We present an analytical formalism for the description of Blazhko RR Lyrae light curves. In this formalism the amplitude and frequency modulations are treated in a manner similar to the theory of ...electronic signal transmission. We consider monoperiodic RR Lyrae light curves to be carrier waves, and modulate their amplitude (AM), frequency (FM) and phase (PM); as a general case we discuss simultaneous AM and FM. The main advantages of this method are the following: (i) the mathematical formalism naturally explains numerous light-curve characteristics found in the Blazhko RR Lyrae stars such as mean brightness variations, complicated envelope curves and non-sinusoidal frequency variations; (ii) our elucidation also explains the properties of the Fourier spectra such as apparent higher order multiplets, amplitude distribution of the sidepeaks, the appearance of the modulation frequency itself and its harmonics. In addition, compared to the traditional methods, our light-curve solutions reduce the number of necessary parameters. This formalism can be applied to any type of modulated light curves, not just to Blazhko RR Lyrae star light curves.
ABSTRACT A sequence search method was developed for searching for regular frequency spacing in δ Scuti stars by visual inspection (VI) and algorithmic search. The sample contains 90 δ Scuti stars ...observed by CoRoT. An example is given to represent the VI. The algorithm (SSA) is described in detail. The data treatment of the CoRoT light curves, the criteria for frequency filtering, and the spacings derived by two methods (i.e., three approaches: VI, SSA, and FT) are given for each target. Echelle diagrams are presented for 77 targets for which at least one sequence of regular spacing was identified. Comparing the spacing and the shifts between pairs of echelle ridges revealed that at least one pair of echelle ridges is shifted to midway between the spacing for 22 stars. The estimated rotational frequencies compared to the shifts revealed rotationally split doublets, triplets, and multiplets not only for single frequencies, but for the complete echelle ridges in 31 δ Scuti stars. Using several possible assumptions for the origin of the spacings, we derived the large separation ( ) that are distributed along the mean density versus large separations relation derived from stellar models.
On September 28th, 2018, a powerful earthquake (M
w
7.5) struck the Island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. The earthquake was followed by a destructive and deadly tsunami that hit the Bay of Palu. A UNESCO ...international tsunami survey team responded to the disaster and surveyed 125 km of coastline along the Palu Bay up to the earthquake epicentre region. The team performed 78 tsunami runup and inundation height measurements throughout the surveyed coastline. Measured values reached 9.1 m for the runup height and 8.7 m for the inundation height, both at Benteng village. The survey team also identified ten large coastal sectors that collapsed into the sea of Palu Bay after the earthquake. The distribution of the measured tsunami data within Palu Bay exhibits a clear localised impact suggesting the contribution of secondary non-seismic local sources to the generation of the tsunami. Findings of the field reconnaissance are discussed to provide an insight into the remaining debated source of the Palu tsunami.
G 207-9 and LP 133-144 are two rarely observed ZZ Ceti stars located in the middle and close to the blue edge of the ZZ Ceti instability domain, respectively. We aimed to observe them at least during ...one observing season at Konkoly Observatory with the purpose of extending the list of known pulsation modes for asteroseismic investigations and detect any significant changes in their pulsational behaviour. We determined five and three new normal modes of G 207-9 and LP 133-144, respectively. In LP 133-144, our frequency analysis also revealed that at least at three modes there are actually triplets with frequency separations of ∼ 4 μHz. The rotational period of LP 133-144 based on the triplets is ≃42 h. The preliminary asteroseismic fits of G 207-9 predict T
eff = 12 000 or 12 400 K and
$M_{\ast }=0.855\text{--}0.870\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot }$
values for the effective temperature and mass of the star, depending on the assumptions on the spherical degree (l) values of the modes. These results are in agreement with the spectroscopic determinations. In the case of LP 133-144, the best-fitting models prefer T
eff = 11 800 K in effective temperature and M
* ≥ 0.71 M⊙ stellar masses, which are more than 0.1 M⊙ larger than the spectroscopic value.
