Space-Based Photometry of Binary Stars: From Voyager to TESS

Binary stars are crucial laboratories for stellar physics, so have been photometric targets for space missions beginning with the very first orbiting telescope (OAO-2) launched in 1968. This review traces the binary stars observed and the scientific results obtained from the early days of ultraviolet missions (OAO-2, Voyager, ANS, IUE), through a period of diversification (Hipparcos, WIRE, MOST, BRITE), to the current era of large planetary transit surveys (CoRoT, Kepler, TESS). In this time observations have been obtained of detached, semi-detached and contact binaries containing dwarfs, sub-giants, giants, supergiants, white dwarfs, planets, neutron stars and accretion discs. Recent missions have found a huge variety of objects such as pulsating stars in eclipsing binaries, multi-eclipsers, heartbeat stars and binaries hosting transiting planets. Particular attention is paid to eclipsing binaries, because they are staggeringly useful, and to the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) because its huge sky coverage enables a wide range of scientific investigations with unprecedented ease. These results are placed into context, future missions are discussed, and a list of important science goals is presented.

Eclipsing Systems with Pulsating Components (Types β Cep, δ Sct, γ Dor or Red Giant) in the Era of High-Accuracy Space Data

Eclipsing systems are essential objects for understanding the properties of stars and stellar systems. Eclipsing systems with pulsating components are furthermore advantageous because they provide accurate constraints on the component properties, as well as a complementary method for pulsation mode determination, crucial for precise asteroseismology. The outcome of space missions aiming at delivering high-accuracy light curves for many thousands of stars in search of planetary systems has also generated new insights in the field of variable stars and revived the interest of binary systems in general. The detection of eclipsing systems with pulsating components has particularly benefitted from this, and progress in this field is growing fast. In this review, we showcase some of the recent results obtained from studies of eclipsing systems with pulsating components based on data acquired by the space missions Kepler or TESS. We consider different system configurations including semi-detached eclipsing binaries in (near-)circular orbits, a (near-)circular and non-synchronized eclipsing binary with a chemically peculiar component, eclipsing binaries showing the heartbeat phenomenon, as well as detached, eccentric double-lined systems. All display one or more pulsating component(s). Among the great variety of known classes of pulsating stars, we discuss unevolved or slightly evolved pulsators of spectral type B, A or F and red giants with solar-like oscillations. Some systems exhibit additional phenomena such as tidal effects, angular momentum transfer, (occasional) mass transfer between the components and/or magnetic activity. How these phenomena and the orbital changes affect the different types of pulsations excited in one or more components, offers a new window of opportunity to better understand the physics of pulsations.

RESULTS OF OBSERVATIONS OF MAXIMA OF PULSATING STARS

The systematic study of some HADS stars, recognized as variables for decades, has allowed us to provide data on their secular variations through O-C analysis. However, some of the data have large gaps without observations. This is our motivation for continuously observing these stars as part of the research carried out by the “Grupo de Astronomía Observacional del Observatorio de Tonantzintla” (GAOOT). This article is our third compilation of times of maxima for pulsating stars. These observations have been carried out at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional de Tonantzintla (TNT) and San Pedro Mártir (SPM), México and for the first time we also present data from the Complejo Astronómico de Cota Cota, Bolivia (Universidad Mayor de San Andrés) and the Observatorio Astronómico Centroamericano de Suyapa, Honduras (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras).

MINIMA AND MAXIMA TIMINGS OF SEVERAL VARIABLE STARS

We present 228 times of minima of 33 eclipsing binaries and nine maxima timings of two pulsating stars. The majority of the objects are newly discovered variables and they were observed as by product. The observations were employed five different telescop

Inverse tides in pulsating binary stars

ABSTRACT In close binary stars, the tidal excitation of pulsations typically dissipates energy, causing the system to evolve towards a circular orbit with aligned and synchronized stellar spins. However, for stars with self-excited pulsations, we demonstrate that tidal interaction with unstable pulsation modes can transfer energy in the opposite direction, forcing the spins of the stars away from synchronicity, and potentially pumping the eccentricity and spin–orbit misalignment angle. This ‘inverse’ tidal process only occurs when the tidally forced mode amplitude is comparable to the mode’s saturation amplitude, and it is thus most likely to occur in main-sequence gravity mode pulsators with orbital periods of a few days. We examine the long-term evolution of inverse tidal action, finding the stellar rotation rate can potentially be driven to a very large or very small value, while maintaining a large spin–orbit misalignment angle. Several recent asteroseismic analyses of pulsating stars in close binaries have revealed extremely slow core rotation periods, which we attribute to the action of inverse tides.

