Asteroseismology and Interferometry

Asteroseismology provides us with a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of stellar structure and evolution. Recent developments, including the first systematic studies of solar-like pulsators, have boosted the impact of this field of research within Astrophysics and have led to a significant increase in the size of the research community. In the present paper we start by reviewing the basic observational and theoretical properties of classical and solar-like pulsators and present results from some of the most recent and outstanding studies of these stars. We centre our review on those classes of pulsators for which interferometric studies are expected to provide a significant input. We discuss current limitations to asteroseismic studies, including difficulties in mode identification and in the accurate determination of global parameters of pulsating stars, and, after a brief review of those aspects of interferometry that are most relevant in this context, anticipate how interferometric observations may contribute to overcome these limitations. Moreover, we present results of recent pilot studies of pulsating stars involving both asteroseismic and interferometric constraints and look into the future, summarizing ongoing efforts concerning the development of future instruments and satellite missions which are expected to have an impact in this field of research.Comment: Version as published in The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review, Volume 14, Issue 3-4, pp. 217-36

GHRS spectroscopy of chemically peculiar stars: The chi Lupi Pathfinder Project

The HST has provided visual images of the universe of unprecedented clarity and sensitivity. It is less widely known that the HST/GHRS has provided equally breathtaking views of a different kind Of "universe" - a "spectroscopic universe". Nowhere is this better seen than in the extraordinarily complex and beautiful ultraviolet spectrum of the ultra-sharp-lined, non-magnetic, chemically peculiar (CP) star chi Lupi (B9.5pHgMn + A2 Vm). We have begun a systematic exploration and quantitative analysis of this spectrum with the echelle mode of the GHRS. We call this the "The chi Lupi Pathfinder Project", because it is analogous to the exploration and mapping of a previously uncharted land by a diverse team of specialists - in this case astrophysicists and atomic physicists working synergistically. Our objective is to characterize, comprehensively and accurately, the full range of abundance and isotopic anomalies found in the atmosphere of at least one CP star to test and constrain the most widely accepted theoretical scenario for the production of abundance anomalies - radiatively-driven diffusion and gravitational settling. These physical mechanisms are important in several other astrophysical contexts. The surface layers of the CP stars provide a laboratory to investigate the conditions which foster them and the competing mechanisms which retard them. The GHRS echelle data set for chi Lupi covers 345 Angstrom, with S/N approximate to 50-100. We have quadrupled the number of elements for which abundances have been measured in this star, spanning most of the periodic table. These include several elements which have rarely, if ever, been seen before in a star other than the Sun and several examples of isotopically anomalous abundances. We have found systematic trends in these abundance data, which qualitatively support the mechanism of radiatively-driven diffusion and gravitational settling. However, our state-of-the-art theoretical, non-LTE diffusion models have not as yet been successful in sustaining the observed magnitudes of the largest abundance anomalies nor in reproducing anomalous isotope blends

On the Ga II and Ga III resonance lines and the implication for chemical stratification in HGMN stars

The gallium abundance in HgMn stars has been reported to be different for analyses conducted from spectral lines in the optical versus those from the ultraviolet. We pursue this ultraviolet-optical discrepancy from a line-blending perspective by investigating the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) spectrum of the sharp-lined HgMn binary star chi Lup. Its gallium abundance is derived to be log N-Ga = 4.5 (log N-H = 12) based on nonresonance Ga II lines, and we are able to demonstrate the line-blending problems associated with the abundances determined from the resonance lines of Ga II lambda 1414 and Ga III lambda 1495. The HST STIS spectrum for chi Lup is also compared with a co-added International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) spectrum to further illustrate the importance of accounting for the line blending in quantitative abundance analyses. We have compared an IUE co-added spectrum of mu Lep with an LTE-based synthetic spectrum and managed to fit both Ga II lambda 1414 and Ga III lambda 1495 with an abundance of log N-Ga = 7.3. However, the fitting of these lines requires a dramatic change in the radiative damping constants, which may indicate a breakdown in our LTE modeling or the need to include other atmospheric effects

Theoretical oscillator strengths for Sr II and Y III, with application to abundances in the HgMn-type star chi Lupi

Oscillator strengths for selected transitions of Sr II and Y III have been determined using ab initio multiconfiguration Hartree-Fock techniques. The importance of including an accurate treatment of the core-valence correlation is emphasized. The results are used to determine the abundances of Sr and Y in the chemically peculiar star chi Lupi from HST/GHRS Echelle spectra. Overabundances of 2.09 dex for Sr and 2.8 dex for Y relative to the solar abundance are derived, and an ionization imbalance of +1.1 dex is evident from abundance determinations using Y III and Y II

Very heavy elements in the HgMn star chi Lupi

Abundances for the elements W, Os, and Bi are presented for the HgMn star chi Lupi, based upon GHRS echelle-mode spectra and a synthetic spectrum analysis. The tungsten abundance is consistent with a solar-system value while the osmium and bismuth abundances reflect enhancements. With these new data we are able to quantitatively define an abundance peak within the element range Z = 74 through 83

Atomic calculations inspired by the GHRS - gf-values, hyperfine structure constants, and isotope shifts for heavy elements

GHRS observations of chemically peculiar stars have initiated a new project for calculating atomic properties of heavy elements (Z approximate to 80). The method used is based on large-scale, fully relativistic MCDF, and the data involve accurate gf-values, hyperfine structure parameters, and relative isotope shifts

Hyperfine structure and isotope shift in Tl II with astrophysical applications

Fourier transform (FT) spectra of Tl II with resolved hyperfine structure (hfs) have been analyzed in the region 1790-3400 Angstrom. Measured isotope shifts (IS) for two transitions, including the S-1-P-3 intercombination line to the ground state at 1908.6 Angstrom are reported. Accurate Ritz wavelengths for isotope and hyperfine components of the S-1-P-1 resonance line at 1321.6 Angstrom are given. The accuracy is better than 0.3 m Angstrom for measured wavelengths and better than 0.4 m Angstrom for the Ritz wavelengths. Theoretical multi-configuration Dirac-Fock (MCDF) calculations, including core polarization, show that the LS-allowed 1321.6 Angstrom transition is a factor of 30 stronger than the intercombination line at 1908.6 Angstrom. The application of the new Tl II data to astrophysical spectra obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope is discussed

Stellar chemical abundances with the GHRS

The accurate quantitative analysis of high resolution ultraviolet spectra of ultra-sharp-lined early-type, chemically peculiar stars, obtained with the Goddard High Resolution spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope, has been made possible by the synergism between state-of-the-art astro-physics and state-of-the-art atomic spectroscopy. We illustrate this with several examples, including the discovery of spin-forbidden ''parasite'' transitions of Fe II, the first observations of hyperfine components and isotopic shifts of stellar lines of thallium, and measurements of the photospheric abundances of a large number of normally trace elements

Selections from the GHRS atlas of chi Lupi

High S/N echelle data of chi Lupi have been obtained at 36 different wavelength settings. The high resolution of the observations combined with the low rotational velocity of chi Lupi (v sin i approximate to 1 km s(-1)), allow the UV spectrum of this star to be seen with unprecedented detail, and provides a unique resource for the study of both atomic physics and stellar atmospheres

Abundance and isotopic anomalies of thallium in the atmosphere of the HgMn star chi Lupi

We announce the detection of two fully resolved hyperfine components of the intercombination line of Tl II (Z = 81) at 1908.6 Angstrom in the ultraviolet spectrum of the sharp-lined, nonmagnetic, chemically peculiar star chi Lupi (BB.5pHgMn + A2 Vm). The wavelengths and profiles of these absorption lines strongly suggest that they arise from the heaviest isotope, Tl-205. The echelle observations were obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (HST/GHRS). Spectrum synthesis fits to the line profiles yield a logarithmic overabundance of thallium, relative to the solar system abundance, of +3.8 dex. We believe this to be the first detection of thallium in a star other than the Sun. It is also the first time hyperfine structure has been resolved in the satellite ultraviolet spectrum of an astrophysical source. The large overabundance and the presence of only the heaviest isotope of the element continue the pattern observed previously in chi Lup for platinum (Z = 78), gold (Z = 79), and mercury (Z = 80)