scholarly journals A spectroscopic test of the rotational modulation origin of periodic Kepler photometric variability of A-type stars

2020 ◽  
Vol 498 (2) ◽  
pp. 2456-2471
Author(s):  
J Sikora ◽  
G A Wade ◽  
J Rowe
Keyword(s):  
Light Curves ◽  
Surface Structures ◽  
Inhomogeneous Surface ◽  
Photometric Variability ◽  
Spectroscopic Monitoring ◽  
Rotational Modulation ◽  
Kepler Mission ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Monitoring Survey ◽  
Modulated Light

ABSTRACT High-precision space-based photometry obtained by the Kepler and TESS missions has revealed evidence of rotational modulation associated with main-sequence (MS) A- and late B-type stars. Generally, such variability in these objects is attributed to inhomogeneous surface structures (e.g. chemical spots), which are typically linked to strong magnetic fields ($B\gtrsim 100\, {\rm G}$) visible at the surface. It has been reported that ≈44 per cent of all A-type stars observed during the Kepler mission exhibit rotationally modulated light curves. This is surprising considering that ≲10 per cent of all MS A-type stars are known to be strongly magnetic (i.e. they are Ap/Bp stars). We present a spectroscopic monitoring survey of 44 A- and late B-type stars reported to exhibit rotational modulation in their Kepler light curves. The primary goal of this survey is to test the hypothesis that the variability is rotational modulation by comparing each star’s rotational broadening (vsin i) with the equatorial velocities (veq) inferred from the photometric periods. We searched for chemical peculiarities and binary companions in order to provide insight into the origin of the apparent rotational modulation. We find that 14 stars in our sample have vsin i > veq and/or have low-mass companions that may contribute to or be responsible for the observed variability. Our results suggest that more than 10 per cent of all MS A- and late B-type stars may exhibit inhomogeneous surface structures; however, the incidence rate is likely ≲30 per cent.

scholarly journals A magnetic white dwarf with five H α components

2019 ◽  
Vol 489 (3) ◽  
pp. 3648-3654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mukremin Kilic ◽  
B Rolland ◽  
P Bergeron ◽  
Z Vanderbosch ◽  
P Benni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Surface Composition ◽  
Degenerate System ◽  
Inhomogeneous Surface ◽  
Optical Photometry ◽  
Photometric Variability ◽  
Rotational Modulation ◽  
Complex Magnetic Field

ABSTRACT G183−35 is an unusual white dwarf that shows an H α line split into five components, instead of the usual three components seen in strongly magnetic white dwarfs. Potential explanations for the unusual set of lines include a double degenerate system containing two magnetic white dwarfs and/or rotational modulation of a complex magnetic field structure. Here, we present time-resolved spectroscopy of G183−35 obtained at the Gemini Observatory. These data reveal two sets of absorption lines that appear and disappear over a period of about 4 h. We also detect low-level (0.2 per cent) variability in optical photometry at the same period. We demonstrate that the spectroscopic and photometric variability can be explained by the presence of spots on the surface of the white dwarf and a change in the average field strength from about 4.6 to 6.2 MG. The observed variability is clearly due to G183−35’s relatively short spin period. However, rotational modulation of a complex magnetic field by itself cannot explain the changes seen in the central H α component. An additional source of variability in the line profiles, most likely due to a chemically inhomogeneous surface composition, is also needed. We propose further observations of similar objects to test this scenario.

scholarly journals Detailed Chromospheric Activity Nature of KIC 9641031

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ezgi Yoldaş ◽  
Hasan Ali Dal
Keyword(s):  
Active Component ◽  
Active Regions ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Light Curves ◽  
Chromospheric Activity ◽  
Rotational Modulation ◽  
Kepler Mission ◽  
Period Variations ◽  
Analytic Models ◽  
Flare Frequency

AbstractThis study depends on KIC 9641031 eclipsing binary with a chromospherically active component. There are three type variations, such as geometrical variations due to eclipses, sinusoidal variations due to the rotational modulations, and also flares, in the light curves. Taking into account results obtained from observations in the Kepler Mission Database, we discuss the details of chromospheric activity. The sinusoidal light variations due to rotational modulation and the flare events were modelled. 92 different data subsets separated using the analytic models were modelled separately to obtain the cool spot configuration. Acording to the model, there are two active regions separated by about 180° longitudinally between the latitudes of +50° and +100°. 240 flares, whose parameters were computed, were detected. Using these parameters, the OPEA model was derived, in which the Plateau value was found to be 1.232±0.069 s, and half-life parameter was found as 2291.7 s. The flare frequency N1 was found as 0.41632 h−1, while the flare frequency N2 was found as 0.00027. Considering these parameters together with the orbital period variations demonstrates that the period variations depend on chromospheric activity. Comparing the system with its analogue, the activity level of KIC 9641031 is remarkably lower than the others.

