124 research outputs found
Welcome back, Polaris the Cepheid
For about 100 years the amplitude of the 4-day pulsation in Polaris has
decreased. We present new results showing a significant increase in the
amplitude based on 4.5 years of continuous monitoring from the ground and with
two satellite missions.Comment: 5 pages; to appear in the proceedings of the "Cool Stars 15" workshop
held at St Andrews, U
Magnetic Doppler Imaging of Active Stars
We present a new implementation of the magnetic Doppler imaging technique,
which aims at self-consistent temperature and magnetic mapping of the surface
structures in cool active stars. Our magnetic imaging procedure is unique in
its capability to model individual spectral features in all four Stokes
parameters. We discuss performance and intrinsic limitations of the new
magnetic Doppler imaging method. A special emphasis is given to the
simultaneous modelling of the magnetically sensitive lines in the optical and
infrared regions and to combining information from both atomic and molecular
spectral features. These two techniques may, for the first time, give us a tool
to study magnetic fields in the starspot interiors.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; to appear in the proceedings of Solar
Polarization Workshop 5, ASP Conf. Se
Three-dimensional magnetic and abundance mapping of the cool Ap star HD 24712 I. Spectropolarimetric observations in all four Stokes parameters
High-resolution spectropolarimetric observations provide simultaneous
information about stellar magnetic field topologies and three-dimensional
distributions of chemical elements. Here we present analysis of a unique full
Stokes vector spectropolarimetric data set, acquired for the cool magnetic Ap
star HD 24712. The goal of our work is to examine circular and linear
polarization signatures inside spectral lines and to study variation of the
stellar spectrum and magnetic observables as a function of rotational phase. HD
24712 was observed with the HARPSpol instrument at the 3.6-m ESO telescope over
a period of 2010-2011. The resulting spectra have S/N ratio of 300-600 and
resolving power exceeding 100000. The multiline technique of least-squares
deconvolution (LSD) was applied to combine information from the spectral lines
of Fe-peak and rare-earth elements. We used the HARPSPol spectra of HD 24712 to
study the morphology of the Stokes profile shapes in individual spectral lines
and in LSD Stokes profiles corresponding to different line masks. From the LSD
Stokes V profiles we measured the longitudinal component of the magnetic field,
, with an accuracy of 5-10 G. We also determined the net linear
polarization from the LSD Stokes Q and U profiles. We determined an improved
rotational period of the star, P_rot = 12.45812 +/- 0.00019d. We measured
from the cores of Halpha and Hbeta lines. The analysis of measurements
showed no evidence for a significant radial magnetic field gradient in the
atmosphere of HD 24712. We used our and net linear polarization
measurements to determine parameters of the dipolar magnetic field topology. We
found that magnetic observables can be reasonably well reproduced by the
dipolar model. We discovered rotational modulation of the Halpha core and
related it a non-uniform surface distribution of rare-earth elements.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Chemical spots in the absence of magnetic field in the binary HgMn star 66 Eridani
According to our current understanding, a subclass of the upper main sequence
chemically peculiar stars, called mercury-manganese (HgMn), is non-magnetic.
Nevertheless, chemical inhomogeneities were recently discovered on their
surfaces. At the same time, no global magnetic fields stronger than 1-100 G are
detected by modern studies. The goals of our study are to search for magnetic
field in the HgMn binary system 66 Eri and to investigate chemical spots on the
stellar surfaces of both components. Our analysis is based on high quality
spectropolarimetric time-series observations obtained during 10 consecutive
nights with the HARPSpol instrument at the ESO 3.6-m telescope. To increase the
sensitivity of the magnetic field search we employed a least-squares
deconvolution (LSD). We used spectral disentangling to measure radial
velocities and study line profile variability. Chemical spot geometry was
reconstructed using multi-line Doppler imaging. We report a non-detection of
magnetic field in 66 Eri, with error bars 10-24 G for the longitudinal field.
Circular polarization profiles also do not indicate any signatures of complex
surface magnetic fields. For a simple dipolar field configuration we estimated
an upper limit of the polar field strength to be 60-70 G. For the HgMn
component we found variability in spectral lines of Ti, Ba, Y, and Sr with the
rotational period equal to the orbital one. The surface maps of these elements
reconstructed with the Doppler imaging technique, show relative underabundance
on the hemisphere facing the secondary component. The contrast of chemical
inhomogeneities ranges from 0.4 for Ti to 0.8 for Ba.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figure
Interpretation of the Veiling of the Photospheric Spectrum for T Tauri Stars in Terms of an Accretion Model
The problem on heating the atmospheres of T Tauri stars by radiation from an
accretion shock has been solved. The structure and radiation spectrum of the
emerging so-called hot spot have been calculated in the LTE approximation. The
emission not only in continuum but also in lines has been taken into account
for the first time when calculating the spot spectrum. Comparison with
observations has shown that the strongest of these lines manifest themselves as
narrow components of helium and metal emission lines, while the weaker ones
decrease significantly the depth of photospheric absorption lines, although
until now, this effect has been thought to be due to the emission continuum
alone. The veiling by lines changes the depth of different photospheric lines
to a very different degree even within a narrow spectral range. Therefore, the
nonmonotonic wavelength dependence of the degree of veiling r found for some
CTTS does not suggest a nontrivial spectral energy distribution of the veiling
continuum. In general, it makes sense to specify the degree of veiling r only
by providing the set of photospheric lines from which this quantity was
determined. We show that taking into account the contribution of lines to the
veiling of the photospheric spectrum can cause the existing estimates of the
accretion rate onto T Tauri stars to decrease by several times, with this being
also true for stars with a comparatively weakly veiled spectrum. Neglecting the
contribution of lines to the veiling can also lead to appreciable errors in
determining the effective temperature, interstellar extinction, radial
velocity, and vsin(i)
Magnetism, chemical spots, and stratification in the HgMn star ϕ Phoenicis
Context. Mercury-manganese (HgMn) stars have been considered as non-magnetic and non-variable chemically peculiar (CP) stars
for a long time. However, recent discoveries of the variability in spectral line profiles have suggested an inhomogeneous surface
distribution of chemical elements in some HgMn stars. From the studies of other CP stars it is known that magnetic field plays a key
role in the formation of surface spots. All attempts to find magnetic fields in HgMn stars have yielded negative results.
