arXiv subjects

Daniel Jadlovský

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel Jadlovský.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The critical role of HST UV spectroscopy in constraining red supergiant binary systems

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has advanced our knowledge of stellar evolution thanks to its unique high-spectral resolution and high-sensitivity capabilities in the UV region, especially for hot massive stars. Within the field of red supergiants (RSGs), it has led to several major insights as well, such as, for example, characterizing the embedded hot companion in the VV Cephei system, the detection of surface mass ejection from Betelgeuse, and unveiling the rich population of RSG+B binaries in the Magellanic Clouds. We demonstrate that nowadays (and in the decade to come) we need HST more than ever, as for the first time, thanks to the significant advances of high-angular-resolution interferometric and astrometric techniques, we can resolve the orbital motion of stellar components in RSG systems. However, the long wavelengths are dominated by the cool RSGs. Thus, observing such companions in the UV with HST is the only way to constrain the properties and velocity of the hot companions, adding the required missing piece of information for constraining the orbital solution and evolutionary status of RSG systems. Such observations are critical for understanding the interaction and mass transfer in massive binary systems and their connection to the observed population of supernovae.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

New theoretical instability regions, period-luminosity relations and masses for blue large-amplitude pulsators

Blue large-amplitude pulsators (BLAPs) are a recently discovered group of hot pulsating stars whose evolutionary status remains uncertain. Their supposed progenitors are either $\simeq 0.3M_{\odot}$ shell H-burning stars or $\simeq 1.0M_{\odot}$ core He-burning stars, both relying on mass loss or a merger event in a (rarely observed) close interacting binary system. With the goal to understand the stellar masses of BLAPs, we therefore carried out a linear non-adiabatic analysis of a grid of models computed using mesa-rsp, with appropriate input stellar parameters $ZXMLT_{\rm eff}$ and convection parameter sets. We discuss the impact of stellar mass, metallicity, helium abundance and convection parameters on the theoretical instability regions of BLAPs. We also derive new theoretical period relations; our theoretical period relations using low stellar masses seem to be in better agreement with the observed period relations. Although only two BLAPS have been observed to be multi-periodic oscillator so far, we analyse theoretical $P_{1O}/P_F$ ratios and compare these values with other classical pulsators. Furthermore, we provide the first asteroseismic mass estimate for the triple-mode pulsator, OGLE-BLAP-030 which seems to be well-constrained in the range of $0.62-0.64 M_{\odot}$ with a high metallicity of $Z=0.07$, albeit with a few sources of uncertainty involved. This would place the BLAP star intermediate to the two proposed mass scenarios so far.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2024

The Great Dimming of Betelgeuse: the photosphere as revealed by tomography over the past 15 years

Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star of semi-regular variability, reached a historical minimum brightness in February 2020, known as the Great Dimming. Even though the brightness has returned to the values prior to the Great Dimming now, it continues to exhibit highly unusual behavior. Our goal is to study long-term dynamics of the photosphere, including during the Great Dimming. We applied the tomographic method, which allows different layers in the stellar atmosphere to be probed in order to reconstruct depth-dependent velocity fields. The method is based on the construction of spectral masks by grouping spectral lines from specific optical depths. These masks are cross-correlated with the observed spectra to recover the velocity field inside each atmospheric layer. We obtained about 2800 spectra over the past 15 years that were observed with the STELLA robotic telescope in Tenerife. We analyzed the variability of five different layers of Betelgeuse's photosphere. We found phase shift between the layers, as well as between the variability of velocity and photometry. The time variations of the widths of the cross-correlation function reveal propagation of two shockwaves during the Great Dimming. For about two years after the dimming, the timescale of variability was different between the inner and outer photospheric layers. By 2022, all the layers were pulsating with higher frequency corresponding with the first overtone. The combination of the extensive high-resolution spectroscopic data set with the tomographic method revealed the variable velocity fields in the photosphere of Betelgeuse, for the first time in such detail. Our results demonstrate that powerful shocks are the triggering mechanism for episodic mass-loss events, which may be the missing component to explain the mass-loss process in red supergiants.

astro-ph.SR↗