We present the first of a two-part seismic analysis of the two bright hot ZZ Ceti stars GD 165 and Ross 548. In this first part, we report the results of frequency extraction exercises based on ...time-series data sets of exceptional quality. We uncovered up to 13 independent pulsation modes in GD 165, regrouped into six main frequency multiplets. These include 9 secure (signal-to-noise ratio, S/N > 4) detections and 4 possible ones (4 > or = S/N > or = 3). Likewise, we isolated 11 independent modes in Ross 548 (9 secure and 2 possible detections), also regrouped into 6 multiplets. The multiplet structure is likely caused by rotational splitting. We also provide updated estimates of the time-averaged atmospheric properties of these two pulsators in the light of recent developments on the front of atmospheric modeling for DA white dwarfs.
Context. The signatures of nonlinear effects affecting stellar oscillations are difficult to observe from ground observatories because of the lack of continuous high-precision photometric data ...spanning extended enough time baselines. The unprecedented photometric quality and coverage provided by the Kepler spacecraft offers new opportunities to search for these phenomena. Aims. We use the Kepler data accumulated on the pulsating DB white dwarf KIC 08626021 to explore in detail the stability of its oscillation modes, searching, in particular, for evidence of nonlinear behaviors. Methods. We analyze nearly two years of uninterrupted short-cadence data, concentrating on identified triplets that are caused by stellar rotation and that show intriguing behaviors during the course of the observations. Results. We find clear signatures of nonlinear effects that could be attributed to resonant mode coupling mechanisms. These couplings occur between the components of the triplets and can induce different types of behaviors. We first notice that a structure at 3681 μHz, identified as a triplet in previous published studies, is in fact forming a doublet, with the third component being an independent mode. We find that a triplet at 4310 μHz and this doublet at 3681 μHz (most likely the two visible components of an incomplete triplet) have clear periodic frequency and amplitude modulations, which are typical of the so-called intermediate regime of the resonance, with timescales consistent with theoretical expectations. Another triplet at 5073 μHz is likely in a narrow transitory regime in which the amplitudes are modulated while the frequencies are locked. Using nonadiabatic pulsation calculations, based on a model representative of KIC 08626021 to evaluate the linear growth rates of the modes in the triplets, we also provide quantitative information that could be useful for future comparisons with numerical solutions of the amplitude equations. Conclusions. The observed modulations are the clearest hints of nonlinear resonant couplings occurring in white dwarf stars identified so far. These should resonate as a warning to projects that aim at measuring the evolutionary cooling rate of KIC 08626021, and of white dwarf stars in general. Nonlinear modulations of the frequencies can potentially jeopardize any attempt to measure such rates reliably, unless they can be corrected beforehand. These results should motivate further theoretical work to develop the nonlinear stellar pulsation theory.
ABSTRACT We present a spectroscopic survey of 230 white dwarf candidates within 40 pc of the Sun from the William Herschel Telescope and Gran Telescopio Canarias. All candidates were selected from ...Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) and in almost all cases, had no prior spectroscopic classifications. We find a total of 191 confirmed white dwarfs and 39 main-sequence star contaminants. The majority of stellar remnants in the sample are relatively cool (〈Teff〉 = 6200 K), showing either hydrogen Balmer lines or a featureless spectrum, corresponding to 89 DA and 76 DC white dwarfs, respectively. We also recover two DBA white dwarfs and 9–10 magnetic remnants. We find two carbon-bearing DQ stars and 14 new metal-rich white dwarfs. This includes the possible detection of the first ultra-cool white dwarf with metal lines. We describe three DZ stars for which we find at least four different metal species, including one that is strongly Fe- and Ni-rich, indicative of the accretion of a planetesimal with core-Earth composition. We find one extremely massive (1.31 ± 0.01 M⊙) DA white dwarf showing weak Balmer lines, possibly indicating stellar magnetism. Another white dwarf shows strong Balmer line emission but no infrared excess, suggesting a low-mass sub-stellar companion. A high spectroscopic completeness (>99 per cent) has now been reached for Gaia DR2 sources within 40-pc sample, in the Northern hemisphere (δ > 0°) and located on the white dwarf cooling track in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. A statistical study of the full northern sample is presented in a companion paper.
