Discovery of non-radial pulsations in the spectroscopic binary Herbig Ae star RS Cha

Abstract

In this article we present a first discovery of non radial pulsations in both components of the Herbig Ae spectroscopic binary star RS Cha. The binary was monitored in quasi-continuous observations during 14 observing nights (Jan 2006) at the 1m Mt John (New Zealand) telescope with the Hercules high-resolution echelle spectrograph. The cumulated exposure time on the star was 44 hrs, corresponding to 255 individual high-resolution echelle spectra with $R = 45000$. Least square deconvolved spectra (LSD) were obtained for each spectrum representing the effective photospheric absorption profile modified by pulsations. Difference spectra were calculated by subtracting rotationally broadened artificial profiles; these residual spectra were analysed and non-radial pulsations were detected. A subsequent analysis with two complementary methods, namely Fourier Parameter Fit (FPF) and Fourier 2D (F2D) has been performed and first constraints on the pulsation modes have been derived. In fact, both components of the spectroscopic binary are Herbig Ae stars and both show NRPs. The FPF method identified 2 modes for the primary component with (degree l, azimuthal number m) couples ordered by decreasing probability: f_1 = 21.11 c/d with (l,m) = (11,11), (11,9) or (10,6) and f_2 = 30.38 c/d with (l,m) = (10,6) or (9,5). The F2D analysis indicates for f_1 a degree l = 8-10. For the secondary component, the FPF method identified 3 modes with (l,m) ordered by decreasing probability: f_1 = 12.81 c/d with (l,m) = (2,1) or (2,2), f_2b = 19.11 c/d with (l,m) = (13,5) or (10,5) and f_3 = 24.56 c/d with (l,m) = (6,3) or (6,5). The F2D analysis indicates for f_1 a degree l = 2 or 3, but proposes a contradictory identification of f_2 as a radial pulsation (l = 0).