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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Thirty-Five New Pulsating Da White Dwarf Stars, Anjum S. Mukadam, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al. Aug 2019

Thirty-Five New Pulsating Da White Dwarf Stars, Anjum S. Mukadam, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al.

Ted von Hippel

We present 35 new pulsating DA (hydrogen atmosphere) white dwarf stars discovered from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Hamburg Quasar Survey (HQS). We have acquired high-speed time series photometry of preselected DA white dwarfs with a prime focus CCD photometer on the 2.1 m telescope at McDonald Observatory over 15 months. We selected these stars on the basis of prior photometric and spectroscopic observations by the SDSS and HQS. For the homogeneous SDSS sample, we achieve a success rate of 80% for finding new variables at a detection threshold of 0.1%-0.3%. With 35 newly discovered DA variable …


Measuring The Evolution Of The Most Stable Optical Clock G 117-B15a, S. O. Kepler, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al. Aug 2019

Measuring The Evolution Of The Most Stable Optical Clock G 117-B15a, S. O. Kepler, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al.

Ted von Hippel

We report our measurement of the rate of change of period with time () for the 215 s periodicity in the pulsating white dwarf G 117-B15A, the most stable optical clock known. After 31 years of observations, we have finally obtained a 4 σ measurement observed = (4.27 ± 0.80) × 10-15 s s-1. Taking into account the proper-motion effect of proper = (7.0 ± 2.0) × 10-16s s-1, we obtain a rate of change of period with time of = (3.57 ± 0.82) × 10-15 s s-1. This value is consistent with the cooling rate in our white dwarf …


Redefining The Empirical Zz Ceti Instability Strip, Anjum S. Mukadam, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al. Aug 2019

Redefining The Empirical Zz Ceti Instability Strip, Anjum S. Mukadam, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al.

Ted von Hippel

We use the new ZZ Ceti stars (hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarf variables; DAVs) discovered within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Mukadam et al. 2004) to redefine the empirical ZZ Ceti instability strip. This is the first time since the discovery of white dwarf variables in 1968 that we have a homogeneous set of spectra acquired using the same instrument on the same telescope, and with consistent data reductions, for a statistically significant sample of ZZ Ceti stars. The homogeneity of the spectra reduces the scatter in the spectroscopic temperatures, and we find a narrow instability strip of width ~950 K, from …


Pulsational Mapping Of Calcium Across The Surface Of A White Dwarf, Susan E. Thompson, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al. Aug 2019

Pulsational Mapping Of Calcium Across The Surface Of A White Dwarf, Susan E. Thompson, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al.

Ted von Hippel

We constrain the distribution of calcium across the surface of the white dwarf star G29-38 by combining time-series spectroscopy from Gemini-North with global time-series photometry from the Whole Earth Telescope. G29-38 is actively accreting metals from a known debris disk. Since the metals sink significantly faster than they mix across the surface, any inhomogeneity in the accretion process will appear as an inhomogeneity of the metals on the surface of the star. We measure the flux amplitudes and the calcium equivalent width amplitudes for two large pulsations excited on G29-38 in 2008. The ratio of these amplitudes best fits a …


Constraining The Evolution Of Zz Ceti, Anjum S. Mukadam, S. O. Kepler, D. E. Nather, M. Kilic, F. Mullally, T. Von Hippel, S. J. Kleinman, A. Nitta, J. A. Guzik, P. A. Bradley, J. Matthews, K. Sekiguchi, D. J. Sullivan, T. Sullivan, R. R. Shobbrook, P. Birch, X. J. Jiang, D. W. Xu, S. Joshi, B. N. Ashoka, P. Ibbetson, E. Leibowitz, E. O. Ofek, E. G. Meištas, R. Janulis, R. D. Ališauskas, R. Kalytis, G. Handler, D. Kilkenny, D. O'Donoghue, D. W. Kurtz, M. Müller, P. Moskalik, W. Ogloza, S. Zola, J. Krzesiński, F. Johnannessen, J. M. Gonzalez-Perez, J. E. Solheim, R. Silvotti, S. Bernabei, G. Vauclair, N. Dolez, J. N. Fu, M. Chevreton, M. Manteiga, O. Suárez, A. Ulla, M. S. Cunha, T. S. Metcalfe, A. Kanaan, L. Fraga, A. F. M. Costa, O. Giovannini, G. Fontaine, P. Bergeron, M. S. O'Brien, D. Sanwal, M. A. Wood, T. J. Ahrens, N. Silvestri, E. W. Klumpe, S. D. Kawaler, R. Riddle, M. D. Reed, T. K. Watson Aug 2019

Constraining The Evolution Of Zz Ceti, Anjum S. Mukadam, S. O. Kepler, D. E. Nather, M. Kilic, F. Mullally, T. Von Hippel, S. J. Kleinman, A. Nitta, J. A. Guzik, P. A. Bradley, J. Matthews, K. Sekiguchi, D. J. Sullivan, T. Sullivan, R. R. Shobbrook, P. Birch, X. J. Jiang, D. W. Xu, S. Joshi, B. N. Ashoka, P. Ibbetson, E. Leibowitz, E. O. Ofek, E. G. Meištas, R. Janulis, R. D. Ališauskas, R. Kalytis, G. Handler, D. Kilkenny, D. O'Donoghue, D. W. Kurtz, M. Müller, P. Moskalik, W. Ogloza, S. Zola, J. Krzesiński, F. Johnannessen, J. M. Gonzalez-Perez, J. E. Solheim, R. Silvotti, S. Bernabei, G. Vauclair, N. Dolez, J. N. Fu, M. Chevreton, M. Manteiga, O. Suárez, A. Ulla, M. S. Cunha, T. S. Metcalfe, A. Kanaan, L. Fraga, A. F. M. Costa, O. Giovannini, G. Fontaine, P. Bergeron, M. S. O'Brien, D. Sanwal, M. A. Wood, T. J. Ahrens, N. Silvestri, E. W. Klumpe, S. D. Kawaler, R. Riddle, M. D. Reed, T. K. Watson

Ted von Hippel

We report our analysis of the stability of pulsation periods in the DAV star (pulsating hydrogen atmosphere white dwarf) ZZ Ceti, also called R548. On the basis of observations that span 31 years, we conclude that the period 213.13 s observed in ZZ Ceti drifts at a rate dP/dt (5:5 ± 1:9) x 10-15 s s-1, after correcting for proper motion. Our results are consistent with previous values for this mode and an improvement over them because of the larger time base. The characteristic stability timescale implied for the pulsation period is …


Constraining The Surface Inhomogeneity And Settling Times Of Metals On Accreting White Dwarfs, Michael H. Montgomery, S.E. Thompson, Ted Von Hippel Aug 2019

Constraining The Surface Inhomogeneity And Settling Times Of Metals On Accreting White Dwarfs, Michael H. Montgomery, S.E. Thompson, Ted Von Hippel

Ted von Hippel

Due to the short settling times of metals in DA white dwarf atmospheres, any white dwarfs with photospheric metals must be actively accreting. It is therefore natural to expect that the metals may not be deposited uniformly on the surface of the star. We present calculations showing how the temperature variations associated with white dwarf pulsations lead to an observable diagnostic of the surface metal distribution, and we show what constraints current data sets are able to provide. We also investigate the effect that time-variable accretion has on the metal abundances of different species, and we show how this can …


Orbital Characteristics Of The Subdwarf-B And F V Star Binary Ec 20117-4014 (=V4640 Sgr), T. Otani, T. D. Oswalt, A. E. Lynas-Gray, D. Kilkenny, C. Koen, M. Amaral, R. Jordan Jun 2018

Orbital Characteristics Of The Subdwarf-B And F V Star Binary Ec 20117-4014 (=V4640 Sgr), T. Otani, T. D. Oswalt, A. E. Lynas-Gray, D. Kilkenny, C. Koen, M. Amaral, R. Jordan