ABSTRACT We present an analytical formalism for the description of Blazhko RRLyrae light curves. In this formalism the amplitude and frequency modulations are treated in a manner similar to the ...theory of electronic signal transmission. We consider monoperiodic RR Lyrae light curves to be carrier waves, and modulate their amplitude (AM), frequency (FM) and phase (PM); as a general case we discuss simultaneous AM and FM. The main advantages of this method are the following: (i) the mathematical formalism naturally explains numerous light-curve characteristics found in the Blazhko RRLyrae stars such as mean brightness variations, complicated envelope curves and non-sinusoidal frequency variations; (ii) our elucidation also explains the properties of the Fourier spectra such as apparent higher order multiplets, amplitude distribution of the sidepeaks, the appearance of the modulation frequency itself and its harmonics. In addition, compared to the traditional methods, our light-curve solutions reduce the number of necessary parameters. This formalism can be applied to any type of modulated light curves, not just to Blazhko RRLyrae star light curves. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT A sequence search method was developed to search the regular frequency spacing in δ Scuti stars through visual inspection and an algorithmic search. We searched for sequences of ...quasi-equally spaced frequencies, containing at least four members per sequence, in 90 δ Scuti stars observed by CoRoT. We found an unexpectedly large number of independent series of regular frequency spacing in 77 δ Scuti stars (from one to eight sequences) in the non-asymptotic regime. We introduce the sequence search method presenting the sequences and echelle diagram of CoRoT 102675756 and the structure of the algorithmic search. Four sequences (echelle ridges) were found in the 5-21 d−1 region where the pairs of the sequences are shifted (between 0.5 and 0.59 d−1) by twice the value of the estimated rotational splitting frequency (0.269 d−1). The general conclusions for the whole sample are also presented in this paper. The statistics of the spacings derived by the sequence search method, by FT (Fourier transform of the frequencies), and the statistics of the shifts are also compared. In many stars more than one almost equally valid spacing appeared. The model frequencies of FG Vir and their rotationally split components were used to formulate the possible explanation that one spacing is the large separation while the other is the sum of the large separation and the rotational frequency. In CoRoT 102675756, the two spacings (2.249 and 1.977 d−1) are in better agreement with the sum of a possible 1.710 d−1 large separation and two or one times, respectively, the value of the rotational frequency.
Context: Aims: This work presents the results obtained by CoRoT on HD 50844, the only delta Sct star observed in the CoRoT initial run (57.6 d). The aim of these CoRoT observations was to investigate ...and characterize for the first time the pulsational behaviour of a delta Sct star, when observed at a level of precision and with a much better duty cycle than from the ground. Methods: The 140 016 datapoints were analysed using independent approaches (SigSpec software and different iterative sine-wave fittings) and several checks performed (splitting of the timeseries in different subsets, investigation of the residual light curves and spectra). A level of 10-5 mag was reached in the amplitude spectra of the CoRoT timeseries. The space monitoring was complemented by ground-based high-resolution spectroscopy, which allowed the mode identification of 30 terms. Results: The frequency analysis of the CoRoT timeseries revealed hundreds of terms in the frequency range 0-30 d-1. All the cross-checks confirmed this new result. The initial guess that delta Sct stars have a very rich frequency content is confirmed. The spectroscopic mode identification gives theoretical support since very high-degree modes (up to l=14) are identified. We also prove that cancellation effects are not sufficient in removing the flux variations associated to these modes at the noise level of the CoRoT measurements. The ground-based observations indicate that HD 50844 is an evolved star that is slightly underabundant in heavy elements, located on the Terminal Age Main Sequence. Probably due to this unfavourable evolutionary status, no clear regular distribution is observed in the frequency set. The predominant term (f_1=6.92 d-1) has been identified as the fundamental radial mode combining ground-based photometric and spectroscopic data. Conclusions:
We present an analysis of the COnvection, ROtation and planetary Transits (CoRoT) star 105288363, a new Blazhko RR Lyrae star of type RRab (f
0= 1.7623 d−1), observed with the CoRoT spacecraft during ...the second long run in the direction of the Galactic Centre (LRc02, time-base 145 d). The CoRoT data are characterized by an excellent time-sampling and a low noise amplitude of 0.07 mmag in the 2-12 d−1 range and allow us to study not only the fine details of the variability of the star, but also long-term changes in the pulsation behaviour and the stability of the Blazhko cycle. We use, among other methods, standard Fourier analysis techniques and O−C diagrams to investigate the pulsational behaviour of the Blazhko star 105288363. In addition to the frequency pattern expected for a Blazhko RR Lyrae star, we find an independent mode (f
1= 2.984 d−1) showing a f
0/f
1 ratio of 0.59 which is similar to that observed in other Blazhko RR Lyrae stars. The bump and hump phenomena are also analysed, with their variations over the Blazhko cycle. We carefully investigated the strong cycle-to-cycle changes in the Blazhko modulation (P
B= 35.6 d), which seem to happen independently and partly diametrically in the amplitude and phase modulations. Furthermore, the phasing between the two types of modulations is found to change during the course of the observations.
Aims.
We aim to investigate variations in the arrival time of coherent stellar pulsations due to the light-travel time effect to test for the presence of sub-stellar companions. Those companions are ...the key to one possible formation scenario of apparently single sub-dwarf B stars.
Methods.
We made use of an extensive set of ground-based observations of the four large amplitude
p
-mode pulsators DW Lyn, V1636 Ori, QQ Vir, and V541 Hya. Observations of the TESS space telescope are available on two of the targets. The timing method compares the phase of sinusoidal fits to the full multi-epoch light curves with phases from the fit of a number of subsets of the original time series.
Results.
Observations of the TESS mission do not sample the pulsations well enough to be useful due to the (currently) fixed two-minute cadence. From the ground-based observations, we infer evolutionary parameters from the arrival times. The residual signals show many statistically significant periodic signals, but no clear evidence for changes in arrival time induced by sub-stellar companions. The signals can be explained partly by mode beating effects. We derive upper limits on companion masses set by the observational campaign.
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