scholarly journals The nature of the photometric variability of HgMn stars: a test of simulated light curves of φ Phe against the TESS data

2019 ◽  
Vol 492 (2) ◽  
pp. 1834-1840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milan Prvák ◽  
Jiří Krtička ◽  
Heidi Korhonen
Keyword(s):  
Light Curves ◽  
Heavy Elements ◽  
High Resolution Spectroscopy ◽  
Inhomogeneous Surface ◽  
Surface Distribution ◽  
Photometric Variability ◽  
Chemically Peculiar ◽  
Peculiar Stars ◽  
Chemically Peculiar Stars ◽  
Light Variability

ABSTRACT The inhomogeneous surface distribution of heavy elements is known to cause periodic light variability of magnetic chemically peculiar stars. It is unclear to what extent the same paradigm applies to mercury–manganese (HgMn) stars. We aim to model the photometric variability of the HgMn star φ Phe using abundance maps obtained from high-resolution spectroscopy and to study how this variability evolves with time. We compute a grid of atlas12 model atmospheres and the corresponding synspec synthetic spectra. Interpolating within this grid and integrating the specific intensity over the visible stellar surface at different rotational phases, we obtain theoretical light curves of the star. We predict the variability of φ Phe in the ultraviolet and in the visible spectral regions with amplitude of the order of millimagnitudes, mainly caused by absorption in lines of yttrium, chromium, and titanium. We also show how this variability is affected by changes of the distribution of the heavy elements over time. The main characteristics of the predicted light variability of φ Phe correspond roughly to the variability of the star observed with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

scholarly journals Spots, flares, accretion, and obscuration in the pre-main sequence binary DQ Tau

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (S345) ◽  
pp. 314-315
Author(s):  
Á. Kóspál ◽  
P. Ábrahám ◽  
G. Zsidi ◽  
K. Vida ◽  
R. Szabó ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
Equal Mass ◽  
Light Curves ◽  
Multiple Systems ◽  
Spectroscopic Binary ◽  
Rotational Modulation ◽  
Stellar Flares ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Formation And Evolution

AbstractDQ Tau is a young low-mass spectroscopic binary, consisting of two almost equal-mass stars on a 15.8 day period surrounded by a circumbinary disk. We analyzed DQ Tau’s light curves obtained by Kepler K2, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and ground-based facilities. We observed variability phenomena, including rotational modulation by stellar spots, energetic stellar flares, brightening events around periastron due to increased accretion, and short dips due to temporary circumstellar obscuration. The study on DQ Tau will help in discovering and understanding the formation and evolution of other real-world examples of “Tatooine-like” systems. This is especially important because more and more evidence points to the possibility that all Sun-like stars were born in binary or multiple systems that broke up later due to dynamical interactions.

scholarly journals Fast photometric variability of very low mass stars in IC 348: detection of superflare in an M dwarf

2020 ◽  
Vol 500 (4) ◽  
pp. 5106-5116
Author(s):  
Samrat Ghosh ◽  
Soumen Mondal ◽  
Somnath Dutta ◽  
Ramkrishna Das ◽  
Santosh Joshi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Light Curves ◽  
M Dwarfs ◽  
Low Mass Stars ◽  
Period Range ◽  
Photometric Variability ◽  
Star Forming ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
M Dwarf ◽  
Variability Study ◽  
Optical Flare

ABSTRACT We present here optical I-band photometric variability study down to ≃19 mag of a young (∼2–3 Myr) star-forming region IC 348 in the Perseus molecular cloud. We aim to explore the fast rotation (in the time-scales of hours) in very low-mass stars including brown dwarfs (BDs). From a sample of 177 light curves using our new I-band observations, we detect new photometric variability in 22 young M dwarfs including 6 BDs, which are bonafide members in IC 348 and well characterized in the spectral type of M dwarfs. Out of 22 variables, 11 M dwarfs including one BD show hour-scale periodic variability in the period range 3.5–11 h and rest are aperiodic in nature. Interestingly, an optical flare is detected in a young M2.75 dwarf in one night data on 2016 December 20. From the flare light curve, we estimate the emitted flared energy of 1.48 × 1035 erg. The observed flared energy with an uncertainty of tens of per cent is close to the superflare range (∼1034 erg), which is rarely observed in active M dwarfs.

