Analysis of 746 new V-band observations of the RR Lyrae star AH Cam obtained during 1989-1992 clearly show that its light curve cannot be described by a single period. In fact, at first glance, the Fourier spectrum of the photometry resembles that of a double-mode pulsator, with peaks at a fundamental period of 0.3686d and an apparent secondary period of 0.2628d. Nevertheless, the dual-mode solution is a poor fit to the data. Rather, we believe that AH Cam is a single-mode RR Lyrae star undergoing the Blazhko effect: periodic modulation of the amplitude and shape of its light curve. What was originally taken to be the period of the second mode is instead the 1-cycle/d alias of a modulation sidelobe in the Fourier spectrum. The data are well described by a modulation period of just under 11d, which is the shortest Blazhko period reported to date in the literature and confirms the earlier suggestion by Goranskii. A low-resolution spectrum of AH Cam indicates that it is relatively metal rich, with {DELTA}S<=2. Its high metallicity and short modulation period may provide a critical test of at least one theory for the Blazhko effect. Moskalik's internal resonance model makes specific predictions of the growth rate of the fundamental mode vs fundamental period. AH Cam falls outside the regime of other known Blazhko variables and resonance model predictions, but these are appropriate for metal-poor RR Lyrae stars. If the theory matches the behavior of AH Cam for a metal-rich stellar model, this would bolster the resonance hypothesis.
We have performed a search for variable stars in the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822 using wide-field multi-epoch VI photometry down to a limiting magnitude of ~22. A part from the Cepheid variables in this galaxy already reported in an earlier paper by Pietrzynski et al. (2004AJ....128.2815P), we have found 1019 "non-periodic" variable stars, 50 periodically variable stars with periods ranging from 0.12 to 66 days and 146 probably periodic variables. Twelve of these stars are eclipsing binaries and fifteen are likely new, low-amplitude Cepheids.
The Berlin Exoplanet Search Telescope II (BEST II) is a small wide field-of-view photometric survey telescope system located at the Observatorio Cerro Armazones, Chile. The high duty cycle combined with excellent observing conditions and millimagnitude photometric precision makes this instrument suitable for ground based support observations for the CoRoT space mission. Photometric data of the CoRoT LRa02 target field collected between November 2008 and March 2009 were analysed for stellar variability. The presented results will help in the future analysis of the CoRoT data, particularly in additional science programs related to variable stars. BEST II observes selected CoRoT target fields ahead of the space mission. The photometric data acquired are searched for stellar variability, periodic variable stars are identified with time series analysis of the obtained stellar light curves. We obtained the light curves of 104335 stars in the CoRoT LRa02 field over 41 nights. Variability was detected in light curves of 3726 stars of which 350 showed a regular period. These stars are, with the exception of 5 previously known variable stars, new discoveries.
BEST-II periodic variables in CoRoT LRa02 field. II.
Short Name:
J/AJ/143/140
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
The CoRoT (Convection, Rotation and planetary Transit) field LRa02 has been observed with the Berlin Exoplanet Search Telescope II (BEST II) during the southern summer 2007/2008. A first analysis of stellar variability led to the publication of 345 newly discovered variable stars. Now, a deeper analysis of this data set was used to optimize the variability search procedure. Several methods and parameters have been tested in order to improve the selection process compared to the widely used J index for variability ranking. This paper describes an empirical approach to treat systematic trends in photometric data based upon the analysis of variance statistics that can significantly decrease the rate of false detections. Finally, the process of reanalysis and method improvement has virtually doubled the number of variable stars compared to the first analysis by Kabath et al. (Paper I, 2009, Cat. J/A+A/506/569). A supplementary catalog of 272 previously unknown periodic variables plus 52 stars with suspected variability is presented. Improved ephemerides are given for 19 known variables in the field. In addition, the BEST II results are compared with CoRoT data and its automatic variability classification.
F type stars are characterised by several physical processes such as different pulsation mechanisms, rotation, convection, diffusion, and magnetic fields. The rapidly rotating delta Scuti star beta Cas can be considered as a benchmark star to study the interaction of several of these effects. We investigate the pulsational and magnetic field properties of beta Cas. We also determine the star's apparent fundamental parameters and chemical abundances. Based on photometric time series obtained from three different space missions (BRITE-Constellation, SMEI, and TESS), we conduct a frequency analysis and investigate the stability of the pulsation amplitudes over four years of observations. We investigate the presence of a magnetic field and its properties using spectropolarimetric observations taken with the Narval instrument by applying the Least Square Deconvolution and Zeeman Doppler Imaging techniques. beta Cas shows only three independent p-mode frequencies down to the few ppm-level; its highest amplitude frequency is suggested to be a n=3, l=2, m=0 mode. Its magnetic field structure is quite complex and almost certainly of a dynamo origin. beta Cas' atmosphere is slightly deficient in iron peak elements and slightly overabundant in C, O, and heavier elements. Atypically for delta Scuti stars, we can only detect three pulsation modes down to exceptionally low noise levels for beta Cas.The star is also one of very few delta Scuti pulsators known to date to show a measurable magnetic field, and the first delta Scuti star with a dynamo magnetic field. These characteristics make beta Cas an interesting target for future studies of dynamo processes in the thin convective envelopes of F-type stars, of the transition region between fossil and dynamo fields, and the interaction between pulsations and magnetic field.
