Planets that orbit their parent star at less than about one astronomical unit (1 AU is the Earth-Sun distance) are expected to be engulfed when the star becomes a red giant. Previous observations ...have revealed the existence of post-red-giant host stars with giant planets orbiting as close as 0.116 AU or with brown dwarf companions in tight orbits, showing that these bodies can survive engulfment. What has remained unclear is whether planets can be dragged deeper into the red-giant envelope without being disrupted and whether the evolution of the parent star itself could be affected. Here we report the presence of two nearly Earth-sized bodies orbiting the post-red-giant, hot B subdwarf star KIC 05807616 at distances of 0.0060 and 0.0076 AU, with orbital periods of 5.7625 and 8.2293 hours, respectively. These bodies probably survived deep immersion in the former red-giant envelope. They may be the dense cores of evaporated giant planets that were transported closer to the star during the engulfment and triggered the mass loss necessary for the formation of the hot B subdwarf, which might also explain how some stars of this type did not form in binary systems.
We examine 4 yr almost continuous Kepler photometry of 115 B stars. We find that the light curves of 39 per cent of these stars can be described by a low-frequency sinusoid and its harmonic, usually ...with variable amplitude, which we interpret as rotational modulation. A large fraction (32 stars or 28 per cent) might be classified as ellipsoidal variables, but a statistical argument suggests that these are probably rotational variables as well. Ten stars (8 per cent of the total) have a peculiar periodogram feature which is common among A stars. The physical cause of this feature is unknown but very likely related to rotation. The large number of rotating variables suggests that star-spots are common in B stars and indicates that magnetic fields can be generated in radiative stellar envelopes. We find five stars (4 per cent) to be β Cep (BECP) variables, all of which have low frequencies with relatively large amplitudes. The presence of low frequencies in BECP stars is an unsolved problem. There are 21 stars (18 per cent) with multiple low frequencies which could be described as slowly pulsating B (SPB) variables. Other pulsating stars do not fit into the general definition of BECP or SPB variables in that they are cool but pulsate with high frequencies. We assume that these are further examples of the anomalous pulsating stars which in the past have been called ‘Maia’ variables. There are 11 stars (10 per cent) of this type. We also examined 300 B stars observed in the K2 Campaign 0 field. We find 12 BECP/Maia candidates and 15 SPB variables.
Abstract
We present our analysis of simulated data in order to derive a detection threshold which can be used in the pre-whitening process of amplitude spectra. In case of ground-based data of ...pulsating stars, this threshold is conventionally taken to be four times the mean noise level in an amplitude spectrum. This threshold is questionable when space-based data are analysed. Our effort is aimed at revising this threshold in the case of continuous 90-d Kepler K2 phase observations. Our result clearly shows that a 95 per cent confidence level, common for ground observations, can be reached at 5.4 times the mean noise level and is coverage dependent. In addition, this threshold varies between 4.8 and 5.7, if the number of cadences is changed. This conclusion should secure further pre-whitening and helps to avoid over-interpretation of spectra of pulsating stars observed with the Kepler spacecraft during K2 phase. We compare our results with the standard approach widely used in the literature.
ABSTRACT
The results of the evolutionary modelling of subdwarf B stars are presented. For the first time, we explore the core and near-core mixing in subdwarf B stars using new algorithms available ...in the mesa code: the predictive mixing scheme and the convective pre-mixing scheme. We show how both methods handle problems related to the determination of the convective boundary and the discrepancy between the core masses obtained from asteroseismology and evolutionary models, and long-standing problems related to the core-helium-burning phase, such as the splitting of the convective core and the occurrence of breathing pulses. We find that the convective pre-mixing scheme is the preferable algorithm. The masses of the convective core in the case of the predictive mixing and the combined convective and semiconvective regions in the case of the convective pre-mixing scheme are higher than in the models with only the Ledoux criterion, but they are still lower than the seismic-derived values. Both algorithms are promising and alternative methods of studying models of subdwarf B stars.