scholarly journals Formation of compact systems of super-Earths via dynamical instabilities and giant impacts

2019 ◽  
Vol 491 (4) ◽  
pp. 5595-5620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanson T S Poon ◽  
Richard P Nelson ◽  
Seth A Jacobson ◽  
Alessandro Morbidelli
Keyword(s):  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Post Processing ◽  
Significant Modification ◽  
Kepler Mission ◽  
Giant Impacts ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
In Situ Formation ◽  
Dynamical Instabilities ◽  
Gaseous Envelopes

ABSTRACT The NASA’s Kepler mission discovered ∼700 planets in multiplanet systems containing three or more transiting bodies, many of which are super-Earths and mini-Neptunes in compact configurations. Using N-body simulations, we examine the in situ, final stage assembly of multiplanet systems via the collisional accretion of protoplanets. Our initial conditions are constructed using a subset of the Kepler five-planet systems as templates. Two different prescriptions for treating planetary collisions are adopted. The simulations address numerous questions: Do the results depend on the accretion prescription?; do the resulting systems resemble the Kepler systems, and do they reproduce the observed distribution of planetary multiplicities when synthetically observed?; do collisions lead to significant modification of protoplanet compositions, or to stripping of gaseous envelopes?; do the eccentricity distributions agree with those inferred for the Kepler planets? We find that the accretion prescription is unimportant in determining the outcomes. The final planetary systems look broadly similar to the Kepler templates adopted, but the observed distributions of planetary multiplicities or eccentricities are not reproduced, because scattering does not excite the systems sufficiently. In addition, we find that ∼1 per cent of our final systems contain a co-orbital planet pair in horseshoe or tadpole orbits. Post-processing the collision outcomes suggests that they would not significantly change the ice fractions of initially ice-rich protoplanets, but significant stripping of gaseous envelopes appears likely. Hence, it may be difficult to reconcile the observation that many low-mass Kepler planets have H/He envelopes with an in situ formation scenario that involves giant impacts after dispersal of the gas disc.

scholarly journals The study of multipeaked type-I X-ray bursts in the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1636 − 536 with RXTE

2020 ◽  
Vol 501 (1) ◽  
pp. 168-178
Author(s):  
Chen Li ◽  
Guobao Zhang ◽  
Mariano Méndez ◽  
Jiancheng Wang ◽  
Ming Lyu
Keyword(s):  
Neutron Star ◽  
Flux Ratio ◽  
Light Curves ◽  
Type I ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Soft State ◽  
Peak Flux ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Two Peaks ◽  
Second Peak

ABSTRACT We have found and analysed 16 multipeaked type-I bursts from the neutron-star low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1636 − 53 with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). One of the bursts is a rare quadruple-peaked burst that was not previously reported. All 16 bursts show a multipeaked structure not only in the X-ray light curves but also in the bolometric light curves. Most of the multipeaked bursts appear in observations during the transition from the hard to the soft state in the colour–colour diagram. We find an anticorrelation between the second peak flux and the separation time between two peaks. We also find that in the double-peaked bursts the peak-flux ratio and the temperature of the thermal component in the pre-burst spectra are correlated. This indicates that the double-peaked structure in the light curve of the bursts may be affected by enhanced accretion rate in the disc, or increased temperature of the neutron star.

Migration of Low-Mass Planets

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric S. Masset
Keyword(s):  
Aerodynamic Drag ◽  
Semimajor Axis ◽  
Planetary Systems ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Reverse Migration ◽  
Low Viscosity ◽  
Kepler Mission ◽  
Sensitive Dependence ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Planetary Migration