Exoplanet properties crucially depend on the parameters of their host stars: more accurate stellar parameters yield more accurate exoplanet characteristics. When the exoplanet host star shows pulsations, asteroseismology can be used for an improved description of the stellar parameters. We aim to revisit the pulsational properties of {beta} Pic and identify its pulsation modes from normalized amplitudes in five different passbands. We also investigate the potential presence of a magnetic field. We conducted a frequency analysis using three seasons of BRITE-Constellation observations in the two BRITE filters, the about 620-day-long bRing light curve, and the nearly 8-year-long SMEI photometric time series. We calculated normalized amplitudes using all passbands and including previously published values obtained from ASTEP observations. We investigated the magnetic properties of {beta} Pic using spectropolarimetric observations conducted with the HARPSpol instrument. Using 2D rotating models, we fit the normalized amplitudes and frequencies through Monte Carlo Markov chains. We identify 15 pulsation frequencies in the range from 34 to 55d^-1^, where two, F13 at 53.6917d^-1^ and F11 at 50.4921d^-1^, display clear amplitude variability. We use the normalized amplitudes in up to five passbands to identify the modes as three l=1, six l=2, and six l=3 modes. {beta} Pic is shown to be non-magnetic with an upper limit of the possible undetected dipolar field of 300 Gauss. Multiple fits to the frequencies and normalized amplitudes are obtained, including one with a near equator-on inclination for {beta} Pic, which corresponds to our expectations based on the orbital inclination of {beta} Pic b and the orientation of the circumstellar disk. This solution leads to a rotation rate of 27% of the Keplerian breakup velocity, a radius of 1.497+/-0.025R_{sun}_, and a mass of 1.797+/-0.035M_{sun}_. The ~2% errors in radius and mass do not account for uncertainties in the models and a potentially erroneous mode-identification.
Photometric monitoring of beta Pictoris in 1981 showed anomalous fluctuations of up to 4% over several days, consistent with foreground material transiting the stellar disk. The subsequent discovery of the gas giant planet beta Pictoris b and the predicted transit of its Hill sphere to within 0.1 au projected distance of the planet provided an opportunity to search for the transit of a circumplanetary disk in this 21+/-4Myr-old planetary system. Continuous broadband photometric monitoring of beta Pictoris requires ground- based observatories at multiple longitudes to provide redundancy and to provide triggers for rapid spectroscopic followup. These observatories include the dedicated beta Pictoris monitoring observatory bRing at Sutherland and Siding Springs, the ASTEP400 telescope at Concordia, and observations from the space observatories BRITE and Hubble Space Telescope. We search the combined light curves for evidence of short period transient events caused by rings and for longer term photometric variability due to diffuse circumplanetary material. We find no photometric event that matches with the event seen in November 1981, and there is no systematic photometric dimming of the star as a function of the Hill sphere radius. We conclude that the 1981 event was not caused by the transit of a circumplanetary disk around beta Pictoris b. The upper limit on the long term variability of beta Pictoris places an upper limit of 1.8x10^22^g of dust within the Hill sphere. Circumplanetary material is either condensed into a non-transiting disk, is condensed into a disk with moons that has a small obliquity, or is below our detection threshold. This is the first time that a dedicated international campaign has mapped the Hill sphere transit of a gas giant extrasolar planet at 10 au.
We have obtained photometric time-series observations of stars in the open cluster NGC 2506, in order to study pulsating blue stragglers and eclipsing binaries. The data were obtained during a bi-site campaign in early 2005 which involved the Danish 1.54-m telescope at ESO, La Silla, and the Flemish Mercator telescope at La Palma, Spain. Based on these data we increased the number of known variables in NGC 2506 from 5 to 28 through the detection of 3 new pulsating blue stragglers, 15 gamma Doradus stars and 4 new eclipsing binaries, while one variable is of unknown type. We derived orbital periods for two previously known binaries, we performed a tentative mode-identification of the pulsating blue stragglers, and compared B- and I amplitude ratios and phase differences for the gamma Doradus stars to seismic models.
In 2008-2013, we obtained 11333 CCD BV Ic frames for 57 Cepheids from the General Catalogue of Variable Stars. We performed our observations with the 76-cm telescope of the South AfricanAstronomicalObservatory (SAAO, South Africa) and the 40-cm telescope of the Cerro Armazones Astronomical Observatory of the Universidad Catolica del Norte (OCA, Chile) using the SBIG ST-10XME CCD camera. The tables of observations, the plots of light curves, and the current light elements are presented. Comparison of our light curves with those constructed from photoelectric observations shows that the differences between their mean magnitudes exceed 0.05mag in 20% of the cases. This suggests the necessity of performing CCD observations for all Cepheids.
We took a total of 1175 B, V, and Ic-band CCD frames for 11 GCVS RR Lyr-type variables, for which only the coordinates were known. Observations were made with the 76-crn telescope of the South African Astronomical Observatory. We confirm the variability types, determine the periods, and build the light curves for five objects: BL Aps (P=0.598d), GR Pav (P=0.583d), HI Pav (P=0.643d), HZ Pav (P=0.803d), and IR Pav (P=0.561d). The objects SY Aps (P=0.279d) and IV Pav (P=0.408d) proved to be W UMa-type eclipsing variables; TW Aps (P=0.149d), an SX Phe-type variable; TT Aps (P=482d), an SRD-type semiregular variable, and SW Aps and GI Pav, constant stars.
