In this context, the recent report1 of an approximately 70-solar-mass (M®) black hole in the galactic binary system LB-1 challenges conventional theories of massive-star evolution, stellar winds and ...core-collapse supernovae, thus requiring a more exotic scenario to explain the existence and properties of this system2,3. ...we used a barycentre method as well as a bisector method using an identical mask as that in Liu et al.1, to estimate the apparent radial-velocity shift resulting from the combined Ha profile, obtaining similar results using both methods. ...there is no evidence for a large mass ratio, and hence also no evidence for a large absolute mass of a black hole. Data availability The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2216-x Received: 6 December 2019 Accepted: 27 February 2020 Published online: 29 April 2020 Acknowledgements We acknowledge support from the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO, Research Foundation Flanders) under project IDs G0F8H6N, G0B3818N, 12ZY520N, G0H5416N and GST-D6267-I002519N, and from the Onderzoeksraad (Research Council), KU Leuven under project IDs C16/17/007, C16/18/005 and C14/17/082.
Context. In asteroseismology, the pulsation mode frequencies of a star are the fundamental data that are compared to theoretical predictions to determine a star’s interior physics. Recent significant ...advances in the numerical, theoretical, and statistical asteroseismic methods applied to main-sequence stars with convective cores have renewed interest in investigating the propagation of observational uncertainties within a forward asteroseismic modelling framework. Aims. We aim to quantify the impact of various choices made throughout the observational aspects of extracting pulsation mode frequencies in main-sequence stars with gravity modes. Methods. We use a well-studied benchmark slowly pulsating B star, KIC 7760680, to investigate the sensitivity of forward asteroseismic modelling to various sources of observational uncertainty that affect the precision of the input pulsation mode frequencies. Results. We quantify the impact of the propagation of the observational uncertainties involved in forward asteroseismic modelling. We find that one of the largest sources of uncertainty in our benchmark star is in the manual building of period spacing patterns, such that the inclusion of a potentially ambiguous pulsation mode frequency may yield differences in model parameters of up to 10% for mass and age depending on the radial order of the mode. Conclusions. We conclude that future asteroseismic studies of main-sequence stars with a convective core should quantify and include observational uncertainties introduced by the light curve extraction, iterative pre-whitening, and the building of period spacing patterns, as these propagate into the final modelling results.
Massive stars are important metal factories in the Universe. They have short and energetic lives, and many of them inevitably explode as a supernova and become a neutron star or black hole. In turn, ...the formation, evolution and explosive deaths of massive stars impact the surrounding interstellar medium and shape the evolution of their host galaxies. Yet the chemical and dynamical evolution of a massive star, including the chemical yield of the ultimate supernova and the remnant mass of the compact object, strongly depend on the interior physics of the progenitor star. We currently lack empirically calibrated prescriptions for various physical processes at work within massive stars, but this is now being remedied by asteroseismology. The study of stellar structure and evolution using stellar oscillations—asteroseismology—has undergone a revolution in the last two decades thanks to high-precision time series photometry from space telescopes. In particular, the long-term light curves provided by the MOST, CoRoT, BRITE, Kepler/K2, and TESS missions provided invaluable data sets in terms of photometric precision, duration and frequency resolution to successfully apply asteroseismology to massive stars and probe their interior physics. The observation and subsequent modeling of stellar pulsations in massive stars has revealed key missing ingredients in stellar structure and evolution models of these stars. Thus, asteroseismology has opened a new window into calibrating stellar physics within a highly degenerate part of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. In this review, I provide a historical overview of the progress made using ground-based and early space missions, and discuss more recent advances and breakthroughs in our understanding of massive star interiors by means of asteroseismology with modern space telescopes.
Abstract
The δ Sct stars are a diverse group of intermediate-mass pulsating stars located on and near the main sequence within the classical instability strip in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Many ...of these stars are hybrid stars pulsating simultaneously with pressure and gravity modes that probe the physics at different depths within a star's interior. Using two large ensembles of δ Sct stars observed by the Kepler Space Telescope, the instrumental biases inherent to Kepler mission data and the statistical properties of these stars are investigated. An important focus of this work is an analysis of the relationships between the pulsational and stellar parameters, and their distribution within the classical instability strip. It is found that a non-negligible fraction of main-sequence δ Sct stars exist outside theoretical predictions of the classical instability boundaries, which indicates the necessity of a mass-dependent mixing length parameter to simultaneously explain low and high radial order pressure modes in δ Sct stars within the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Furthermore, a search for regularities in the amplitude spectra of these stars is also presented, specifically the frequency difference between pressure modes of consecutive radial order. In this work, it is demonstrated that an ensemble-based approach using space photometry from the Kepler mission is not only plausible for δ Sct stars, but that it is a valuable method for identifying the most promising stars for mode identification and asteroseismic modelling. The full scientific potential of studying δ Sct stars is as yet unrealized. The ensembles discussed in this paper represent a high-quality data set for future studies of rotation and angular momentum transport inside A and F stars using asteroseismology.
ABSTRACT
Pulsations and binarity are both common features of massive stars. The study of pulsating massive stars in eclipsing binary systems holds great potential for constraining stellar structure ...and evolution theory. However, prior to the all-sky Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission, few such systems had been discovered or studied in detail. We have inspected the TESS light curves of a large number of eclipsing binaries known to contain high-mass stars, and compiled a list of 18 objects which show intrinsic variability. The light curves were modelled both to determine the physical properties of the systems, and to remove the effects of binarity in order to leave residual light curves suitable for asteroseismic analysis. Precise mass and radius measurements were obtained for δ Cir, CC Cas, SZ Cam V436 Per and V539 Ara. We searched the residual light curves for pulsation signatures and, within our sample of 18 objects, we find six definite and eight possible cases of β Cephei pulsation, seven cases of stochastic low-frequency (SLF) variability, and eight instances of possible slowly pulsating B (SPB) star pulsation. The large number of pulsating eclipsing systems we have identified makes asteroseismology of high-mass stars in eclipsing binaries a feasible avenue to constrain the interior physics of a large sample of massive stars for the first time.