We present the results of the asteroseismic analysis of the hydrogen-deficient white dwarf PG 0112+104 from the \(Kepler\)-2 field. Our seismic procedure using the forward method based on physically ...sound, static models, includes the new core parameterization leading us to reproduce the periods of this star near the precision of the observations. This new fit outperforms current state-of-the-art standards by order of magnitudes. We precisely establish the internal structure and unravel the inner C/O stratification of its core. This opens up interesting perspectives on better constraining key processes in stellar physics such as nuclear burning, convection, and mixing, that shape this stratification over time.
DA-type white dwarfs account for 80% of all white dwarfs and represent, for most of them, the ultimate outcome of the typical evolution of low-to-intermediate mass stars. Their internal chemical ...stratification is strongly marked by passed, often uncertain, stellar evolution processes that occurred during the helium (core and shell) burning phases, i.e., from the horizontal branch through AGB and post-AGB stages. Pulsating white dwarfs, in particular the "cool" DA-type ZZ Ceti variables, offer an outstanding opportunity to dig into these stars by fully exploiting their asteroseismic potential. With our most recent tools dedicated to that purpose, we show that a complete cartography of the stratification of the main constituents of a white dwarf can be inferred, leading in particular to strong constraints on the C/O core structure produced by the processes mentioned above. This opens up the way toward a systematic exploration of white-dwarf internal properties.
Context. The details of the C/O core structure in white dwarf stars has mostly remained inaccessible to the technique of asteroseismology, despite several attempts carried out in the past. Aims. We ...re-assess the potential of asteroseismology for probing the chemical stratification in white dwarf cores, in light of new highly efficient tools recently developed for that purpose. Methods. Using the forward modeling approach and a new parameterization for the core chemical stratification in ZZ Ceti stars, we test several situations typical of the usually limited constraints available, such as small numbers of observed independent modes, to carry out asteroseismology of these stars. Results. We find that, even with a limited number of modes, the core chemical stratification (in particular, the location of the steep chemical transitions expected in the oxygen profile) can be determined quite precisely due to the significant sensitivity of some confined modes to partial reflexion (trapping) effects. These effects are similar to the well known trapping induced by the shallower chemical transitions at the edge of the core and at the bottom of the H-rich envelope. We also find that success to unravel the core structure depends on the information content of the available seismic data. In some cases, it may not be possible to isolate a unique, well-defined seismic solution and the problem remains degenerate. Conclusions. Our results establish that constraining the core chemical stratification in white dwarf stars based solely on asteroseismology is possible, an opportunity that we have started to exploit.
We present a prescription for parametrizing the chemical profile in the core of white dwarfs in the light of the recent discovery that pulsation modes may sometimes be deeply confined in some cool ...pulsating white dwarfs. Such modes may be used as unique probes of the complicated chemical stratification that results from several processes that occurred in previous evolutionary phases of intermediate-mass stars. This effort is part of our ongoing quest for more credible and realistic seismic models of white dwarfs using static, parametrized equilibrium structures. Inspired from successful techniques developed in design optimization fields (such as aerodynamics), we exploit Akima splines for the tracing of the chemical profile of oxygen (carbon) in the core of a white dwarf model. A series of tests are then presented to better seize the precision and significance of the results that can be obtained in an asteroseismological context. We also show that the new parametrization passes an essential basic test, as it successfully reproduces the chemical stratification of a full evolutionary model.
We present a spectroscopic survey of 230 white dwarf candidates within 40 pc
of the Sun from the William Herschel Telescope and Gran Telescopio Canarias.