Planet migration is the variation over time of a planet’s semimajor axis, leading to either a contraction or an expansion of the orbit. It results from the exchange of energy and angular momentum between the planet and the disk in which it is embedded during its formation and can cause the semimajor axis to change by as much as two orders of magnitude over the disk’s lifetime. The migration of forming protoplanets is an unavoidable process, and it is thought to be a key ingredient for understanding the variety of extrasolar planetary systems. Although migration occurs for protoplanets of all masses, its properties for low-mass planets (those having up to a few Earth masses) differ significantly from those for high-mass planets. The torque that is exerted by the disk on the planet is composed of different contributions. While migration was first thought to be invariably inward, physical processes that are able to halt or even reverse migration were later uncovered, leading to the realization that the migration path of a forming planet has a very sensitive dependence on the underlying disk parameters. There are other processes that go beyond the case of a single planet experiencing smooth migration under the disk’s tide. This is the case of planetary migration in low-viscosity disks, a fashionable research avenue because protoplanetary disks are thought to have very low viscosity, if any, over most of their planet-forming regions. Such a process is generally significantly chaotic and has to be tackled through high-resolution numerical simulations. The migration of several low-mass planets is also is a very fashionable topic, owing to the discovery by the Kepler mission of many multiple extrasolar planetary systems. The orbital properties of these systems suggest that at least some of them have experienced substantial migration. Although there have been many studies to account for the orbital properties of these systems, there is as yet no clear picture of the different processes that shaped them. Finally, some recently unveiled processes could be important for the migration of low-mass planets. One process is aero-resonant migration, in which a swarm of planetesimals subjected to aerodynamic drag push a planet inward when they reach a mean-motion resonance with the planet, while another process is based on so-called thermal torques, which arise when thermal diffusion in the disk is taken into account, or when the planet, heated by accretion, releases heat into the ambient gas.

scholarly journals The Compositional Diversity of Low-Mass Exoplanets

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Jontof-Hutter
Keyword(s):  
Bulk Composition ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Kepler Mission ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Orbital Periods ◽  
Gaseous Atmospheres ◽  
The Masses ◽  
Compositional Diversity ◽  
Rocky Planets ◽  
Observational Techniques

Low-mass planets have an extraordinarily diverse range of bulk compositions, from primarily rocky worlds to those with deep gaseous atmospheres. As techniques for measuring the masses of exoplanets advance the field toward the regime of rocky planets, from ultrashort orbital periods to Venus-like distances, we identify the bounds on planet compositions, where sizes and incident fluxes inform bulk planet properties. In some cases, the precision of measurement of planet masses and sizes is approaching the theoretical uncertainties in planet models. An emerging picture explains aspects of the diversity of low-mass planets, although some problems remain: Do extreme low-density, low-mass planets challenge models of atmospheric mass loss? Are planet sizes strictly separated by bulk composition? Why do some stellar characterizations differ between observational techniques? With the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite ( TESS) mission, low-mass exoplanets around the nearest stars will soon be discovered and characterized with unprecedented precision, permitting more detailed planetary modeling and atmospheric characterization of low-mass exoplanets than ever before. ▪ Following the Kepler mission, studies of exoplanetary compositions have entered the terrestrial regime. ▪ Low-mass planets have an extraordinary range of compositions, from Earth-like mixtures of rock and metal to mostly tenuous gas. ▪ The TESS mission will discover low-mass planets that can be studied in more detail than ever before.

scholarly journals Activity and rotation of the X-ray emitting Kepler stars

2019 ◽  
Vol 628 ◽  
pp. A41 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Pizzocaro ◽  
B. Stelzer ◽  
E. Poretti ◽  
S. Raetz ◽  
G. Micela ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Light ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
Magnetic Activity ◽  
Light Curves ◽  
Late Type ◽  
Main Sequence Stars ◽  
Photometric Variability ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Rotation Periods ◽  
Flare Frequency

The relation between magnetic activity and rotation in late-type stars provides fundamental information on stellar dynamos and angular momentum evolution. Rotation-activity studies found in the literature suffer from inhomogeneity in the measurement of activity indexes and rotation periods. We overcome this limitation with a study of the X-ray emitting, late-type main-sequence stars observed by XMM-Newton and Kepler. We measured rotation periods from photometric variability in Kepler light curves. As activity indicators, we adopted the X-ray luminosity, the number frequency of white-light flares, the amplitude of the rotational photometric modulation, and the standard deviation in the Kepler light curves. The search for X-ray flares in the light curves provided by the EXTraS (Exploring the X-ray Transient and variable Sky) FP-7 project allows us to identify simultaneous X-ray and white-light flares. A careful selection of the X-ray sources in the Kepler field yields 102 main-sequence stars with spectral types from A to M. We find rotation periods for 74 X-ray emitting main-sequence stars, 20 of which do not have period reported in the previous literature. In the X-ray activity-rotation relation, we see evidence for the traditional distinction of a saturated and a correlated part, the latter presenting a continuous decrease in activity towards slower rotators. For the optical activity indicators the transition is abrupt and located at a period of ~10 d but it can be probed only marginally with this sample, which is biased towards fast rotators due to the X-ray selection. We observe seven bona-fide X-ray flares with evidence for a white-light counterpart in simultaneous Kepler data. We derive an X-ray flare frequency of ~0.15 d−1, consistent with the optical flare frequency obtained from the much longer Kepler time-series.

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