Massive stars play a major role not only in stellar evolution but also galactic evolution theory. This is because of their dynamical interaction with binary companions, but also because their strong ...winds and explosive deaths as supernovae provide chemical, radiative and kinematic feedback to their environments. Yet this feedback strongly depends on the physics of the supernova progenitor star. It is only in recent decades that asteroseismology – the study of stellar pulsations – has developed the necessary tools to a high level of sophistication to become a prime method at the forefront of astronomical research for constraining the physical processes at work within stellar interiors. For example, precise and accurate asteroseismic constraints on interior rotation, magnetic field strength and geometry, mixing and angular momentum transport processes of massive stars are becoming increasingly available across a wide range of masses. Moreover, ongoing large-scale time-series photometric surveys with space telescopes have revealed a large diversity in the variability of massive stars, including widespread coherent pulsations across a large range in mass and age, and the discovery of ubiquitous stochastic low-frequency (SLF) variability in their light curves. In this invited review, I discuss the progress made in understanding the physical processes at work within massive star interiors thanks to modern asteroseismic techniques, and conclude with a future outlook.
ABSTRACT
About 10 per cent of intermediate- and high-mass dwarf stars are observed to host a strong large-scale magnetic field at their surface, which is thought to be of fossil field origin. ...However, there are few inferences as to the magnetic field strength and geometry within the deep interiors of stars. Considering that massive stars harbour a convective core whilst on the main sequence, asteroseismology of gravity (g) modes is able to provide constraints on their core masses, yet it has so far not been used to probe the strength of their interior magnetic fields. Here, we use asteroseismology to constrain an upper limit for the magnetic field strength in the near-core region of the pulsating and magnetic B star HD 43317, based on the expected interaction of a magnetic field and its g modes. We find a magnetic field strength of order 5 × 105 G is sufficient to suppress high-radial order g modes and reproduce the observed frequency spectrum of HD 43317, which contains only high-frequency g modes. This result is the first inference of the magnetic field strength inside a main-sequence star.
We present the results of a search for amplitude modulation of pulsation modes in 983 δ Sct stars, which have effective temperatures between 6400 ≤ T
eff ≤ 10 000 K in the Kepler Input Catalogue and ...were continuously observed by the Kepler
Space Telescope for 4 yr. We demonstrate the diversity in pulsational behaviour observed, in particular non-linearity, which is predicted for δ Sct stars. We analyse and discuss examples of δ Sct stars with constant amplitudes and phases; those that exhibit amplitude modulation caused by beating of close-frequency pulsation modes; those that exhibit pure amplitude modulation (with no associated phase variation); those that exhibit phase modulation caused by binarity; and those that exhibit amplitude modulation caused by non-linearity. Using models and examples of individual stars, we demonstrate that observations of the changes in amplitude and phase of pulsation modes can be used to distinguish among the different scenarios. We find that 603 δ Sct stars (61.3 per cent) exhibit at least one pulsation mode that varies significantly in amplitude over 4 yr. Conversely, many δ Sct stars have constant pulsation amplitudes so short-length observations can be used to determine precise frequencies, amplitudes and phases for the most coherent and periodic δ Sct stars. It is shown that amplitude modulation is not restricted to a small region on the HR diagram, therefore not necessarily dependent on stellar parameters such as T
eff or log g. Our catalogue of 983 δ Sct stars will be useful for comparisons to similar stars observed by K2 and TESS, because the length of the 4-yr Kepler data set will not be surpassed for some time.
The interior physics of stars is currently not well constrained for early-type stars. This is particularly pertinent for multiple systems, as binary interaction becomes more prevalent for more ...massive stars, which strongly affects their evolution. High-precision photometry from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission offers the opportunity to remedy the dearth of observations of pulsating stars that show evidence of binary interaction, specifically pulsating mass-accreting components of semi-detached Algol-type eclipsing binary (oEA) systems. We present the TESS light curve of the circular eclipsing binary system U Gru (TIC 147201138), which shows evidence of free heat-driven pressure modes and a series of tidally perturbed pressure modes. We highlight the asteroseismic potential of studying pulsating stars in binary systems, and demonstrate how tidal asteroseismology can be applied to infer the influence of binary interaction on stellar structure.
Abstract
The analysis of the available Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) light curves of
α
Sex (HD 87887) reveals low-frequency pulsations with a period of about 9.1 hr in this ...spectroscopic A0 III standard star. The IUE observations in 1992 December reveal large flux variations both in the far-UV and in the mid-UV, which are accompanied by variations of the brightness in the
V
band recorded by the the Fine Error Sensor on board IUE. The ultraviolet variability could be due to an eclipse by an hitherto undetected companion of smaller radius, possibly 2.5
R
⊙
, but this needs confirmation by further monitoring possibly with TESS. An abundance determination yields solar abundances for most elements. Only carbon and strontium are underabundant and titanium, vanadium, and baryum mildly overabundant. Identification is provided for most of the lines absorbing more than 2% in the optical spectrum of
α
Sex. Stellar evolution modeling shows that
α
Sex is near the terminal-age main sequence, and its mass, radius, and age are estimated to be
M
= 2.57 ± 0.32
M
⊙
,
R
= 3.07 ± 0.90
R
⊙
,
A
= 385 ± 77 Myr, respectively.
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