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J. Southworth

Publications and source records attributed to J. Southworth.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2023

Observational mapping of the mass discrepancy in eclipsing binaries: Selection of the sample and its photometric and spectroscopic properties

Abridged. Eclipsing spectroscopic double-lined binaries are the prime source of precise and accurate measurements of masses and radii of stars. These measurements provide a stringent test of models of stellar evolution that are persistently reported to contain major shortcomings. The mass discrepancy observed for the eclipsing spectroscopic double-lined binaries is one of the manifestations of shortcomings in stellar evolution models. Our ultimate goal is to provide an observational mapping of the mass discrepancy and propose a recipe for its solution. We initiate a spectroscopic monitoring campaign of 573 candidate eclipsing binaries of which 83 are analysed in this work with the methods of least-squares deconvolution and spectral disentangling. TESS light curves are used to provide photometric classification of the systems according to the type of their intrinsic variability. We confirm 69 systems as either spectroscopic binaries or higher-order multiple systems. Twelve stars are classified as single and two more objects are found at the interface of their line profile variability being interpreted as due to binarity and intrinsic variability of the star. Moreover, 20 eclipsing binaries are found to contain at least one component that exhibits stellar oscillations. The sample presented in this work contains both detached and semi-detached systems and covers a range in the effective temperature and mass of the star of Teff = [7000,30000] K and M = [1.5,15] M_Sun, respectively. We conclude an appreciable capability of the spectral disentangling method to deliver precise and accurate spectroscopic orbital elements from as few as 6-8 orbital phase-resolved spectroscopic observations. Orbital solutions obtained this way are accurate enough to deliver age estimates with accuracy of 10% or better, an important resource for calibration of stellar evolution models.

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arXiv2023

TOI-2084 b and TOI-4184 b: two new sub-Neptunes around M dwarf stars

We present the discovery and validation of two TESS exoplanets orbiting nearby M dwarfs: TOI-2084b, and TOI-4184b. We characterized the host stars by combining spectra from Shane/Kast and Magellan/FIRE, SED (Spectral Energy Distribution) analysis, and stellar evolutionary models. In addition, we used Gemini-South/Zorro & -North/Alopeke high-resolution imaging, archival science images, and statistical validation packages to support the planetary interpretation. We performed a global analysis of multi-colour photometric data from TESS and ground-based facilities in order to derive the stellar and planetary physical parameters for each system. We find that TOI-2084b and TOI-4184b are sub-Neptune-sized planets with radii of Rp = 2.47 +/- 0.13R_Earth and Rp = 2.43 +/- 0.21R_Earth, respectively. TOI-2084b completes an orbit around its host star every 6.08 days, has an equilibrium temperature of T_eq = 527 +/- 8K and an irradiation of S_p = 12.8 +/- 0.8 S_Earth. Its host star is a dwarf of spectral M2.0 +/- 0.5 at a distance of 114pc with an effective temperature of T_eff = 3550 +/- 50 K, and has a wide, co-moving M8 companion at a projected separation of 1400 au. TOI-4184b orbits around an M5.0 +/- 0.5 type dwarf star (Kmag = 11.87) each 4.9 days, and has an equilibrium temperature of T_eq = 412 +/- 8 K and an irradiation of S_p = 4.8 +/- 0.4 S_Earth. TOI-4184 is a metal poor star ([Fe/H] = -0.27 +/- 0.09 dex) at a distance of 69 pc with an effective temperature of T_eff = 3225 +/- 75 K. Both planets are located at the edge of the sub-Jovian desert in the radius-period plane. The combination of the small size and the large infrared brightness of their host stars make these new planets promising targets for future atmospheric exploration with JWST.

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arXiv2023

Power-2 limb-darkening coefficients for the $uvby$, $UBVRIJHK$, SDSS $ugriz$, Gaia, Kepler, TESS, and CHEOPS photometric systems II. PHOENIX spherically symmetric stellar atmosphere models

