Low-dimensional chaos in RR Lyrae models

The recent precise photometric observations and successes of the modelling efforts transformed our picture of the pulsation of RR Lyrae stars. The discovery of additional frequencies and the period doubling phenomenon revealed that a significant interaction may occur between pulsational modes. The signs of irregularities were detected both in observed light curves and hydrodynamic calculations. In this paper we present the analysis of four peculiar hydrodynamic model solutions. All four solutions were found to be chaotic. The fractal (Lyapunov) dimensions of their attractors were calculated to be ~2.2. We also investigated possible resonances between the fundamental mode and the first overtone in the dynamical neighbourhood of these models. The most important is the 6:8 resonance that was also detected in the Kepler observations of RR Lyrae itself. These results reveal that the investigation of chaotic models is important in discovering and understanding resonances in RR Lyrae stars.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

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

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

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

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

Amplitude Modulation in the ZZ Ceti Star GD 244

Previous studies of GD 244 revealed seven pulsation frequencies (two doublets and three single periods) in the light variations of the star. The data obtained at McDonald Observatory between 2003 and 2006, and our additional measurements in 2006 and 2007 at Konkoly Observatory, allow the investigation of the long-term pulsational behaviour of GD 244. We found that the 307.1 s period component of one of the doublets show long-term, periodic amplitude modulation with a time scale of ~740 days. Possible explanations are that nonlinear resonant mode coupling is operating among the rotationally split frequency components, or two modes, unresolved in the yearly data are excited at ~307.1 s. This is the first time that such long-term periodic amplitude modulation is published on a ZZ Ceti star.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, appeared in ASP Conference Series vol. 493, 2015 (eds.: P. Dufour, P. Bergeron, G. Fontaine, 19th European Workshop on White Dwarfs, Montreal, Canada