Photometric instabilities of β Lyrae (β Lyr) were observed in 2016 by two red-filter BRITE satellites over more than 10 revolutions of the binary, with ∼100 minute sampling. Analysis of the time ...series shows that flares or fading events take place typically three to five times per binary orbit. The amplitudes of the disturbances (relative to the mean light curve, in units of the maximum out-of-eclipse light flux, f.u.) are characterized by a Gaussian distribution with = 0.0130 0.0004 f.u. Most of the disturbances appear to be random, with a tendency to remain for one or a few orbital revolutions, sometimes changing from brightening to fading or the reverse. Phases just preceding the center of the deeper eclipse showed the most scatter while phases around the secondary eclipse were the quietest. This implies that the invisible companion is the most likely source of the instabilities. Wavelet transform analysis showed the domination of the variability scales at phase intervals 0.05-0.3 (0.65-4 days), with the shorter (longer) scales dominating in numbers (variability power) in this range. The series can be well described as a stochastic Gaussian process with the signal at short timescales showing a slightly stronger correlation than red noise. The signal decorrelation timescale, τ = (0.068 0.018) in phase or (0.88 0.23) days, appears to follow the same dependence on the accretor mass as that observed for active galactic nucleus and quasi-stellar object masses five to nine orders of magnitude larger than the β Lyr torus-hidden component.
We present space-based photometry of the transiting exoplanetary system HD 209458 obtained with the Microvariablity and Oscillations of Stars (MOST) satellite, spanning 14 days and covering 4 ...transits and 4 secondary eclipses. The HD 209458 photometry was obtained in MOSTs lower precision direct imaging mode, which is used for targets in the brightness range 6.5 . V . 13. We describe the photometric reduction techniques for this mode of observing, in particular the corrections for stray earthshine. We do not detect the secondary eclipse in the MOST data, to a limit in depth of 0.053 mmag (1 s). We set a 1 s upper limit on the planet-star flux ratio of 4.88 x 10 super(-5) corresponding to a geometric albedo upper limit in the MOST bandpass (400-700 nm) of 0.25. The corresponding numbers at the 3 s level are 1.34 x 10 super(-4) and 0.68, respectively. HD 209458b is half as bright as Jupiter in the MOST bandpass. This low geometric albedo value is an important constraint for theoretical models of the HD 209458b atmosphere, in particular ruling out the presence of reflective clouds. A second MOST campaign on HD 209458 is expected to be sensitive to an exoplanet albedo as low as 0.13 (1 s), if the star does not become more intrinsically variable in the meantime.
Pressure-driven (p-mode) oscillations at the surface of the Sun, resulting from sound waves travelling through the solar interior, are a powerful probe of solar structure, just as seismology can ...reveal details about the interior of the Earth. Astronomers have hoped to exploit p-mode asteroseismology in Sun-like stars to test detailed models of stellar structure and evolution, but the observations are extremely difficult. The bright star Procyon has been considered one of the best candidates for asteroseismology, on the basis of models and previous reports of p-modes detected in ground-based spectroscopy. Here we present a search for p-modes in 32 days of nearly continuous photometric satellite-based observations of Procyon. If there are p-modes in Procyon, they must have lifetimes less than 2-3 days and/or peak amplitudes <15 parts per million, which defy expectations from the Sun's oscillations and previous theoretical predictions. Target selection for future planned asteroseismology space missions may need to be reconsidered, as will the theory of stellar oscillations.
As a continuation of our previous studies in 2007 and 2008, new photometric observations of the T Tauri star TW Hya obtained by the MOST satellite and the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) project over ...40 d in 2009 with temporal resolution of 0.2 d are presented. A wavelet analysis of the combined MOST-ASAS data provides a rich picture of coherent, intermittent, variable-period oscillations, similarly as discovered in the 2008 data. The periods (1.3-10 d) and systematic period shortening on time-scales of weeks can be interpreted within the model of magnetorotationally controlled accretion processes in the inner accretion disc around the star. Within this model and depending on the assumed visibility of plasma parcels causing the oscillations, the observed shortest oscillation period may indicate the stellar rotation period of 1.3 or 2.6 d, synchronized with the disc at 4.5 or 7.1 R⊙, respectively.
The results of a coordinated space-based photometric and ground-based spectroscopic observing campaign on the enigmatic γ-ray binary LS 5039 are reported. 16 d of observations from the MOST satellite ...have been combined with high-resolution optical echelle spectroscopy from the 2.3-m ANU Telescope in Siding Spring, Australia. These observat ions were used to measure the orbital parameters of the binary and to study the properties of stellar wind from the O primary. We found that any broad-band optical photometric variability at the orbital period is below the 2 mmag level, supporting the scenario that the orbital eccentricity of the system is near the 0.24 ± 0.08 value implied by our spectroscopy, which is lower than values previously obtained by other workers. The low amplitude optical variability also implies the component masses are at the higher end of estimates based on the primary's O6.5V((f)) spectral type with a primary mass of ∼26 M⊙ and a mass for the compact star of at least 1.8 M⊙. The mass-loss rate from the O primary was determined to be 3.7 to 4.8 × 10−7 M⊙ yr−1.
Microvariability & Oscillations of STars (MOST) and All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) observations have been used to characterize photometric variability of TW Hya on time-scales from a fraction of a ...day to 7.5 weeks and from a few days to 8 yr, respectively. The two data sets have very different uncertainties and temporal coverage properties and cannot be directly combined, nevertheless, they suggest a global variability spectrum with ‘flicker-noise’ properties, that is with amplitudes , over >4 decades in frequency, in the range f= 0.0003–10 c d−1. A 3.7 d period is clearly present in the continuous 11 d, 0.07 d time resolution, observations by MOST in 2007. Brightness extrema coincide with zero-velocity crossings in periodic (3.56 d) radial-velocity variability detected in contemporaneous spectroscopic observations of Setiawan et al. and interpreted as caused by a planet. The 3.56/3.7 d periodicity was entirely absent in the second, 4 times longer MOST run in 2008, casting doubt on the planetary explanation. Instead, a spectrum of unstable single periods within the range of 2–9 d was observed; the tendency of the periods to progressively shorten was well traced using the wavelet analysis. The evolving periodicities and the overall flicker-noise characteristics of the TW Hya variability suggest a combination of several mechanisms, with the dominant ones probably related to the accretion processes from the disc around the star.
PDF
