Spatial metallicity asymmetry in ω\omega Centauri

The compilation of the metallicity values of $\omega$~Centauri stars led to detection of spatial asymmetry in the metallicity distribution of the bright giants. It was found that the most and least metal-poor objects are separated along galactic latitude. Statistical tests show that the chance occurrence of the phenomenon is very low. The subgiant and the RR~Lyrae samples do not show, however, similar segregation of the different metallicity objects. The physical parameters of the variables calculated by using empirical formulae indicate that the bulk of the RRab stars comprises a very homogeneous group regarding both their metallicity and mass values. These stars are most probably already in the evolved stage of their horizontal branch evolution.Comment: 9 pages, 4 Postscript figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Detection of the evolutionary stages of variables in M3

The large number of variables in M3 provides a unique opportunity to study an extensive sample of variables with the same apparent distance modulus. Recent, high accuracy CCD time series of the variables show that according to their mean magnitudes and light curve shapes, the variables belong to four separate groups. Comparing the properties of these groups (magnitudes and periods) with horizontal branch evolutionary models, we conclude that these samples can be unambiguously identified with different stages of the horizontal branch stellar evolution. Stars close to the zero age horizontal branch (ZAHB) show Oosterhoff I type properties, while the brightest stars have Oosterhoff II type statistics regarding their mean periods and RRab/RRc number ratios. This finding strengthens the earlier suggestion of Lee et al. (1990) connecting the Oosterhoff dichotomy to evolutionary effects, however, it is unexpected to find large samples of both of the Oosterhoff type within a single cluster, which is, moreover, the prototype of the Oosterhoff I class globular clusters. The very slight difference between the Fourier parameters of the stars (at a given period) in the three fainter samples spanning over about 0.15 mag range in M_V points to the limitations of any empirical methods which aim to determine accurate absolute magnitudes of RR Lyrae stars solely from the Fourier parameters of the light curves.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to Astrophys. J. Letter

The Konkoly Blazhko Survey: Is light-curve modulation a common property of RRab stars?

A systematic survey to establish the true incidence rate of the Blazhko modulation among short-period, fundamental-mode, Galactic field RR Lyrae stars has been accomplished. The Konkoly Blazhko Survey (KBS) was initiated in 2004. Since then more than 750 nights of observation have been devoted to this project. A sample of 30 RRab stars was extensively observed, and light-curve modulation was detected in 14 cases. The 47% occurrence rate of the modulation is much larger than any previous estimate. The significant increase of the detected incidence rate is mostly due to the discovery of small-amplitude modulation. Half of the Blazhko variables in our sample show modulation with so small amplitude that definitely have been missed in the previous surveys. We have found that the modulation can be very unstable in some cases, e.g. RY Com showed regular modulation only during one part of the observations while during two seasons it had stable light curve with abrupt, small changes in the pulsation amplitude. This type of light-curve variability is also hard to detect in other Survey's data. The larger frequency of the light-curve modulation of RRab stars makes it even more important to find the still lacking explanation of the Blazhko phenomenon. The validity of the [Fe/H](P,phi_{31}) relation using the mean light curves of Blazhko variables is checked in our sample. We have found that the formula gives accurate result for small-modulation-amplitude Blazhko stars, and this is also the case for large-modulation-amplitude stars if the light curve has complete phase coverage. However, if the data of large-modulation-amplitude Blazhko stars are not extended enough (e.g. < 500 data points from < 15 nights), the formula may give false result due to the distorted shape of the mean light curve used.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 14 pages, 7 Figure

The light-curve modulation of XY And and UZ Vir - Two Blazhko RR Lyrae stars with additional frequencies

A thorough analysis of multicolour CCD observations of two modulated RRab-type variables, XY And and UZ Vir is presented. These Blazhko stars show relatively simple light-curve modulation with the usual multiplet structures in their Fourier spectra. One additional, independent frequency with linear-combination terms of the pulsation frequency is also detected in the residual spectrum of each of the two stars. The amplitude and phase relations of the triplet components are studied in detail. Most of the epoch-independent phase differences show a slight, systematic colour dependence, however, these trends have the opposite sign in the two stars. The mean values of the global physical parameters and their changes with Blazhko phase are determined utilizing the Inverse Photometric Method (IPM). The modulation properties and the IPM results are compared for the two variables. The pulsation period of XY And is the shortest when its pulsation amplitude is the highest, while UZ Vir has the longest pulsation period at this phase of the modulation. Despite this opposite behaviour, the phase relations of their mean-physical-parameter variations are similar. These results are not in accord with the predictions of the Blazhko model of Stothers (2006, ApJ, 652, 643).Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. The paper contains 7 figures and 12 tables. Tables 5, 6 and A1-A5 will be published in full online only. See electronic data on http://konkoly.hu/24/publications/ als