Publications

Among the competing evolution theories for subdwarf-B (sdB) stars is the binary evolution scenario. EC 20117-4014 (=V4640 Sgr) is a spectroscopic binary system consisting of a pulsating sdB star and a late F main-sequence companion; however, the period and the orbit semimajor axes have not been precisely determined. This paper presents orbital characteristics of the EC 20117-4014 binary system using 20 years of photometric data. Periodic observed minus calculated (OC) variations were detected in the two highest-amplitude pulsations identified in the EC 20117-4014 power spectrum, indicating the binary system's precise orbital period (P = 792.3 …


A Variability Study Of The Typical Red Supergiant Antares A, Teznie J D Pugh Apr 2013

A Variability Study Of The Typical Red Supergiant Antares A, Teznie J D Pugh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Red giants and red supergiants have long been known to be variable. In the last 40 years many of the features of this variability have been associated with large convective cells. Unfortunately, due to the long timescales of these variations they are not well studied, with the exception of the bright M-class supergiant Betelgeuse (α Orionis, M2 Iab). Betelgeuse has been well studied both observationally and theoretically, and has many features that are well described by models of convection. It was these studies of Betelgeuse that provided the main motivation for this thesis. We ask if the dramatic motions seen …


Δ Sct-Type Pulsations In Eclipsing Binary Systems: Y Cam, E. Rodriguez, J. M. Garcia, V. Costa, P. Lampens, P. J. Amado, J. Daszynska-Daszkiewicz, V. Turcu, S.-L. Kim, A. Y. Zhou, M. J. Lopez-Gonzalez, A. Rolland, D. Diaz-Fraile, M. A. Wood Nov 2010

Δ Sct-Type Pulsations In Eclipsing Binary Systems: Y Cam, E. Rodriguez, J. M. Garcia, V. Costa, P. Lampens, P. J. Amado, J. Daszynska-Daszkiewicz, V. Turcu, S.-L. Kim, A. Y. Zhou, M. J. Lopez-Gonzalez, A. Rolland, D. Diaz-Fraile, M. A. Wood

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

We present the results of a three-continent multisite photometric campaign carried out on the Algol-type eclipsing binary system Y Cam, in which the primary component is a multiperiodic δ Sct-type pulsator. The observations consist of 86 nights and more than 450 h of useful data collected mainly during the Northern winter 2002–2003. This means that this is the most extensive time series for such kind of systems obtained so far. These observations were collected mostly in the Johnson V filter, but they also include, for the first time, nearly complete binary light curves in simultaneous Strömgren uvby filters together with …


Pulsational Mapping Of Calcium Across The Surface Of A White Dwarf, Susan E. Thompson, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al. May 2010

Pulsational Mapping Of Calcium Across The Surface Of A White Dwarf, Susan E. Thompson, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al.

Publications

We constrain the distribution of calcium across the surface of the white dwarf star G29-38 by combining time-series spectroscopy from Gemini-North with global time-series photometry from the Whole Earth Telescope. G29-38 is actively accreting metals from a known debris disk. Since the metals sink significantly faster than they mix across the surface, any inhomogeneity in the accretion process will appear as an inhomogeneity of the metals on the surface of the star. We measure the flux amplitudes and the calcium equivalent width amplitudes for two large pulsations excited on G29-38 in 2008. The ratio of these amplitudes best fits a …


Multisite Photometry Of The Pulsating Herbig Ae Star V346 Ori, S. Bernabei, Terry D. Oswalt, V. Ripepi, A. Ruoppo, Et Al. Apr 2009

Multisite Photometry Of The Pulsating Herbig Ae Star V346 Ori, S. Bernabei, Terry D. Oswalt, V. Ripepi, A. Ruoppo, Et Al.

Publications

The study of pulsation in Pre--Main--Sequence intermediate-mass stars represents an important tool for deriving information on fundamental stellar parameters and internal structure, as well as for testing current theoretical models. Interest in this class of variable stars has significantly increased during the last decade and about 30 members are presently known in the literature. AIMS: We have constructed the frequency spectrum of the oscillations in V346 Ori. We apply asteroseismic tools to these data to estimate the intrinsic parameters (mass, luminosity, effective temperature) of V346 Ori and to obtain information on its internal structure. METHODS: CCD time series photometry in …


Constraining The Surface Inhomogeneity And Settling Times Of Metals On Accreting White Dwarfs, Michael H. Montgomery, S.E. Thompson, Ted Von Hippel Aug 2008

Constraining The Surface Inhomogeneity And Settling Times Of Metals On Accreting White Dwarfs, Michael H. Montgomery, S.E. Thompson, Ted Von Hippel

Publications

Due to the short settling times of metals in DA white dwarf atmospheres, any white dwarfs with photospheric metals must be actively accreting. It is therefore natural to expect that the metals may not be deposited uniformly on the surface of the star. We present calculations showing how the temperature variations associated with white dwarf pulsations lead to an observable diagnostic of the surface metal distribution, and we show what constraints current data sets are able to provide. We also investigate the effect that time-variable accretion has on the metal abundances of different species, and we show how this can …


Measuring The Evolution Of The Most Stable Optical Clock G 117-B15a, S. O. Kepler, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al. Dec 2005

Measuring The Evolution Of The Most Stable Optical Clock G 117-B15a, S. O. Kepler, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al.

Publications

We report our measurement of the rate of change of period with time () for the 215 s periodicity in the pulsating white dwarf G 117-B15A, the most stable optical clock known. After 31 years of observations, we have finally obtained a 4 σ measurement observed = (4.27 ± 0.80) × 10-15 s s-1. Taking into account the proper-motion effect of proper = (7.0 ± 2.0) × 10-16s s-1, we obtain a rate of change of period with time of = (3.57 ± 0.82) × 10-15 s s-1. This value is consistent with the cooling rate in our white dwarf …


Redefining The Empirical Zz Ceti Instability Strip, Anjum S. Mukadam, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al. Sep 2004

Redefining The Empirical Zz Ceti Instability Strip, Anjum S. Mukadam, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al.

Publications

We use the new ZZ Ceti stars (hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarf variables; DAVs) discovered within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Mukadam et al. 2004) to redefine the empirical ZZ Ceti instability strip. This is the first time since the discovery of white dwarf variables in 1968 that we have a homogeneous set of spectra acquired using the same instrument on the same telescope, and with consistent data reductions, for a statistically significant sample of ZZ Ceti stars. The homogeneity of the spectra reduces the scatter in the spectroscopic temperatures, and we find a narrow instability strip of width ~950 K, from …


Thirty-Five New Pulsating Da White Dwarf Stars, Anjum S. Mukadam, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al. Jun 2004

Thirty-Five New Pulsating Da White Dwarf Stars, Anjum S. Mukadam, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al.

Publications

We present 35 new pulsating DA (hydrogen atmosphere) white dwarf stars discovered from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Hamburg Quasar Survey (HQS). We have acquired high-speed time series photometry of preselected DA white dwarfs with a prime focus CCD photometer on the 2.1 m telescope at McDonald Observatory over 15 months. We selected these stars on the basis of prior photometric and spectroscopic observations by the SDSS and HQS. For the homogeneous SDSS sample, we achieve a success rate of 80% for finding new variables at a detection threshold of 0.1%-0.3%. With 35 newly discovered DA variable …