High-resolution spectroscopic study of massive blue and red supergiants in Perseus OB1

Context. The Perseus OB1 association, including the h and χ Persei double cluster, is an interesting laboratory for the investigation of massive star evolution as it hosts one of the most populous groupings of blue and red supergiants (Sgs) in the Galaxy at a moderate distance and extinction. Aims. We discuss whether the massive O-type, and blue and red Sg stars located in the Per OB1 region are members of the same population, and examine their binary and runaway status. Methods. We gathered a total of 405 high-resolution spectra for 88 suitable candidates around 4.5 deg from the center of the association, and compiled astrometric information from Gaia DR2 for all of them. This was used to investigate membership and identify runaway stars. By obtaining high-precision radial velocity (RV) estimates for all available spectra, we investigated the RV distribution of the global sample (as well as different subsamples) and identified spectroscopic binaries (SBs). Results. Most of the investigated stars belong to a physically linked population located at d = 2.5 ± 0.4 kpc. We identify 79 confirmed or likely members, and 5 member candidates. No important differences are detected in the distribution of parallaxes when stars in h and χ Persei or the full sample are considered. In contrast, most O-type stars seem to be part of a differentiated population in terms of kinematical properties. In particular, the percentage of runaways among them (45%) is considerable higher than for the more evolved targets (which is lower than ∼5% in all cases). A similar tendency is also found for the percentage of clearly detected SBs, which already decreases from 15% to 10% when the O star and B Sg samples are compared, respectively, and practically vanishes in the cooler Sgs. Concerning this latter result, our study illustrates the importance of taking the effect of the ubiquitous presence of intrinsic variability in the blue-to-red Sg domain into account to avoid the spurious identification of pulsating stars as SBs. Conclusions. All but 4 stars in our working sample (including 10 O giants/Sgs, 36 B Sgs, 9 B giants, 11 A/F Sgs, and 18 red Sgs) can be considered as part of the same (interrelated) population. However, any further attempt to describe the empirical properties of this sample of massive stars in an evolutionary context must take into account that an important fraction of the O stars is or likely has been part of a binary/multiple system. In addition, some of the other more evolved targets may have also been affected by binary evolution. In this line of argument, it is also interesting to note that the percentage of spectroscopic binaries within the evolved population of massive stars in Per OB1 is lower by a factor 4−5 than in the case of dedicated surveys of O-type stars in other environments that include a much younger population of massive stars.

A search for variable subdwarf B stars in TESS full frame images – I. Variable objects in the southern ecliptic hemisphere

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.

USuRPER: Unit-sphere representation periodogram for full spectra

We introduce an extension of the periodogram concept to time-resolved spectroscopy. USuRPER, the unit-sphere representation periodogram, is a novel technique that opens new horizons in the analysis of astronomical spectra. It can be used to detect a wide range of periodic variability of the spectrum shape. Essentially, the technique is based on representing spectra as unit vectors in a multidimensional hyperspace, hence its name. It is an extension of the phase-distance correlation periodogram we had introduced in previous papers, to very high-dimensional data such as spectra. USuRPER takes the overall shape of the spectrum into account, which means that it does not need to be reduced into a single quantity such as radial velocity or temperature. Through simulations, we demonstrate its performance in various types of spectroscopic variability: single-lined and double-lined spectroscopic binary stars, and pulsating stars. We also show its performance on actual data of a rapidly oscillating Ap star. USuRPER is a new tool to explore large time-resolved spectroscopic databases such as APOGEE, LAMOST, and the RVS spectra of Gaia. We have made a public GitHub repository with a Python implementation of USuRPER available to the community, to experiment with it and apply it to a wide range of spectroscopic time series.

Linear and non-linear tidal oscillations and mode identification in the eccentric binary system KIC 3858884

ABSTRACT The phoebe code was used to analyse the Kepler light-curve and to estimate the physical and geometrical parameters of a rare pulsating binary system, KIC 3858884. The analysis indicated that the system is composed of two detached and very similar main-sequence A-type stars, in a highly eccentric orbit with e = 0.47. After disentangling the binarity effect, the residual data were subjected to Fourier frequency decomposition using period04 software. The resulting frequency spectrum consists of two moderately high-amplitude nearby frequencies, F1 = 7.232199 d−1 and $F2=7.472889\, \mathrm{d}^{-1}$, which were attributed to δ Scuti-type pulsations. In addition, 18 frequencies were identified that were exact harmonics of the orbital frequency $f_{\rm orb}= 0.038533\, \mathrm{d}^{-1}$, and also 53 anharmonics. However, it was found that many of these anharmonic frequencies coupled together non-linearly to give harmonic modes of pulsation. Furthermore, some existing theoretical models of the tidal oscillations were numerically verified in general binary systems through estimations of various modal characteristics, for example mode quantum numbers ${n, l, m,}$ energies Ei, threshold energies Ei,th, damping rates γi, growth rates Γi and stability criteria, etc. The evolution of the stars in the binary system was compared with some similar single pulsating stars on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram and it was concluded that the evolution of a single star is more rapid. Finally, the observed rate of apsidal line displacement was estimated through eclipse timing variation analysis as Uobs = 74745.2 ± 2566 yr. This was compared with the theoretically calculated rate of the line of apsides motion, UTheo = 73588 ± 2298 yr, and found to be in good agreement within errors, hence verifying general relativity theory once again.