ABSTRACT
We report the results of our search for pulsating subdwarf B stars in full frame images, sampled at 30 min cadence and collected during Year 1 of the TESS mission. Year 1 covers most of the ...southern ecliptic hemisphere. The sample of objects we checked for pulsations was selected from a subdwarf B stars data base available to public. Only two positive detections have been achieved, however, as a by-product of our search we found 1807 variable objects, most of them not classified, hence their specific variability class cannot be confirmed at this stage. Our preliminary discoveries include: 2 new subdwarf B (sdB) pulsators, 26 variables with known sdB spectra, 83 non-classified pulsating stars, 83 eclipsing binaries (detached and semidetached), a mix of 1535 pulsators and non-eclipsing binaries, two novae, and 77 variables with known (non-sdB) spectral classification. Among eclipsing binaries we identified two known HW Vir systems and four new candidates. The amplitude spectra of the two sdB pulsators are not rich in modes, but we derive estimates of the modal degree for one of them. In addition, we selected five sdBV candidates for mode identification among 83 pulsators and describe our results based on this preliminary analysis. Further progress will require spectral classification of the newly discovered variable stars, which hopefully include more subdwarf B stars.
ABSTRACT
Eighteen new timings of maxima of the radially pulsating Extreme Helium star, V652 Her, obtained during 2010–2023 are reported, together with 26 new timings of the very similar star, BX Cir, ...during 2014–2023. New ephemerides are derived from baselines which are now substantially longer than previously published. Both ephemerides are thus refined and, in the case of BX Cir, we find for the first time evidence of a cubic term (the period change rate is decreasing). BX Cir data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) reveals a previously unreported frequency near 65 μHz (period ∼ 0.179 d) with amplitude ∼0.002 mag.
A transformation analogous in simplicity and functional group tolerance to the venerable Suzuki cross‐coupling between alkyl‐carboxylic acids and boronic acids is described. This Ni‐catalyzed ...reaction relies upon the activation of alkyl carboxylic acids as their redox‐active ester derivatives, specifically N‐hydroxy‐tetrachlorophthalimide (TCNHPI), and proceeds in a practical and scalable fashion. The inexpensive nature of the reaction components (NiCl2⋅6 H2O—$9.5 mol−1, Et3N) coupled to the virtually unlimited commercial catalog of available starting materials bodes well for its rapid adoption.
A cross‐coupling between alkyl carboxylic acids and aryl boronic acids is enabled by a new activation/cross‐coupling strategy under Nickel catalysis. The operational simplicity and the wide range of heterocyclic compounds make a convenient strategy for obtaining aryl–alkyl cross‐coupling products.
ABSTRACT
We report the results of our search for pulsating subdwarf B stars in Full Frame Images collected during Year 2 of the TESS mission and covering the northern ecliptic hemisphere. This is a ...continuation of our effort we presented in Paper I. We found 13 likely new pulsating subdwarf B stars, 10 pulsating candidates that are identified as other hot subdwarfs, and 30 spectroscopically unclassified objects that show amplitude spectra typical of pulsating subdwarf B stars. We found 506 variable objects, most of them spectroscopically unclassified, hence their specific variability class yet to be confirmed. Eclipsing binaries with sharp eclipses sample comprises 33 systems. For 12 of them we derived precise orbital periods and checked their stabilities. We identified one known and five new candidate HW Vir systems. The amplitude spectra of the 13 likely sdB pulsators are not rich in modes, hence any further analysis is not possible. However, we selected three candidates for pulsating subdwarf B stars that show the richest amplitude spectra and we performed a mode identification deriving modal degrees of most of the detected modes. In total, in both ecliptic hemispheres, we found 15 likely pulsating pulsating subdwarf B stars, additional 10 candidates for pulsating subdwarf B stars, 66 other variable subdwarf B stars, 2076 spectroscopically unconfirmed variable stars, and 123 variable non-sdB stars.
We analyze 37 months of Kepler photometry of 2M 1938+4603, a binary system with a pulsating hot subdwarf primary and an M-dwarf companion that shows strong reflection effect. We measured the eclipse ...timings from more than 16 000 primary and secondary eclipses and discovered a periodic variation in the timing signal that we ascribe to a third body in the system. We also discovered a significant long-term trend that may be an evolutionary effect or a hint of more bodies. Upon the assumption that the third body is orbiting in the same plane as the primary, we establish that it must be a Jupiter-mass object orbiting with a period of 416 days at a distance of 0.92 AU. This mass is the lowest among all tertiary components detected in similar systems.
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