Constraining The Evolution Of Zz Ceti, Anjum S. Mukadam, S. O. Kepler, D. E. Nather, M. Kilic, F. Mullally, T. Von Hippel, S. J. Kleinman, A. Nitta, J. A. Guzik, P. A. Bradley, J. Matthews, K. Sekiguchi, D. J. Sullivan, T. Sullivan, R. R. Shobbrook, P. Birch, X. J. Jiang, D. W. Xu, S. Joshi, B. N. Ashoka, P. Ibbetson, E. Leibowitz, E. O. Ofek, E. G. Meištas, R. Janulis, R. D. Ališauskas, R. Kalytis, G. Handler, D. Kilkenny, D. O'Donoghue, D. W. Kurtz, M. Müller, P. Moskalik, W. Ogloza, S. Zola, J. Krzesiński, F. Johnannessen, J. M. Gonzalez-Perez, J. E. Solheim, R. Silvotti, S. Bernabei, G. Vauclair, N. Dolez, J. N. Fu, M. Chevreton, M. Manteiga, O. Suárez, A. Ulla, M. S. Cunha, T. S. Metcalfe, A. Kanaan, L. Fraga, A. F. M. Costa, O. Giovannini, G. Fontaine, P. Bergeron, M. S. O'Brien, D. Sanwal, M. A. Wood, T. J. Ahrens, N. Silvestri, E. W. Klumpe, S. D. Kawaler, R. Riddle, M. D. Reed, T. K. Watson Sep 2003

Constraining The Evolution Of Zz Ceti, Anjum S. Mukadam, S. O. Kepler, D. E. Nather, M. Kilic, F. Mullally, T. Von Hippel, S. J. Kleinman, A. Nitta, J. A. Guzik, P. A. Bradley, J. Matthews, K. Sekiguchi, D. J. Sullivan, T. Sullivan, R. R. Shobbrook, P. Birch, X. J. Jiang, D. W. Xu, S. Joshi, B. N. Ashoka, P. Ibbetson, E. Leibowitz, E. O. Ofek, E. G. Meištas, R. Janulis, R. D. Ališauskas, R. Kalytis, G. Handler, D. Kilkenny, D. O'Donoghue, D. W. Kurtz, M. Müller, P. Moskalik, W. Ogloza, S. Zola, J. Krzesiński, F. Johnannessen, J. M. Gonzalez-Perez, J. E. Solheim, R. Silvotti, S. Bernabei, G. Vauclair, N. Dolez, J. N. Fu, M. Chevreton, M. Manteiga, O. Suárez, A. Ulla, M. S. Cunha, T. S. Metcalfe, A. Kanaan, L. Fraga, A. F. M. Costa, O. Giovannini, G. Fontaine, P. Bergeron, M. S. O'Brien, D. Sanwal, M. A. Wood, T. J. Ahrens, N. Silvestri, E. W. Klumpe, S. D. Kawaler, R. Riddle, M. D. Reed, T. K. Watson

Publications

We report our analysis of the stability of pulsation periods in the DAV star (pulsating hydrogen atmosphere white dwarf) ZZ Ceti, also called R548. On the basis of observations that span 31 years, we conclude that the period 213.13 s observed in ZZ Ceti drifts at a rate dP/dt (5:5 ± 1:9) x 10-15 s s-1, after correcting for proper motion. Our results are consistent with previous values for this mode and an improvement over them because of the larger time base. The characteristic stability timescale implied for the pulsation period is …


Multisite Observations Of The Pms Δ Delta Scuti Star V351 Ori, V. Ripepi, Terry D. Oswalt, M. Marconi, S. Bernabei, Et Al. Jun 2003

Multisite Observations Of The Pms Δ Delta Scuti Star V351 Ori, V. Ripepi, Terry D. Oswalt, M. Marconi, S. Bernabei, Et Al.

Publications

We present the results of multisite observations spanning two years on the pre–main-sequence (PMS) star V351 Ori. A total of around 180 hours of observations over 29 nights have been collected, allowing us to measure five different periodicities, most likely related to the Scuti variability of V351 Ori. Comparison with the predictions of linear nonadiabatic radial pulsation models put stringent constraints on the stellar parameters and indicate that the distance to V351 Ori is intermediate between the lower limit measured by Hipparcos (210 pc) and that of the Orion Nebula (450 pc). However, radial pulsation models are unable to reproduce …