Fitting Blazhko light curves

The correct amplitude and phase modulation formalism of the Blazhko modulation is given. The harmonic order dependent amplitude and phase modulation form is equivalent with the Fourier decomposition of multiplets. The amplitude and phase modulation formalism used in electronic transmission technique as introduced by Benk\H{o}, Szab\'o and Papar\'o (2011, MNRAS 417, 974) for Blazhko stars oversimplifies the amplitude and phase modulation functions thus it does not describe the light variation in full detail. The results of the different formalisms are compared and documented by fitting the light curve of a real Blazhko star, CM UMa.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

The Blazhko behaviour of RR Geminorum II -- long-term photometric results

Context. RR Gem is one of the few Blazhko RR Lyrae that has photometric observations available extended enough to study the long-term courses of its pulsation and modulation properties in detail. Aims. We investigate the pulsation and modulation properties and the relations between them in RR Gem using photometric observations from the past 70 years in order to gain further insight into the nature of the Blazhko modulation. Methods. We studied the photographic, photoelectric, and CCD light curves obtained at the Konkoly Observatory and other authors' published maxima observations. Detailed analysis of the light curves, maximum brightness, and O-C data are carried out. Results. RR Gem showed modulation most of the time it was observed. The modulation amplitude showed strong variations from the undetectable level (less than 0.04 mag in maximum brightness) to about 0.20 mag. The amplitudes of the amplitude and phase modulations showed parallel changes, thus the total 'power' of the modulation have changed during the past 70 years. Parallel changes in the pulsation and modulation periods occur with a d P_mod / d P_puls = 1.6 +/- 0.8 * 10^3 ratio. We also detected 0.05-0.1 mag changes in the mean maximum brightness and mean pulsation amplitude.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. About 12 pages, 9 figures, 15 tables (3 of them appear in the paper, the others are only available electronically at the CDS

New Results of the Konkoly Blazhko Group

During the recent years the Konkoly Blazhko Group (PIs Johanna Jurcsik and B\'ela Szeidl, co-workers \'Ad\'am S\'odor, Zsombor Hurta and several undergraduate, graduate students) published new important results of Blazhko variables in 15 reviewed Journal articles. These results utilize multicolor CCD observations obtained with an automatic 60 cm telescope, and also previously unpublished Konkoly archive photometric data. Our light curves are the most extended multicolor data-sets ever obtained for a Blazhko variable, the observations cover each phase of the pulsation and the modulation as well. We have detected many previously unknown features of the light curve modulation, and based on the different band's observations we also revealed the underlying variations of the mean physical parameters during the Blazhko cycle. In my contribution the main achievements of the Konkoly Blazhko Group are summarised.Comment: in "Stellar Pulsation: Challenges for Theory and Observation", Eds. J. Guzik and P. Bradley. (5 pages, 5 figures

The CoRoT star 105288363: strong cycle to cycle changes of the Blazhko modulation

We present the analysis of the CoRoT star 105288363, a new Blazhko RR Lyrae star of type RRab (f0 = 1.7623 c/d), observed with the CoRoT space craft during the second long run in direction of the galactic center (LRc02, time base 145 d). The CoRoT data are characterized by an excellent time sampling and a low noise amplitude of 0.07 mmag in the 2-12 c/d range and allow us to study not only the fine details of the variability of the star but also long-term changes in the pulsation behaviour and the stability of the Blazhko cycle. We use, among other methods, standard Fourier analysis techniques and O-C diagrams to investigate the pulsational behavior of the Blazhko star 105288363. In addition to the frequency pattern expected for a Blazhko RR Lyrae star, we find an independent mode (f1 = 2.984 c/d) showing a f0/f1 ratio of 0.59 which is similar to that observed in other Blazhko RR Lyrae stars. The bump and hump phenomena are also analysed, with their variations over the Blazhko cycle. We carefully investigated the strong cycle-to-cycle changes in the Blazhko modulation (PB = 35.6 d), which seem to happen independently and partly diametrically in the amplitude and the phase modulation. Furthermore, the phasing between the two types of modulation is found to change during the course of the observations.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA