207 research outputs found
An asteroseismic study of the O9V star HD 46202 from CoRoT space-based photometry
The O9V star HD 46202, which is a member of the young open cluster NGC 2244,
was observed by the CoRoT satellite in October/November 2008 during a short run
of 34 days. From the very high-precision light curve, we clearly detect beta
Cep-like pulsation frequencies with amplitudes of ~0.1 mmag and below. A
comparison with stellar models was performed using a chi^2 as a measure for the
goodness-of-fit between the observed and theoretically computed frequencies.
The physical parameters of our best-fitting models are compatible with the ones
deduced spectroscopically. A core overshooting parameter alpha_ov = 0.10 +-
0.05 pressure scale height is required. None of the observed frequencies are
theoretically excited with the input physics used in our study. More
theoretical work is thus needed to overcome this shortcoming in how we
understand the excitation mechanism of pulsation modes in such a massive star.
A similar excitation problem has also been encountered for certain pulsation
modes in beta Cep stars recently modelled asteroseismically.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics on 17/12/2010,
9 pages, 7 figures, 4 table
Driving and damping mechanisms in hybrid pressure-gravity modes pulsators
We study the energetic aspects of hybrid pressure-gravity modes pulsations.
The case of hybrid beta Cephei-SPB pulsators is considered with special
attention. In addition to the already known sensitivity of the driving
mechanism to the heavy elements mixture (mainly the iron abundance), we show
that the characteristics of the propagation and evanescent regions play also a
major role, determining the extension of the stable gap in the frequency domain
between the unstable low order pressure and high order gravity modes. Finally,
we consider the case of hybrid delta Sct-gamma Dor pulsators.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, in the proceedings of the Helas II Conference:
"Helioseismology, Asteroseismology and MHD Connections", Goettingen, August
200
Solar-like oscillations in a massive star
Seismology of stars provides insight into the physical mechanisms taking
place in their interior, with modes of oscillation probing different layers.
Low-amplitude acoustic oscillations excited by turbulent convection were
detected four decades ago in the Sun and more recently in low-mass
main-sequence stars. Using data gathered by the Convection Rotation and
Planetary Transits mission, we report here on the detection of solar-like
oscillations in a massive star, V1449 Aql, which is a known large-amplitude (b
Cephei) pulsator.Comment: Published in Sience, 19 June 2009, vol. 324, p. 154
Periodic mass loss episodes due to an oscillation mode with variable amplitude in the hot supergiant HD50064
We aim to interpret the photometric and spectroscopic variability of the
luminous blue variable supergiant HD\,50064 ().CoRoT space photometry
and follow-up high-resolution spectroscopy, with a time base of 137\,d and
169\,d, respectively, was gathered, analysed and interpreted using standard
time series analysis and light curve modelling methods as well as spectral line
diagnostics.The space photometry reveals one period of 37\,d, which undergoes a
sudden amplitude change with a factor 1.6. The pulsation period is confirmed in
the spectroscopy, which additionally reveals metal line radial velocity values
differing by km\,s depending on the spectral line and on the
epoch. We estimate \teff13\,500\,K, \logg1.5 from the equivalent
width of Si lines. The Balmer lines reveal that the star undergoes episodes of
changing mass loss on a time scale similar to the changes in the photometric
and spectroscopic variability, with an average value of (in M\,yr). We tentatively interpret the 37\,d
period as due to a strange mode oscillation.Comment: 4 pages, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letter
Probing populations of red giants in the galactic disk with CoRoT
The detection with CoRoT of solar-like oscillations in nearly 800 red giants
in the first 150-days long observational run paves the way for detailed studies
of populations of galactic-disk red giants. We investigate which information on
the observed population can be recovered by the distribution of the observed
seismic constraints: the frequency of maximum oscillation power (nu_max) and
the large frequency separation (Deltanu). We propose to use the observed
distribution of nu_max and of Deltanu as a tool for investigating the
properties of galactic red-giant stars through comparison with simulated
distributions based on synthetic stellar populations. We can clearly identify
the bulk of the red giants observed by CoRoT as red-clump stars, i.e.
post-flash core-He-burning stars. The distribution of nu_max and of Deltanu
gives us access to the distribution of the stellar radius and mass, and thus
represent a most promising probe of the age and star formation rate of the
disk, and of the mass-loss rate during the red-giant branch.
CoRoT observations are supplying seismic constraints for the most populated
class of He-burning stars in the galactic disk. This opens a new access gate to
probing the properties of red-giant stars that, coupled with classical
observations, promises to extend our knowledge of these advanced phases of
stellar evolution and to add relevant constraints to models of composite
stellar populations in the Galaxy.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, accepted in A&A Letter
The underlying physical meaning of the relation
Asteroseismology of stars that exhibit solar-like oscillations are enjoying a
growing interest with the wealth of observational results obtained with the
CoRoT and Kepler missions. In this framework, scaling laws between
asteroseismic quantities and stellar parameters are becoming essential tools to
study a rich variety of stars. However, the physical underlying mechanisms of
those scaling laws are still poorly known. Our objective is to provide a
theoretical basis for the scaling between the frequency of the maximum in the
power spectrum () of solar-like oscillations and the cut-off
frequency (). Using the SoHO GOLF observations together with
theoretical considerations, we first confirm that the maximum of the height in
oscillation power spectrum is determined by the so-called \emph{plateau} of the
damping rates. The physical origin of the plateau can be traced to the
destabilizing effect of the Lagrangian perturbation of entropy in the
upper-most layers which becomes important when the modal period and the local
thermal relaxation time-scale are comparable. Based on this analysis, we then
find a linear relation between and , with a
coefficient that depends on the ratio of the Mach number of the exciting
turbulence to the third power to the mixing-length parameter.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures. Accepted in A&
Evidence for a sharp structure variation inside a red-giant star
The availability of precisely determined frequencies of radial and non-radial
oscillation modes in red giants is finally paving the way for detailed studies
of the internal structure of these stars. We look for the seismic signature of
regions of sharp structure variation in the internal structure of the CoRoT
target HR7349. We analyse the frequency dependence of the large frequency
separation and second frequency differences, as well as the behaviour of the
large frequency separation obtained with the envelope auto-correlation
function. We find evidence for a periodic component in the oscillation
frequencies, i.e. the seismic signature of a sharp structure variation in
HR7349. In a comparison with stellar models we interpret this feature as caused
by a local depression of the sound speed that occurs in the helium
second-ionization region. Using solely seismic constraints this allows us to
estimate the mass (M=1.2^{+0.6}_{-0.4} Msun) and radius (R=12.2^{+2.1}_{-1.8}
Rsun) of HR7349, which agrees with the location of the star in an HR diagram.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, accepted in A&A Letter
Probing the properties of convective cores through g modes: high-order g modes in SPB and gamma Doradus stars
In main sequence stars the periods of high-order gravity modes are sensitive
probes of stellar cores and, in particular, of the chemical composition
gradient that develops near the outer edge of the convective core. We present
an analytical approximation of high-order g modes that takes into account the
effect of the mu gradient near the core. We show that in main-sequence models,
similarly to the case of white dwarfs, the periods of high-order gravity modes
are accurately described by a uniform period spacing superposed to an
oscillatory component. The periodicity and amplitude of such component are
related, respectively, to the location and sharpness of the mu gradient.
We investigate the properties of high-order gravity modes for stellar models
in a mass domain between 1 and 10 Msun, and the effects of the stellar mass,
evolutionary state, and extra-mixing processes on period spacing features. In
particular, we show that for models of a typical SPB star, a chemical mixing
that could likely be induced by the slow rotation observed in these stars, is
able to significantly change the g-mode spectra of the equilibrium model.
Prospects and challenges for the asteroseismology of gamma Doradus and SPB
stars are also discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 29 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
CoRoT observations of O stars: diverse origins of variability
Six O-type stars were observed continuously by the CoRoT satellite during a
34.3-day run. The unprecedented quality of the data allows us to detect even
low-amplitude stellar pulsations in some of these stars (HD 46202 and the
binaries HD 46149 and Plaskett's star). These cover both opacity-driven modes
and solar-like stochastic oscillations, both of importance to the
asteroseismological modelling of O stars. Additional effects can be seen in the
CoRoT light curves, such as binarity and rotational modulation. Some of the
hottest O-type stars (HD 46223, HD 46150 and HD 46966) are dominated by the
presence of red-noise: we speculate that this is related to a sub-surface
convection zone.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, conference paper. To be published in "Four
decades of Research on Massive Stars", Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
Eds. C. Robert, N. St-Louis and L. Drisse
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Differential population studies using asteroseismology: Solar-like oscillating giants in CoRoT fields LRc01 and LRa01
Solar-like oscillating giants observed by the space-borne satellites CoRoT and Kepler can be used as key tracers of stellar populations in the Milky Way. When combined with additional photometric/spectroscopic constraints, the pulsation spectra of solar-like oscillating giant stars not only reveal their radii, and hence distances, but also provide well-constrained estimates of their masses, which can be used as proxies for the ages of these evolved stars. In this contribution we provide supplementary material to the comparison we presented in Miglio et al. (2013) between populations of giants observed by CoRoT in the fields designated LRc01 and LRa01
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