Multiple parametric limb-darkening laws have been presented, and there are many available sources of theoretical limb-darkening coefficients (LDCs) calculated using stellar model atmospheres. The power-2 limb-darkening law allows a very good representation of theoretically predicted intensity profiles, but few LDCs are available for this law from spherically symmetric model atmospheres. We therefore present such coefficients in this work. We computed LDCs for the space missions \textit{Gaia}, \textit{Kepler}, TESS, and CHEOPS and for the passbands $uvby$, $UBVRIJHK$, and SDSS $ugriz$, using the \textsc{phoenix-cond} spherical models. We adopted two methods to characterise the truncation point, which sets the limb of the star: the first (M1) uses the point where the derivative d$I(r)$/d$r$ is at its maximum where I(r) is the specific intensity as a function of the normalised radius r corresponding to $μ_{\rm cri}$, and the second (M2) uses the midpoint between the point $μ_{\rm cri}$ and the point located at $μ_{\rm cri-1}$. The LDCs were computed adopting the Levenberg-Marquardt least-squares minimisation method, with a resolution of 900 equally spaced $μ$ points, and covering 823 model atmospheres for a solar metallicity, effective temperatures of 2300 to 12000\,K, $\log g$ values from 0.0 to 6.0, and microturbulent velocities of 2\,km\,s$^{-1}$. As our previous calculations of LDCs using spherical models included only 100 $μ$ points, we also updated the calculations for the four-parameter law for the passbands listed above, and compared them with those from the power-2 law. Comparisons between the quality of the fits provided by the power-2 and four-parameter laws show that the latter presents a lower merit function, $χ^2$, than the former for both cases (M1 and M2). This is important when choosing the best approach for a particular science goal.

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arXiv2023

Revising the properties of low mass eclipsing binary stars using TESS light curves

Precise measurements of stellar parameters are required in order to develop our theoretical understanding of stellar structure. These measurements enable errors and uncertainties to be quantified in theoretical models and constrain the physical interpretation of observed phenomena, such as the inflated radii of low-mass stars. We use newly-available TESS light curves combined with published radial velocity measurements to improve the characterization of 12 low mass eclipsing binaries composed of an M~dwarf accompanied by a brighter F/G star. We present and analyse ground-based simultaneous four-colour photometry for two targets. Our results include the first measurements of the fundamental properties of two of the systems. Light curve and radial velocity information were converted into the physical parameters of each component of the systems using an isochrone fitting method. We also derive the effective temperatures of the M~dwarfs, almost tripling the number of such measurements. The results are discussed in the context of radius inflation. We find that exquisite precision in the age estimation of young objects is required to determine their inflation status. However, all but three of the objects are securely located among the main sequence, demonstrating radius inflation and the necessity to develop our understanding of the complex physical processes governing the evolution of low-mass stars. We investigated the hypothesis that luminosity is unaffected by the inflation problem but the findings were not conclusive.

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arXiv2023

Tidally perturbed g-mode pulsations in a sample of close eclipsing binaries

Context. Thanks to the high-precision photometry from space missions such as Kepler and TESS, tidal perturbations and tilting of pulsations have been detected in more than a dozen binary systems. However, only two of these were g-mode pulsators. Aims. We aim to detect tidally perturbed g modes in additional binary systems and characterise them observationally. Methods. We perform a custom data reduction of the available Kepler and TESS photometry of a well-studied sample of 35 binary systems with gamma Doradus pulsators. For each target, we model the binary signal using a sum of 100 sine waves, with frequencies at orbital harmonics, and measure significant pulsation frequencies by iteratively prewhitening the residual light curve. Pulsations are labelled as tidally perturbed g modes if they are part of both period-spacing patterns and orbital-frequency-spaced multiplets. After visual inspection and confirmation, the properties of these targets and g modes are characterised. Results. We detect tidally perturbed g-mode pulsations for five short-period binaries that are circularised and (almost) synchronously rotating: KIC3228863, KIC3341457, KIC4947528, KIC9108579, and KIC12785282. Tidally perturbed g modes that occur within the same star and have the same mode identification (k,m), are found to have near-identical relative amplitude and phase modulations, which are within their respective 1-sigma uncertainties also identical for the Kepler and TESS photometric passbands. By contrast, pulsations with different mode identification (k,m) are found to exhibit different modulations. Moreover, the observed amplitude and phase modulations are correlated, indicating that the binary tides primarily distort g-mode amplitudes on the stellar surface. The phase modulations are then primarily a geometric effect of the integration of the stellar flux over the visible stellar surface. (abbreviated)

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arXiv2023

Preliminary estimates of the Zwicky Transient Facility 'Ayló'chaxnim asteroid population completeness

Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are organized into five main classes: Amor, Apollo, Aten, Atira and 'Ayló'chaxnim. Asteroids belonging to the 'Ayló'chaxnim class are located entirely within the orbit of Venus making them difficult to detect by ground-based observatories. The first-known asteroid of this class, (594913) 'Ayló'chaxnim, was discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) in 2020 January during a twilight search for asteroids at small solar elongations that ran between September 2019 and January 2020. Due to its large diameter of $\sim$2 km, the discovery of (594913) 'Ayló'chaxnim is surprising because contemporary NEA population models predict a scarcity of asteroids of this size located inside the orbit of Venus. To compare the discovery of (594913) 'Ayló'chaxnim by ZTF with the predictions of NEA population models, we estimated the ZTF survey completeness at detecting 'Ayló'chaxnim asteroids and the number of 'Ayló'chaxnim asteroids expected to have been discovered by simulating observations of synthetic 'Ayló'chaxnim asteroids. We find that the 'Ayló'chaxnim population completeness of the survey is $\sim$18$\%$ and there is only a 5$\%$ probability that a single 'Ayló'chaxnim asteroid would have been discovered. Given the small chance for (594913) 'Ayló'chaxnim to have been discovered, its presence is either a statistical fluke or it implies that asteroid population models may need to be revised.

