Open clusters offer us the means to study stellar properties in samples with well-defined ages and initial chemical composition. Here we present a survey of projected rotational velocities for a ...large sample of mainly B-type stars in young clusters to study the time evolution of the rotational properties of massive stars. The survey is based on moderate-resolution spectra made with the WIYN 3.5 m and CTIO 4 m telescopes and Hydra multi-object spectrographs, and the target stars are members of 19 young open clusters with an age range of approximately 6-73 Myr. We made fits of the observed lines He I ll4026, 4387, 4471, and Mg II l4481, using model theoretical profiles to find projected rotational velocities for a total of 496 OB stars. We find that there are fewer slow rotators among the cluster B-type stars relative to nearby B stars in the field. We present evidence consistent with the idea that the more massive B stars (M > 9 Mz) spin down during their main-sequence phase. However, we also find that the rotational velocity distribution appears to show an increase in the numbers of rapid rotators among clusters with ages of 10 Myr and higher. These rapid rotators appear to be distributed between the zero age and terminal age main-sequence locations in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, and thus only a minority of them can be explained as the result of a spin-up at the terminal age main sequence due to core contraction. We suggest instead that some of these rapid rotators may have been spun up through mass transfer in close binary systems.
Two recent observing campaigns provide us with moderate dispersion spectra of more than 230 cluster and 370 field B stars. Combining them and the spectra of the B stars from our previous ...investigations ({approx}430 cluster and {approx}100 field B stars) yields a large, homogeneous sample for studying the rotational properties of B stars. We derive the projected rotational velocity Vsin i, effective temperature, gravity, mass, and critical rotation speed V{sub crit} for each star. We find that the average Vsin i is significantly lower among field stars because they are systematically more evolved and spun down than their cluster counterparts. The rotational distribution functions of V{sub eq}/V{sub crit} for the least evolved B stars show that lower mass B stars are born with a larger proportion of rapid rotators than higher mass B stars. However, the upper limit of V{sub eq}/V{sub crit} that may separate normal B stars from emission-line Be stars (where rotation promotes mass loss into a circumstellar disk) is smaller among the higher mass B stars. We compare the evolutionary trends of rotation (measured according to the polar gravity of the star) with recent models that treat internal mixing. The spin-down rates observed in the high-mass subset ({approx}9 M{sub sun}) agree with predictions, but the rates are larger for the low-mass group ({approx}3 M{sub sun}). The faster spin-down in the low-mass B stars matches well with the predictions based on conservation of angular momentum in individual spherical shells. Our results suggest that the fastest rotators (that probably correspond to the emission-line Be stars) are probably formed by evolutionary spin-up (for the more massive stars) and by mass transfer in binaries (for the full range of B star masses).
We report the discovery of a post-mass-transfer Gamma Doradus/Delta Scuti hybrid pulsator in the eclipsing binary KIC 9592855. This binary has a circular orbit, an orbital period of 1.2 days, and ...contains two stars of almost identical masses ( ). However, the cooler secondary star is more evolved ( ), while the hotter primary is still on the zero-age-main-sequence ( ). Coeval models from single-star evolution cannot explain the observed masses and radii, and binary evolution with mass-transfer needs to be invoked. After subtracting the binary light curve, the Fourier spectrum shows low-order pressure-mode pulsations, and more dominantly, a cluster of low-frequency gravity modes at about 2 day−1. These g-modes are nearly equally spaced in period, and the period spacing pattern has a negative slope. We identify these g-modes as prograde dipole modes and find that they stem from the secondary star. The frequency range of unstable p-modes also agrees with that of the secondary. We derive the internal rotation rate of the convective core and the asymptotic period spacing from the observed g-modes. The resulting values suggest that the core and envelope rotate nearly uniformly, i.e., their rotation rates are both similar to the orbital frequency of this synchronized binary.
We have measured the angular diameters of six M dwarfs with the CHARA Array, a long-baseline optical interferometer located at Mount Wilson Observatory. Spectral types range from M1.0 V to M3.0 V and ...linear radii from 0.38 to 0.69 R sub( ). These results are consistent with the seven other M dwarf radii measurements from optical interferometry and with those for 14 stars in eclipsing binary systems. We compare all directly measured M dwarf radii to model predictions and find that current models underestimate the true stellar radii by up to 15%-20%. The differences are small among the metal-poor stars but become significantly larger with increasing metallicity. This suggests that theoretical models for low-mass stars may be missing some opacity source that alters the computed stellar radii.
Be stars are a class of rapidly rotating B stars with circumstellar disks that cause Balmer and other line emission. There are three possible reasons for the rapid rotation of Be stars: they may have ...been born as rapid rotators, spun up by binary mass transfer, or spun up during the main-sequence (MS) evolution of B stars. To test the various formation scenarios, we have conducted a photometric survey of 55 open clusters in the southern sky. Of these, five clusters are probably not physically associated groups and our results for two other clusters are not reliable, but we identify 52 definite Be stars and an additional 129 Be candidates in the remaining clusters. We use our results to examine the age and evolutionary dependence of the Be phenomenon. We find an overall increase in the fraction of Be stars with age until 100 Myr, and Be stars are most common among the brightest, most massive B-type stars above the zero-age main sequence (ZAMS). We show that a spin-up phase at the terminal-age main sequence (TAMS) cannot produce the observed distribution of Be stars, but up to 73% of the Be stars detected may have been spun-up by binary mass transfer. Most of the remaining Be stars were likely rapid rotators at birth. Previous studies have suggested that low metallicity and high cluster density may also favor Be star formation. Our results indicate a possible increase in the fraction of Be stars with increasing cluster distance from the Galactic center (in environments of decreasing metallicity). However, the trend is not significant and could be ruled out due to the intrinsic scatter in our data. We also find no relationship between the fraction of Be stars and cluster density.
