3,353 research outputs found
The asteroseismological potential of the pulsating DB white dwarf stars CBS 114 and PG 1456+103
We have acquired 65 h of single-site time-resolved CCD photometry of the
pulsating DB white dwarf star CBS 114 and 62 h of two-site high-speed CCD
photometry of another DBV, PG 1456+103. The pulsation spectrum of PG 1456+103
is complicated and variable on time scales of about one week and could only
partly be deciphered with our measurements. The modes of CBS 114 are more
stable in time and we were able to arrive at a frequency solution somewhat
affected by aliasing, but still satisfactory, involving seven independent modes
and two combination frequencies. These frequencies also explain the discovery
data of the star, taken 13 years earlier. We find a mean period spacing of 37.1
+/- 0.7 s significant at the 98% level between the independent modes of CBS 114
and argue that they are due to nonradial g-mode pulsations of spherical degree
l=1. We performed a global search for asteroseismological models of CBS 114
using a genetic algorithm, and we examined the susceptibility of the results to
the uncertainties of the observational frequency determinations and mode
identifications (we could not provide m values). The families of possible
solutions are identified correctly even without knowledge of m. Our optimal
model suggests Teff = 21,000 K and M_* = 0.730 M_sun as well as log(M_He/M_*) =
-6.66, X_O = 0.61. This measurement of the central oxygen mass fraction implies
a rate for the ^12C(alpha,gamma)^16O nuclear reaction near S_300=180 keV b,
consistent with laboratory measurements.Comment: 10 pages, 10 embedded figures, 3 embedded tables. Accepted for
publication in MNRA
The role of turbulent pressure as a coherent pulsational driving mechanism: the case of the delta Scuti star HD 187547
HD 187547 was the first candidate that led to the suggestion that solar-like
oscillations are present in delta Scuti stars. Longer observations, however,
show that the modes interpreted as solar-like oscillations have either very
long mode lifetimes, longer than 960 days, or are coherent. These results are
incompatible with the nature of `pure' stochastic excitation as observed in
solar-like stars. Nonetheless, one point is certain: the opacity mechanism
alone cannot explain the oscillation spectrum of HD 187547. Here we present new
theoretical investigations showing that convection dynamics can intrinsically
excite coherent pulsations in the chemically peculiar delta Scuti star HD
187547. More precisely, it is the perturbations of the mean Reynold stresses
(turbulent pressure) that drives the pulsations and the excitation takes place
predominantly in the hydrogen ionization zone.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted to Ap
M-Dwarf Fast Rotators and the Detection of Relatively Young Multiple M-Star Systems
We have searched the Kepler light curves of ~3900 M-star targets for evidence
of periodicities that indicate, by means of the effects of starspots, rapid
stellar rotation. Several analysis techniques, including Fourier transforms,
inspection of folded light curves, 'sonograms', and phase tracking of
individual modulation cycles, were applied in order to distinguish the
periodicities due to rapid rotation from those due to stellar pulsations,
eclipsing binaries, or transiting planets. We find 178 Kepler M-star targets
with rotation periods, P_rot, of < 2 days, and 110 with P_rot < 1 day. Some 30
of the 178 systems exhibit two or more independent short periods within the
same Kepler photometric aperture, while several have three or more short
periods. Adaptive optics imaging and modeling of the Kepler pixel response
function for a subset of our sample support the conclusion that the targets
with multiple periods are highly likely to be relatively young physical binary,
triple, and even quadruple M star systems. We explore in detail the one object
with four incommensurate periods all less than 1.2 days, and show that two of
the periods arise from one of a close pair of stars, while the other two arise
from the second star, which itself is probably a visual binary. If most of
these M-star systems with multiple periods turn out to be bound M stars, this
could prove a valuable way of discovering young hierarchical M-star systems;
the same approach may also be applicable to G and K stars. The ~5% occurrence
rate of rapid rotation among the ~3900 M star targets is consistent with spin
evolution models that include an initial contraction phase followed by magnetic
braking, wherein a typical M star can spend several hundred Myr before spinning
down to periods longer than 2 days.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
Constraints of a pulsation frequency on stellar parameters in the eclipsing spectroscopic binary system: V577 Oph
We present a preliminary spectroscopic analysis of the binary system V577Oph,
observed during the summer of 2007 on the 2.6m NOT telescope on La Palma. We
have obtained time series spectroscopic observations, which show clear binary
motion as well as radial velocity variations due to pulsation in the primary
star. By modelling the radial velocities we determine a full orbital solution
of the system, which yields M_A sin^3 i = 1.562 +/- 0.012 M_solar and M_B sin^3
i = 1.461 +/- 0.020 M_solar. An estimate of inclination from photometry yields
a primary mass of 1.6 M_solar. Using this derived mass, and the known pulsation
frequency we can impose a lower limit of 1 Gyr on the age of the system, and
constrain the parameters of the oscillation mode. We show that with further
analysis of the spectra (extracting the atmospheric parameters), tighter
constraints could be imposed on the age, metallicity and the mode parameters.