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arXiv2023

Transit timing variation analysis of the low-mass brown dwarf KELT-1 b

We investigate whether there is a variation in the orbital period of the short-period brown dwarf-mass KELT-1\,b, which is one of the best candidates to observe orbital decay. We obtain 19 high-precision transit light curves of the target using six different telescopes. We add all precise and complete transit light curves from open databases and the literature, as well as the available TESS observations from sectors 17 and 57, to form a transit timing variation (TTV) diagram spanning more than 10 years of observations. The analysis of the TTV diagram, however, is inconclusive in terms of a secular or periodic variation, hinting that the system might have synchronized. We update the transit ephemeris and determine an informative lower limit for the reduced tidal quality parameter of its host star of Q$_{\star}^{\prime} > (8.5 \pm 3.9) \times 10^{6}$ assuming that the stellar rotation is not yet synchronised. Using our new photometric observations, published light curves, the TESS data, archival radial velocities and broadband magnitudes, we also update the measured parameters of the system. Our results are in good agreement with those found in previous analyses.

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arXiv2023

High-mass eclipsing binaries: a testbed for models of interior structure and evolution -- Accurate fundamental properties and surface chemical composition for V1034 Sco, GL Car, V573 Car and V346 Cen

The surface chemical compositions of stars are affected by physical processes which bring the products of thermonuclear burning to the surface. Despite their potential in understanding the structure and evolution of stars, elemental abundances are available for only a few high-mass binary stars. We aim to enlarge this sample by determining the physical properties and photospheric abundances for four eclipsing binary systems containing high-mass stars: V1034 Sco, GL Car, V573 Car and V346 Cen. The components have masses 8-17 Msun and effective temperatures from 22500 to 32200 K, and are all on the main sequence. We present new high-resolution and high signal-to-noise spectroscopy from HARPS, and analyse them using spectral disentangling and NLTE spectral synthesis. We model existing light curves and new photometry from the TESS satellite, We measure the stellar masses to 0.6-2.0 percent precision, radii to 0.8-1.7 percent precision, effective temperatures to 1.1-1.6 percent precision, and abundances of C, N, O, Mg and Si. The abundances are similar to those found in our previous studies of high-mass eclipsing binaries; our sample now comprises 25 high-mass stars in 13 binary systems. We also find tidally-excited pulsations in V346 Cen. We reinforce our previous conclusions: interior chemical element transport is not as efficient in binary star components as in their single-star counterparts in the same mass regime and evolutionary stage, possibly due to the effects of tidal forces. Our ultimate goal is to provide a larger sample of OB-type stars in binaries which would enable a thorough comparison to stellar evolutionary models, as well as to single high-mass stars.

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arXiv2022

Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec PRISM

Transmission spectroscopy of exoplanets has revealed signatures of water vapor, aerosols, and alkali metals in a few dozen exoplanet atmospheres. However, these previous inferences with the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes were hindered by the observations' relatively narrow wavelength range and spectral resolving power, which precluded the unambiguous identification of other chemical species$-$in particular the primary carbon-bearing molecules. Here we report a broad-wavelength 0.5-5.5 $μ$m atmospheric transmission spectrum of WASP-39 b, a 1200 K, roughly Saturn-mass, Jupiter-radius exoplanet, measured with JWST NIRSpec's PRISM mode as part of the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team program. We robustly detect multiple chemical species at high significance, including Na (19$σ$), H$_2$O (33$σ$), CO$_2$ (28$σ$), and CO (7$σ$). The non-detection of CH$_4$, combined with a strong CO$_2$ feature, favours atmospheric models with a super-solar atmospheric metallicity. An unanticipated absorption feature at 4$μ$m is best explained by SO$_2$ (2.7$σ$), which could be a tracer of atmospheric photochemistry. These observations demonstrate JWST's sensitivity to a rich diversity of exoplanet compositions and chemical processes.

