accounts for the modulation and provides highly precise radial frequencies
The CoRoT target HD175726: an active star with weak solar-like oscillations
Context. The CoRoT short runs give us the opportunity to observe a large
variety of late-type stars through their solar-like oscillations. We report
observations of the star HD175726 that lasted for 27 days during the first
short run of the mission. The time series reveals a high-activity signal and
the power spectrum presents an excess due to solar-like oscillations with a low
signal-to-noise ratio. Aims. Our aim is to identify the most efficient tools to
extract as much information as possible from the power density spectrum.
Methods. The most productive method appears to be the autocorrelation of the
time series, calculated as the spectrum of the filtered spectrum. This method
is efficient, very rapid computationally, and will be useful for the analysis
of other targets, observed with CoRoT or with forthcoming missions such as
Kepler and Plato. Results. The mean large separation has been measured to be
97.2+-0.5 microHz, slightly below the expected value determined from solar
scaling laws.We also show strong evidence for variation of the large separation
with frequency. The bolometric mode amplitude is only 1.7+-0.25 ppm for radial
modes, which is 1.7 times less than expected. Due to the low signal-to-noise
ratio, mode identification is not possible for the available data set of
HD175726. Conclusions. This study shows the possibility of extracting a seismic
signal despite a signal-to-noise ratio of only 0.37. The observation of such a
target shows the efficiency of the CoRoT data, and the potential benefit of
longer observing runs.Comment: 8 pages. Accepted in A&
Modelling a high-mass red giant observed by CoRoT
The G6 giant HR\,2582 (HD\,50890) was observed by CoRoT for approximately 55
days. Mode frequencies are extracted from the observed Fourier spectrum of the
light curve. Numerical stellar models are then computed to determine the
characteristics of the star (mass, age, etc...) from the comparison with
observational constraints. We provide evidence for the presence of solar-like
oscillations at low frequency, between 10 and 20\,Hz, with a regular
spacing of Hz between consecutive radial orders. Only radial
modes are clearly visible. From the models compatible with the observational
constraints used here, We find that HR\,2582 (HD\,50890) is a massive star with
a mass in the range (3--\,5\,), clearly above the red clump. It
oscillates with rather low radial order ( = 5\,--\,12) modes. Its
evolutionary stage cannot be determined with precision: the star could be on
the ascending red giant branch (hydrogen shell burning) with an age of
approximately 155 Myr or in a later phase (helium burning). In order to obtain
a reasonable helium amount, the metallicity of the star must be quite subsolar.
Our best models are obtained with a mixing length significantly smaller than
that obtained for the Sun with the same physical description (except
overshoot). The amount of core overshoot during the main-sequence phase is
found to be mild, of the order of 0.1\,.Comment: Accepted in A&
Evidence for solar-like oscillations in beta Hydri
We have made a clear detection of excess power, providing strong evidence for
solar-like oscillations in the G2 subgiant beta Hyi. We observed this star over
five nights with the UCLES echelle spectrograph on the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian
Telescope, using an iodine absorption cell as a velocity reference. The time
series of 1196 velocity measurements shows an rms scatter of 3.30 m/s, and the
mean noise level in the amplitude spectrum at frequencies above 0.5 mHz is 0.11
m/s. We see a clear excess of power centred at 1.0 mHz, with peak amplitudes of
about 0.5 m/s, in agreement with expectations for this star. Fitting the
asymptotic relation to the power spectrum indicates the most likely value for
the large separation is 56.2 microHz, also in good agreement with the known
properties of beta Hyi.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letter
The underlying physical meaning of the relation
Asteroseismology of stars that exhibit solar-like oscillations are enjoying a
growing interest with the wealth of observational results obtained with the
CoRoT and Kepler missions. In this framework, scaling laws between
asteroseismic quantities and stellar parameters are becoming essential tools to
study a rich variety of stars. However, the physical underlying mechanisms of
those scaling laws are still poorly known. Our objective is to provide a
theoretical basis for the scaling between the frequency of the maximum in the
power spectrum () of solar-like oscillations and the cut-off
frequency (). Using the SoHO GOLF observations together with
theoretical considerations, we first confirm that the maximum of the height in
oscillation power spectrum is determined by the so-called \emph{plateau} of the
damping rates. The physical origin of the plateau can be traced to the
destabilizing effect of the Lagrangian perturbation of entropy in the
upper-most layers which becomes important when the modal period and the local
thermal relaxation time-scale are comparable. Based on this analysis, we then
find a linear relation between and , with a
coefficient that depends on the ratio of the Mach number of the exciting
turbulence to the third power to the mixing-length parameter.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures. Accepted in A&
Spin down of the core rotation in red giants
The space mission Kepler provides us with long and uninterrupted photometric
time series of red giants. We are now able to probe the rotational behaviour in
their deep interiors using the observations of mixed modes. We aim to measure
the rotational splittings in red giants and to derive scaling relations for
rotation related to seismic and fundamental stellar parameters. We have
developed a dedicated method for automated measurements of the rotational
splittings in a large number of red giants. Ensemble asteroseismology, namely
the examination of a large number of red giants at different stages of their
evolution, allows us to derive global information on stellar evolution. We have
measured rotational splittings in a sample of about 300 red giants. We have
also shown that these splittings are dominated by the core rotation. Under the
assumption that a linear analysis can provide the rotational splitting, we
observe a small increase of the core rotation of stars ascending the red giant
branch. Alternatively, an important slow down is observed for red-clump stars
compared to the red giant branch. We also show that, at fixed stellar radius,
the specific angular momentum increases with increasing stellar mass. Ensemble
asteroseismology indicates what has been indirectly suspected for a while: our
interpretation of the observed rotational splittings leads to the conclusion
that the mean core rotation significantly slows down during the red giant
phase. The slow-down occurs in the last stages of the red giant branch. This
spinning down explains, for instance, the long rotation periods measured in
white dwarfsComment: Accepted in A&
Short-lived spots in solar-like stars as observed by CoRoT
Context. CoRoT light curves have an unprecedented photometric quality, having
simultaneously a high signal-to-noise ratio, a long time span and a nearly
continuous duty-cycle. Aims. We analyse the light-curves of four bright targets
observed in the seismology field and study short-lived small spots in
solar-like stars. Methods. We present a simple spot modeling by iterative
analysis. Its ability to extract relevant parameters is ensured by implementing
relaxation steps to avoid convergence to local minima of the sum of the
residuals between observations and modeling. The use of Monte-Carlo simulations
allows us to estimate the performance of the fits. Results. Our starspot
modeling gives a representation of the spots on these stars in agreement with
other well tested methods. Within this framework, parameters such as rigid-body
rotation and spot lifetimes seem to be precisely determined. Then, the
lifetime/rotation period ratios are in the range 0.5 - 2, and there is clear
evidence for differential rotation.Comment: 11 pages Accepted in A&
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