This work emphasizes the power that a single pulsation frequency can have for
constraining stellar parameters in an eclipsing binary system.Comment: Accepted by A
Updates to the NASA Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) Architecture
This paper describes an update of the Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) open architecture for NASA space based radios. The STRS architecture has been defined as a framework for the design, development, operation and upgrade of space based software defined radios, where processing resources are constrained. The architecture has been updated based upon reviews by NASA missions, radio providers, and component vendors. The STRS Standard prescribes the architectural relationship between the software elements used in software execution and defines the Application Programmer Interface (API) between the operating environment and the waveform application. Modeling tools have been adopted to present the architecture. The paper will present a description of the updated API, configuration files, and constraints. Minimum compliance is discussed for early implementations. The paper then closes with a summary of the changes made and discussion of the relevant alignment with the Object Management Group (OMG) SWRadio specification, and enhancements to the specialized signal processing abstraction
New measurements of magnetic fields of roAp stars with FORS1 at the VLT
Magnetic fields play a key role in the pulsations of rapidly oscillating Ap
(roAp) stars since they are a necessary ingredient of all pulsation excitation
mechanisms proposed so far. This implies that the proper understanding of the
seismological behaviour of the roAp stars requires knowledge of their magnetic
fields. However, the magnetic fields of the roAp stars are not well studied.
Here we present new results of measurements of the mean longitudinal field of
14 roAp stars obtained from low resolution spectropolarimetry with FORS1 at the
VLT.Comment: 5 pages, accepted for publication in A&
The rapidly oscillating Ap star HD 99563 and its distorted dipole pulsation mode
We undertook a time-series photometric multi-site campaign for the rapidly
oscillating Ap star HD 99563 and also acquired mean light observations over two
seasons. The pulsations of the star, that show flatter light maxima than
minima, can be described with a frequency quintuplet centred on 1557.653
microHertz and some first harmonics of these. The amplitude of the pulsation is
modulated with the rotation period of the star that we determine with 2.91179
+/- 0.00007 d from the analysis of the stellar pulsation spectrum and of the
mean light data. We break the distorted oscillation mode up into its pure
spherical harmonic components and find it is dominated by the l=1 pulsation,
and also has a notable l=3 contribution, with weak l=0 and 2 components. The
geometrical configuration of the star allows one to see both pulsation poles
for about the same amount of time; HD 99563 is only the fourth roAp star for
which both pulsation poles are seen and only the third where the distortion of
the pulsation modes was modelled. We point out that HD 99563 is very similar to
the well-studied roAp star HR 3831. Finally, we note that the visual companion
of HD 99563 is located in the Delta Scuti instability strip and may thus show
pulsation. We show that if the companion was physical, the roAp star would be a
2.03 solar mass object, seen at a rotational inclination of 44 degrees, which
then predicts a magnetic obliquity of 86.4 degrees.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA
miRNA-1-3p is an early embryonic male sex-determining factor in the Oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis
Regulation of male sexual differentiation by a Y chromosome-linked male determining factor (M-factor) is one of a diverse array of sex determination mechanisms found in insects. By deep sequencing of small RNAs from Bactrocera dorsalis early embryos, we identified an autosomal-derived microRNA, miR-1-3p, that has predicted target sites in the transformer gene (Bdtra) required for female sex determination. We further demonstrate by both in vitro and in vivo tests that miR-1-3p suppresses Bdtra expression. Injection of a miR-1-3p mimic in early embryos results in 87–92% phenotypic males, whereas knockdown of miR-1-3p by an inhibitor results in 67–77% phenotypic females. Finally, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of miR-1-3p results in the expression of female-specific splice variants of Bdtra and doublesex (Bddsx), and induced sex reversal of XY individuals into phenotypic females. These results indicate that miR-1-3p is required for male sex determination in early embryogenesis in B. dorsalis as an intermediate male determiner
UVSat: a concept of an ultraviolet/optical photometric satellite
Time-series photometry from space in the ultraviolet can be presently done
with only a few platforms, none of which is able to provide wide-field
long-term high-cadence photometry. We present a concept of UVSat, a twin space
telescope which will be capable to perform this kind of photometry, filling an
observational niche. The satellite will host two telescopes, one for
observations in the ultraviolet, the other for observations in the optical
band. We also briefly show what science can be done with UVSat.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in the Proceedings of
the PAS (Proc. of the 2nd BRITE Science conference, Innsbruck
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