1,735 research outputs found
Constraining RRc candidates using SDSS colours
The light variations of first-overtone RR Lyrae stars and contact eclipsing
binaries can be difficult to distinguish. The Catalina Periodic Variable Star
catalog contains several misclassified objects, despite the classification
efforts by Drake et al. (2014). They used metallicity and surface gravity
derived from spectroscopic data (from the SDSS database) to rule out binaries.
Our aim is to further constrain the catalog using SDSS colours to estimate
physical parameters for stars that did not have spectroscopic data.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, proceedings of the RRL2015 - High-Precision
Studies of RR Lyrae Stars conference, to appear in the Communications from
the Konkoly Observator
Mapping a star with transits: orbit precession effects in the Kepler-13 system
Kepler-13b (KOI-13.01) is a most intriguing exoplanet system due to the rapid
precession rate, exhibiting several exotic phenomena. We analyzed
Short Cadence data up to Quarter 14, with a total time-span of 928 days, to
reveal changes in transit duration, depth, asymmetry, and identify the possible
signals of stellar rotation and low-level activity. We investigated long-term
variations of transit light curves, testing for duration, peak depth and
asymmetry. We also performed cluster analysis on quarters. We computed
the autocorrelation function of the out-of-transit light variations. Transit
duration, peak depth, and asymmetry evolve slowly, due to the slowly drifting
transit path through the stellar disk. The detected transit shapes will map the
stellar surface on the time scale of decades. We found a very significant
clustering pattern with 3-orbit period. Its source is very probably the
rotating stellar surface, in the 5:3 spin-orbit resonance reported in a
previous study. The autocorrelation function of the out-of-transit light
variations, filtered to 25.4 hours and harmonics, shows slow variations and a
peak around 300--360 day period, which could be related to the activity cycle
of the host star.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, accepted in MNRA
Metal-rich or misclassified? The case of four RR Lyrae stars
We analysed the light curve of four, apparently extremely metal-rich
fundamental-mode RR Lyrae stars. We identified two stars, MT Tel and ASAS
J091803-3022.6 as RRc (first-overtone) pulsators that were misclassified as
RRab ones in the ASAS survey. In the case of the other two stars, V397 Gem and
ASAS J075127-4136.3, we could not decide conclusively, as they are outliers in
the period-Fourier-coefficient space from the loci of both classes, but their
photometric metallicities also favour the RRc classification.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, published in IBVS:
http://ibvs.konkoly.hu/cgi-bin/IBVS?617
Target selection of classical pulsating variables for space-based photometry
In a few years the Kepler and TESS missions will provide ultra-precise
photometry for thousands of RR Lyrae and hundreds of Cepheid stars. In the
extended Kepler mission all targets are proposed in the Guest Observer (GO)
Program, while the TESS space telescope will work with full frame images and a
~15-16th mag brightness limit with the possibility of short cadence
measurements for a limited number of pre-selected objects. This paper
highlights some details of the enormous and important work of the target
selection process made by the members of Working Group 7 (WG#7) of the Kepler
and TESS Asteroseismic Science Consortium.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, proceedings of the RRL2015 - High-Precision
Studies of RR Lyrae Stars conference, to appear in the Communications from
the Konkoly Observator
A modulated RRd star observed by K2
We report the analysis of the double-mode RR Lyrae star EPIC 205209951, the
first modulated RRd star observed from space. The amplitude and phase
modulation are present in both modes.Comment: 2 pages, 3 figures, proceedings of the Joint
TASC2-KASC9-SPACEINN-HELAS8 Conference "Seismology of the Sun and the Distant
Stars 2016", to be published in EPJ Wo
CHEOPS performance for exomoons: The detectability of exomoons by using optimal decision algorithm
Many attempts have already been made for detecting exomoons around transiting
exoplanets but the first confirmed discovery is still pending. The experience
that have been gathered so far allow us to better optimize future space
telescopes for this challenge, already during the development phase. In this
paper we focus on the forthcoming CHaraterising ExOPlanet Satellite
(CHEOPS),describing an optimized decision algorithm with step-by-step
evaluation, and calculating the number of required transits for an exomoon
detection for various planet-moon configurations that can be observable by
CHEOPS. We explore the most efficient way for such an observation which
minimizes the cost in observing time. Our study is based on PTV observations
(photocentric transit timing variation, Szab\'o et al. 2006) in simulated
CHEOPS data, but the recipe does not depend on the actual detection method, and
it can be substituted with e.g. the photodynamical method for later
applications. Using the current state-of-the-art level simulation of CHEOPS
data we analyzed transit observation sets for different star-planet-moon
configurations and performed a bootstrap analysis to determine their detection
statistics. We have found that the detection limit is around an Earth-sized
moon. In the case of favorable spatial configurations, systems with at least
such a large moon and with at least Neptune-sized planet, 80\% detection chance
requires at least 5-6 transit observations on average. There is also non-zero
chance in the case of smaller moons, but the detection statistics deteriorates
rapidly, while the necessary transit measurements increase fast. (abridged)Comment: 32 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in PAS
Nonlinear dynamical analysis of the Blazhko effect with the Kepler space telescope: the case of V783 Cyg
We present a detailed nonlinear dynamical investigation of the Blazhko
modulation of the Kepler RR Lyrae star V783 Cyg (KIC 5559631). We used
different techniques to produce modulation curves, including the determination
of amplitude maxima, the O-C diagram and the analytical function method. We
were able to fit the modulation curves with chaotic signals with the global
flow reconstruction method. However, when we investigated the effects of
instrumental and data processing artefacts, we found that the chaotic nature of
the modulation can not be proved because of the technical problems of data
stitching, detrending and sparse sampling. Moreover, we found that a
considerable part of the detected cycle-to-cycle variation of the modulation
may originate from these effects. According to our results, even the
four-year-long, unprecedented Kepler space photometry of V783 Cyg is too short
for a reliable nonlinear dynamical analysis aiming at the detection of chaos
from the Blazhko modulation. We estimate that two other stars could be suitable
for similar analysis in the Kepler sample and in the future TESS and PLATO may
provide additional candidates.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Long time-scale behavior of the Blazhko effect from rectified Kepler data
In order to benefit from the 4-year unprecedented precision of the Kepler
data, we extracted light curves from the pixel photometric data of the Kepler
space telescope for 15 Blazhko RR Lyrae stars. For collecting all the flux from
a given target as accurately as possible, we defined tailor-made apertures for
each star and quarter. In some cases the aperture finding process yielded
sub-optimal result, because some flux have been lost even if the aperture
contains all available pixels around the star. This fact stresses the
importance of those methods that rely on the whole light curve instead of
focusing on the extrema (O-C diagrams and other amplitude independent methods).
We carried out detailed Fourier analysis of the light curves and the amplitude
independent O-C diagram. We found 12 (80%) multiperiodically modulated stars in
our sample. This ratio is much higher than previously found. Resonant coupling
between radial modes, a recent theory to explain of the Blazhko effect, allows
single, multiperiodic or even chaotic modulations. Among the stars with two
modulations we found three stars (V355 Lyr, V366 Lyr and V450 Lyr) where one of
the periods dominate in amplitude modulation, but the other period has larger
frequency modulation amplitude. The ratio between the primary and secondary
modulation periods is almost always very close to ratios of small integer
numbers. It may indicate the effect of undiscovered resonances. Furthermore, we
detected the excitation of the second radial overtone mode for three
stars where this feature was formerly unknown. Our data set comprises the
longest continuous, most precise observations of Blazhko RR Lyrae stars ever
published. These data which is made publicly available will be unprecedented
for years to come.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophys. J.
Suppl. Rectified data are here: http://www.konkoly.hu/KIK/data.htm
Pushing the limits, episode 2: K2 observations of extragalactic RR Lyrae stars in the dwarf galaxy Leo IV
We present the first observations of extragalactic pulsating stars in the K2
ecliptic survey of the Kepler space telescope. Variability of all three RR
Lyrae stars in the dwarf spheroidal galaxy Leo IV were successfully detected,
at a brightness of Kp~21.5 mag, from data collected during Campaign 1. We
identified one modulated star and another likely Blazhko candidate with periods
of 29.8+-0.9 d and more than 80 d, respectively. EPIC 210282473 represents the
first star beyond the Magellanic Clouds for which the Blazhko period and
cycle-to-cycle variations in the modulation were unambiguously measured.The
photometric [Fe/H] indices of the stars agree with earlier results that Leo IV
is a very metal-poor galaxy. Two out of three stars blend with brighter
background galaxies in the K2 frames. We demonstrate that image subtraction can
be reliably used to extract photometry from faint confused sources that will be
crucial not only for the K2 mission but for future space photometric missions
as well.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal. Light curves can be downloaded from http://konkoly.hu/KIK/data.htm
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