Asteroseismology of close binary stars

In this review paper, we summarise the goals of asteroseismic studies of close binary stars. We first briefly recall the basic principles of asteroseismology, and highlight how the binarity of a star can be an asset, but also a complication, for the interpretation of the stellar oscillations. We discuss a few sample studies of pulsations in close binaries and summarise some case studies. This leads us to conclude that asteroseismology of close binaries is a challenging field of research, but with large potential for the improvement of current stellar structure theory. Finally, we highlight the best observing strategy to make efficient progress in the near future.Comment: Invited Review Talk at S240 of the IAU: To appear in: Binary Stars as Critical Tools and Tests in Contemporary Astrophysics, Eds W. Hartkopf, E. Guinan, P. Harmanec. 10 pages, 4 figure

Constraining the properties of delta Scuti stars using spectroscopic eclipsing binary systems

Many stars exhibit stellar pulsations, favoring them for asteroseismic analyses. Interpreting the oscillations requires some knowledge of the oscillation mode geometry (spherical degree, radial and azimuthal orders). The delta Scuti stars (1.5 - 2.5 M_sol) often show just one or few pulsation frequencies. Although this may promise a successful seismological analysis, we may not know enough about either the mode or the star to use the oscillation frequency to improve the determination of the stellar model, or probe the star's structure. For the observed frequencies to be used successfully as seismic probes of these objects, we need to concentrate on stars for which we can reduce the number of free parameters in the problem, such as binary systems or open clusters. We investigate how much our understanding of a delta Scuti star is improved when it is in a detached eclipsing binary system instead of being a single field star. We use singular value decomposition to explore the precision we expect in stellar parameters (mass, age and chemical composition) for both cases. We examine how the parameter uncertainties propagate to the luminosity - effective temperature diagram and determine when the effort of obtaining a new measurement is justified. We show that for the single star, a correct identification of the oscillation mode is necessary to produce strong constraints on the stellar model properties, while for the binary system the observations without the pulsation mode provide the same or better constraints on the stellar parameters. In the latter case, ...Comment: emulateapj 16 pages, accepted Ap

A multi-wavelength study of the radio source G296.7-0.9: confirmation as a Galactic supernova remnant

We present a multi-wavelength study of the radio source G296.7-0.9. This source has a bilateral radio morphology, a radio spectral index of -0.5 +/- 0.1, sparse patches of linear polarisation, and thermal X-rays with a bright arc near the radio boundary. Considering these characteristics, we conclude that G296.7-0.9 is a supernova remnant (SNR). The age and morphology of the SNR in the context of its environment suggest that the source is co-located with an HII region, and that portions of the shock front have broken out into a lower density medium. We see no evidence for a neutron star or pulsar wind nebula associated with SNR G296.7-0.9.Comment: 11 pages with 9 figures and 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

A Search for Pulsating, Mass-Accreting Components in Algol-Type Eclipsing Binaries

We present a status report on the search for pulsations in primary componants of Algols systems (oEA stars). Analysis of 21 systems with A0-F2 spectral type primaries revealed pulsations in two systems suggesting that of the order of ten persent of Algols primaries in this range are actually pulsators

Photometric mode identification methods of nonradial pulsations in eclipsing binaries I. -- Dynamic Eclipse Mapping

We present the Dynamic Eclipse Mapping (DEM) method designed specifically to reconstruct the surface intensity patterns of non-radial stellar oscillations in eclipsing binaries. The method needs a geometric model of the binary, accepts the light curve and the detected pulsation frequencies on input, and on output yields estimates of the pulsation patterns, in form of images -- thus allowing a direct identification of the surface mode numbers$(\ell,m)$. Since it has minimal modelling requirements and can operate on photometric observations in arbitrary wavelength bands, DEM is well suited to analyze the wide-band time series collected by space observatories. The method was extensively tested on simulated data, in which almost all photometrically detectable modes with a latitudinal complexity $\ell-|m|\le 4$ were properly restored. Multimode pulsations can be also reconstructed in a natural manner, as well as pulsations on components with tilted rotation axis of known direction. It can also be used in principle to isolate the contribution of hidden modes from the light curve. Sensitivity tests show that moderate errors in the geometric parameters and the assumed limb darkening can be partially tolerated by the inversion, in the sense that the lower degree modes are still recoverable. Tidally induced or mutually resonant pulsations, however, are an obstacle that neither the eclipse mapping, nor any other inversion technique can ever surpass. We conclude that, with reasonable assumptions, Dynamic Eclipse Mapping could be a powerful tool for mode identification, especially in moderately close eclipsing binary systems, where the pulsating component is not seriously affected by tidal interactions so that the pulsations are intrinsic to them, and not a consequence of the binarity.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 16 pages, 11 figures and 5 table

A search for pulsating, mass-accreting components in Algol-type eclipsing binaries

We present a status report on the search for pulsations in primary componants of Algols systems (oEA stars). Analysis of 21 systems with A0-F2 spectral type primaries revealed pulsations in two systems suggesting that of the order of ten persent of Algols primaries in this range are actually pulsators. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2006