Abstract
The most powerful tests of stellar models come from the brightest stars in the sky, for which complementary techniques, such as astrometry, asteroseismology, spectroscopy and interferometry, ...can be combined. The K2 mission is providing a unique opportunity to obtain high-precision photometric time series for bright stars along the ecliptic. However, bright targets require a large number of pixels to capture the entirety of the stellar flux, and CCD saturation, as well as restrictions on data storage and bandwidth, limit the number and brightness of stars that can be observed. To overcome this, we have developed a new photometric technique, which we call halo photometry, to observe very bright stars using a limited number of pixels. Halo photometry is simple, fast and does not require extensive pixel allocation, and will allow us to use K2 and other photometric missions, such as TESS, to observe very bright stars for asteroseismology and to search for transiting exoplanets. We apply this method to the seven brightest stars in the Pleiades open cluster. Each star exhibits variability; six of the stars show what are most likely slowly pulsating B-star pulsations, with amplitudes ranging from 20 to 2000 ppm. For the star Maia, we demonstrate the utility of combining K2 photometry with spectroscopy and interferometry to show that it is not a ‘Maia variable’, and to establish that its variability is caused by rotational modulation of a large chemical spot on a 10 d time-scale.
We derive the effective temperatures and gravities of 461 OB stars in 19 young clusters by fitting the Hg profile in their spectra. We use synthetic model profiles for rotating stars to develop a ...method to estimate the polar gravity for these stars, which we argue is a useful indicator of their evolutionary status. We combine these results with projected rotational velocity measurements obtained in a previous paper on these same open clusters. We find that the more massive B stars experience a spin-down as predicted by the theories for the evolution of rotating stars. Furthermore, we find that the members of binary stars also experience a marked spin-down with advanced evolutionary state due to tidal interactions. We also derive non-LTE-corrected helium abundances for most of the sample by fitting the He I ll4026, 4387, 4471 lines. A large number of helium peculiar stars are found among cooler stars with T sub(eff)< 23,000 K. The analysis of the high-mass stars (8.5 Mz <M < 16 Mz) shows that the helium enrichment process progresses through the main-sequence (MS) phase and is greater among the faster rotators. This discovery supports the theoretical claim that rotationally induced internal mixing is the main cause of surface chemical anomalies that appear during the MS phase. The lower mass stars appear to have slower rotation rates among the low-gravity objects, and they have a large proportion of helium peculiar stars. We suggest that both properties are due to their youth. The low-gravity stars are probably pre-main-sequence objects that will spin up as they contract. These young objects very likely host a remnant magnetic field from their natal cloud, and these strong fields sculpt out surface regions with unusual chemical abundances.
We present the results of an all-sky survey made with the Fine Guidance Sensor on the Hubble Space Telescope to search for angularly resolved binary systems among massive stars. The sample of 224 ...stars is comprised mainly of Galactic O- and B-type stars and luminous blue variables, plus a few luminous stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The FGS TRANS mode observations are sensitive to the detection of companions with an angular separation between 0".01 and 1".0 and brighter than delta m = 5. The FGS observations resolved 52 binary and 6 triple star systems and detected partially resolved binaries in 7 additional targets (43 of these are new detections). These numbers yield a companion detection frequency of 29% for the FGS survey. We also gathered literature results on the numbers of close spectroscopic binaries and wider astrometric binaries among the sample, and we present estimates of the frequency of multiple systems and the companion frequency for subsets of stars residing in clusters and associations, field stars, and runaway stars. These results confirm the high multiplicity fraction, especially among massive stars in clusters and associations. We show that the period distribution is approximately flat in increments of log P. We identify a number of systems of potential interest for long-term orbital determinations, and we note the importance of some of these companions for the interpretation of the radial velocities and light curves of close binaries that have third companions.
The microquasar SS 433 is an interacting massive binary consisting of an evolved mass donor and a compact companion that ejects relativistic jets. The mass donor was previously identified through ...spectroscopic observations of absorption lines in the blue part of the spectrum that showed Doppler shifts associated with orbital motion and strength variations related to the orbital modulation of the star-to-disk flux ratio and to disk obscuration. However, subsequent observations revealed other absorption features that lacked these properties and that were probably formed in the disk gas outflow. We present follow-up observations of SS 433 at orbital and precession phases identical to those from several previous studies, with the goals of confirming the detection of the mass donor spectrum and providing more reliable masses for the two system components. We show that the absorption features present as well as those previously observed almost certainly belong to the mass donor star, and find revised masses of 12.3 plus or minus 3.3 and 4.3 plus or minus 0.8 M unk the mass donor and compact object, respectively.
We present the results of a spectroscopic investigation of 108 nearby field B stars. We derive their key stellar parameters, image, and image, using the same methods that we used in our previous ...cluster B-star survey. By comparing the results of the field and the cluster samples, we find that the main reason for the overall slower rotation of the field sample is that it contains a larger fraction of older stars than found in the (mainly young) cluster sample.
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