Blue large-amplitude pulsators as a new class of variable stars (original) (raw)

Nature Astronomy volume 1, Article number: 0166 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

Regular intrinsic brightness variations observed in many stars are caused by pulsations. These pulsations provide information on the global and structural parameters of the star. The pulsation periods range from seconds to years, depending on the compactness of the star and properties of the matter that forms its outer layers. Here, we report the discovery of more than a dozen previously unknown short-period variable stars: blue large-amplitude pulsators. These objects show very regular brightness variations with periods in the range of 20–40 min and amplitudes of 0.2–0.4 mag in the optical passbands. The phased light curves have a characteristic sawtooth shape, similar to the shape of classical Cepheids and RR Lyrae-type stars pulsating in the fundamental mode. The objects are significantly bluer than main-sequence stars observed in the same fields, which indicates that all of them are hot stars. Follow-up spectroscopy confirms a high surface temperature of about 30,000 K. Temperature and colour changes over the cycle prove the pulsational nature of the variables. However, large-amplitude pulsations at such short periods are not observed in any known type of stars, including hot objects. Long-term photometric observations show that the variable stars are very stable over time. Derived rates of period change are of the order of 10−7 per year and, in most cases, they are positive. According to pulsation theory, such large-amplitude oscillations may occur in evolved low-mass stars that have inflated helium-enriched envelopes. The evolutionary path that could lead to such stellar configurations remains unknown.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Kubiak and G. Pietrzyński, former members of the OGLE team, for their contribution to the collection of the OGLE photometric data over the past years. The OGLE project has received funding from the National Science Centre, Poland (grant number MAESTRO 2014/14/A/ST9/00121 to A.U.). M.L. acknowledges support from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The Las Campanas Observatory, which hosts the Warsaw Telescope, Swope Telescope and Magellan Telescopes, is operated by the Carnegie Institution for Science. The Gemini Observatory is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF) on behalf of the Gemini partnership: the NSF (United States), the National Research Council (Canada), CONICYT (Chile), Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva (Argentina), and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações (Brazil).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Warsaw University Observatory, Aleje Ujazdowskie 4, Warszawa, 00-478, Poland
    Paweł Pietrukowicz, Wojciech A. Dziembowski, Radosław Poleski, Igor Soszyński, Andrzej Udalski, Michał K. Szymański, Łukasz Wyrzykowski, Szymon Kozłowski, Jan Skowron, Dorota Skowron, Przemek Mróz, Michał Pawlak & Krzysztof Ulaczyk
  2. Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, ulica Bartycka 18, Warszawa, 00-716, Poland
    Wojciech A. Dziembowski
  3. Dr. Karl Remeis-Observatory & ECAP, Astronomical Institute, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Sternwartstrasse 7, Bamberg, 96049, Germany
    Marilyn Latour
  4. Departamento de Física y Astronomía, Universidad de La Serena, Avenida Cisternas 1200 Norte, La Serena, Chile
    Rodolfo Angeloni
  5. Instituto de Investigación Multidisciplinar en Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad de La Serena, Avenida Raúl Bitrán 1305, La Serena, Chile
    Rodolfo Angeloni
  6. Gemini Observatory, Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile
    Rodolfo Angeloni
  7. Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, 43210, USA
    Radosław Poleski
  8. Las Campanas Observatory, Casilla 601, La Serena, Chile
    Francesco di Mille
  9. Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
    Krzysztof Ulaczyk

Authors

  1. Paweł Pietrukowicz
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  2. Wojciech A. Dziembowski
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  3. Marilyn Latour
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  4. Rodolfo Angeloni
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  5. Radosław Poleski
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  6. Francesco di Mille
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  7. Igor Soszyński
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  8. Andrzej Udalski
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  9. Michał K. Szymański
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  10. Łukasz Wyrzykowski
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  11. Szymon Kozłowski
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  12. Jan Skowron
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  13. Dorota Skowron
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  14. Przemek Mróz
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  15. Michał Pawlak
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  16. Krzysztof Ulaczyk
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Contributions

P.P. coordinated the research, obtained and analysed part of the observations and prepared the manuscript. W.A.D. proposed the envelope model and calculated its characteristics. M.L. fitted model atmospheres to the spectroscopic data. R.A. obtained and reduced Gemini spectra. R.P. and F.diM. obtained part of the follow-up photometric observations. The remaining authors, including also P.P. and R.P., collected the OGLE observations. All authors commented on the manuscript and were involved in the scientific discussion.

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Correspondence toPaweł Pietrukowicz.

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Pietrukowicz, P., Dziembowski, W., Latour, M. et al. Blue large-amplitude pulsators as a new class of variable stars.Nat Astron 1, 0166 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-017-0166

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