All candidates were selected from ...$\textit{Gaia}$ Data Release 2 (DR2) and in
almost all cases had no prior spectroscopic classifications. We find a total of
191 confirmed white dwarfs and 39 main-sequence star contaminants. The majority
of stellar remnants in the sample are relatively cool ($\langle T_{\rm eff}
\rangle$ = 6200 K), showing either hydrogen Balmer lines or a featureless
spectrum, corresponding to 89 DA and 76 DC white dwarfs, respectively. We also
recover two DBA white dwarfs and 9--10 magnetic remnants. We find two
carbon-bearing DQ stars and 14 new metal-rich white dwarfs. This includes the
possible detection of the first ultra-cool white dwarf with metal lines. We
describe three DZ stars for which we find at least four different metal
species, including one which is strongly Fe- and Ni-rich, indicative of the
accretion of a planetesimal with core-Earth composition. We find one extremely
massive (1.31 $\pm$ 0.01 M$_{\odot}$) DA white dwarf showing weak Balmer lines,
possibly indicating stellar magnetism. Another white dwarf shows strong Balmer
line emission but no infrared excess, suggesting a low-mass sub-stellar
companion. High spectroscopic completeness ($>$99%) has now been reached for
$\textit{Gaia}$ DR2 sources within 40 pc sample, in the northern hemisphere
($\delta >$ 0 deg) and located on the white dwarf cooling track in the
Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. A statistical study of the full northern sample is
presented in a companion paper.
Aims. We use the Kepler data accumulated on the pulsating DB white dwarf KIC 08626021 to explore in detail the stability of its oscillation modes, searching in particular for evidences of nonlinear ...behaviors. Methods. We analyse nearly two years of uninterrupted short cadence data, concentrating in particular on identified triplets due to stellar rotation that show intriguing behaviors during the course of the observations. Results. We find clear signatures of nonlinear effects attributed to resonant mode coupling mechanisms. We find that a triplet at 4310 {\mu}Hz and this doublet at 3681 {\mu}Hz (most likely the two visible components of an incomplete triplet) have clear periodic frequency and amplitude modulations typical of the so-called intermediate regime of the resonance, with time scales consistent with theoretical expectations. Another triplet at 5073 {\mu}Hz is likely in a narrow transitory regime in which the amplitudes are modulated while the frequencies are locked. Using nonadiabatic pulsation calculations based on a model representative of KIC 08626021 to evaluate the linear growth rates of the modes in the triplets, we also provide quantitative information that could be useful for future comparisons with numerical solutions of the amplitude equations. Conclusions. The identified modulations are the first clear-cut signatures of nonlinear resonant couplings occurring in white dwarf stars. These should resonate as a warning to projects aiming at measuring the evolutionary cooling rate of KIC 08626021, and of white dwarf stars in general. Nonlinear modulations of the frequencies can potentially jeopardize any attempt to measure reliably such rates, unless they could be corrected beforehand. These results should motivate further theoretical work to develop nonlinear stellar pulsation theory.
We present the discovery and asteroseismic analysis of a new g-mode hot B subdwarf (sdB) pulsator, EC 21494-7018 (TIC 278659026), monitored in TESS first sector using 120-second cadence. The light ...curve analysis reveals that EC 21494-7018 is a sdB pulsator counting up to 20 frequencies associated with independent g-modes. The seismic analysis singles out an optimal model solution in full agreement with independent measurements provided by spectroscopy (atmospheric parameters derived from model atmospheres) and astrometry (distance evaluated from Gaia DR2 trigonometric parallax). Several key parameters of the star are derived. Its mass (0.391 +/- 0.009 Msun) is significantly lower than the typical mass of sdB stars, and suggests that its progenitor has not undergone the He-core flash, and therefore could originate from a massive (>2 Msun) red giant, an alternative channel for the formation of hot B subdwarfs. Other derived parameters include the H-rich envelope mass (0.0037 +/- 0.0010 Msun), radius (0.1694 +/- 0.0081 Rsun), and luminosity (8.2+/-1.1 Lsun). The optimal model fit has a double-layered He+H composition profile, which we interpret as an incomplete but ongoing process of gravitational settling of helium at the bottom of a thick H-rich envelope. Moreover, the derived properties of the core indicate that EC 21494-7018 has burnt ~43% (in mass) of its central helium and possesses a relatively large mixed core (Mcore = 0.198 +/- 0.010 Msun), in line with trends already uncovered from other g-mode sdB pulsators analysed with asteroseismology. Finally, we obtain for the first time an estimate of the amount of oxygen (in mass; X(O)core = 0.16 -0.05 +0.13) produced at this stage of evolution by an helium-burning core. This result, along with the core-size estimate, is an interesting constraint that may help to narrow down the still uncertain C12(alpha,gamma)O16 nuclear reaction rate.
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