Aims. In this study, we investigate the possible presence of a magnetic field in ϕ Phe (HD 11753) and reconstruct surface distribution
of chemical elements that show variability in spectral lines.We also test a hypothesis that a magnetic field is concentrated in chemical
spots and look into the possibility that some chemical elements are stratified with depth in the stellar atmosphere.
Methods. Our analysis is based on high-quality spectropolarimetric time-series observations, covering a full rotational period of
the star. Spectra were obtained with the HARPSpol at the ESO 3.6-m telescope. To increase the sensitivity of the magnetic field
search, we employed the least-squares deconvolution (LSD) technique. Using Doppler imaging code INVERS10, we reconstructed
surface chemical distributions by utilising information from multiple spectral lines. The vertical stratification of chemical elements
was calculated with the DDAFit program.
Results. Combining information from all suitable spectral lines, we set an upper limit of 4 G on the mean longitudinal magnetic field.
For chemical spots, an upper limit on the longitudinal field varies between 8 and 15 G. We confirmed the variability of Y, Sr, and Ti
and detected variability in Cr lines. Stratification analysis showed that Y and Ti are not concentrated in the uppermost atmospheric
layers.
Conclusions. Our spectropolarimetric observations rule out the presence of a strong, globally-organised magnetic field in ϕ Phe.
This implies an alternative mechanism of spot formation, which could be related to a non-equilibrium atomic diffusion. However, the
typical time scales of the variation in stratification predicted by the recent time-dependent diffusion models exceed significantly the
spot evolution time-scale reported for ϕ Phe
An Improved Method for Estimating the Masses of Stars with Transiting Planets
To determine the physical parameters of a transiting planet and its host star
from photometric and spectroscopic analysis, it is essential to independently
measure the stellar mass. This is often achieved by the use of evolutionary
tracks and isochrones, but the mass result is only as reliable as the models
used. The recent paper by Torres et al (2009) showed that accurate values for
stellar masses and radii could be obtained from a calibration using T_eff, log
g and [Fe/H]. We investigate whether a similarly good calibration can be
obtained by substituting log rho - the fundamental parameter measured for the
host star of a transiting planet - for log g, and apply this to star-exoplanet
systems. We perform a polynomial fit to stellar binary data provided in Torres
et al (2009) to obtain the stellar mass and radius as functions of T_eff, log
rho and [Fe/H], with uncertainties on the fit produced from a Monte Carlo
analysis. We apply the resulting equations to measurements for seventeen
SuperWASP host stars, and also demonstrate the application of the calibration
in a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis to obtain accurate system parameters
where spectroscopic estimates of effective stellar temperature and metallicity
are available. We show that the calibration using log rho produces accurate
values for the stellar masses and radii; we obtain masses and radii of the
SuperWASP stars in good agreement with isochrone analysis results. We ascertain
that the mass calibration is robust against uncertainties resulting from poor
photometry, although a good estimate of stellar radius requires good-quality
transit light curve to determine the duration of ingress and egress.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Magnetic field topology and chemical spot distributions in the extreme Ap star HD 75049
Intermediate-mass, magnetic chemically peculiar (Ap) stars provide a unique
opportunity to study the topology of stellar magnetic fields in detail and to
investigate magnetically driven processes of spot formation. Here we aim to
derive the surface magnetic field geometry and chemical abundance distributions
for the extraordinary Ap star HD 75049. This object hosts a surface field of
~30 kG, one of the strongest known for any non-degenerate star. We used
time-series of high-resolution HARPS intensity and circular polarisation
observations. These data were interpreted with the help of magnetic Doppler
imaging and model atmospheres incorporating effects of a non-solar chemical
composition and a strong magnetic field. We refined the rotational period of HD
75049 to Prot=4.048267+/-0.000036 d. We also derived basic stellar parameters,
Teff=10250+/-250 K and logg=4.3+/-0.1. Magnetic Doppler imaging revealed that
the field topology of HD 75049 is poloidal and dominated by a dipolar
contribution with a peak surface field strength of 39 kG. At the same time,
deviations from the classical axisymmetric oblique dipolar configuration are
significant. Chemical surface maps of Si, Cr, Fe, and Nd show abundance
contrasts of 0.5-1.4 dex, which is low compared with many other Ap stars. Nd is
found to be enhanced close to the magnetic pole, whereas Si and Cr are
concentrated predominantly at the magnetic equator. The iron distribution shows
low-contrast features both at the magnetic equator and the pole. The morphology
of the magnetic field and the properties of chemical spots in HD 75049 are
qualitatively similar to those of Ap stars with weaker fields. Consequently,
whatever mechanism forms and sustains global magnetic fields in
intermediate-mass main-sequence stars, it operates in the same way over the
entire observed range of magnetic field strengths.Comment: accepted for publication in A&
Magnetically Controlled Accretion on the Classical T Tauri Stars GQ Lupi and TW Hydrae
Stars and planetary system
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