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arXiv2022

Fundamental effective temperature measurements for eclipsing binary stars -- II. The detached F-type eclipsing binary CPD-54 810

CPD-54 810 is a double-lined detached eclipsing binary containing two mid-F type dwarfs on an eccentric 26-day orbit. We perform a combined analysis of the extensive photometry obtained by the TESS space mission along with previously published observations to obtain a full orbital and physical solution for the system. We measure the following model-independent masses and radii: M1 = 1.3094+/-0.0051 Msun, M2 = 1.0896+/-0.0034 Msun, R1 = 1.9288+/-0.0030 Rsun, and R2 = 1.1815+/-0.0037 Rsun. We employ a Bayesian approach to obtain the bolometric flux for both stars from observed magnitudes, colours, and flux ratios. These bolometric fluxes combined with the stars' angular diameters (from R1, R2 and the parallax from Gaia EDR3) lead directly to the stars' effective temperatures: Teff,1 = 6462+/-43 K, and Teff,2 = 6331+/-43 K, with an additional systematic error of 0.8% (13 K) from the uncertainty in the zero-point of the flux scale. Our results are robust against the choice of model spectra and other details of the analysis. CPD-54 810 is an ideal benchmark system that can be used to test stellar parameters measured by large spectroscopic surveys or derived from asteroseismology, and calibrate stellar models by providing robust constraints on the measured parameters. The methods presented here can be applied to many other detached eclipsing binary systems to build a catalogue of well-measured benchmark stars.

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arXiv2022

The GAPS Programme at TNG: XXXVI. Measurement of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect and revising the physical and orbital parameters of the HAT-P-15, HAT-P-17, HAT-P-21, HAT-P-26, HAT-P-29 eccentric planetary systems

Aim: We aim to refine the orbital and physical parameters and determine the sky-projected planet orbital obliquity of five eccentric transiting planetary systems: HAT-P-15, HAT-P-17, HAT-P-21, HAT-P-26, and HAT-P-29. Each of the systems hosts a hot Jupiter, except for HAT-P-26 which hosts a Neptune-mass planet. Methods: We observed transit events of these planets with the HARPS-N spectrograph, obtaining high-precision radial velocity measurements that allow us to measure the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for each of the target systems. We used these new HARPS-N spectra and archival data, including those from Gaia, to better characterise the stellar atmospheric parameters. The photometric parameters for four of the hot Jupiters were recalculated using 17 new transit light curves, obtained with an array of medium-class telescopes, and data from the TESS space telescope. HATNet time-series photometric data were checked for the signatures of rotation periods of the target stars and their spin axis inclination. Results: From the analysis of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, we derived a sky-projected obliquity of 13, -26.3, -0.7, -26 degree for HAT-P-15b, HAT-P-17b, HAT-P-21b and HAT-P-29b, respectively. Due to the quality of the data, we were not able to well constrain the sky-projected obliquity for HAT-P-26b, although a prograde orbit is favoured. The stellar activity of HAT-P-21 indicates a rotation period of 15.88 days, which allowed us to determine its true misalignment angle (25 degree). Our new analysis of the physical parameters of the five exoplanetary systems returned values compatible with those existing in the literature. Using TESS and the available transit light curves, we reviewed the orbital ephemeris for the five systems and confirmed that the HAT-P-26 system shows transit timing variations, which may tentatively be attributed to the presence of a third body.

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arXiv2022

Surface brightness-colour relations of dwarf stars from detached eclipsing binaries -- I. Calibrating sample

Surface brightness -- colour relations (SBCRs) are very useful tools for predicting the angular diameters of stars. They offer the possibility to calculate very precise spectrophotometric distances by the eclipsing binary method or the Baade-Wesselink method. Double-lined Detached Eclipsing Binary stars (SB2 DEBs) with precisely known trigonometric parallaxes allow for a calibration of SBCRs with unprecedented precision. In order to improve such calibrations, it is important to enlarge the calibration sample of suitable eclipsing binaries with very precisely determined physical parameters. We carefully chose a sample of ten SB2 DEBs in the solar neighbourhood which contain inactive main-sequence components. The components have spectral types from early A to early K. All systems have high-precision parallaxes from the Gaia mission. We analysed high precision ground- and space-based photometry simultaneously with the radial velocity curves derived from HARPS spectra. We used spectral disentangling to obtain the individual spectra of the components and used these to derive precise atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances. For almost all components, we derived precise surface temperatures and metallicities. We derived absolute dimensions for 20 stars with an average precision of 0.2% and 0.5% for masses and radii, respectively. Three systems show slow apsidal motion. One system, HD 32129, is most likely a triple system with a much fainter K6V companion. Also three systems contain metallic-line components and show strong enhancements of barium and ittrium. The components of all systems compare well to the SBCR derived before from the detached eclipsing binary stars. With a possible exception of HD 32129, they can be used to calibrate SBCRs with a precision better than 1% with available Gaia DR3 parallaxes.

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arXiv2022

The discovery and characterization of a kilometre sized asteroid inside the orbit of Venus

Near-Earth asteroid population models predict the existence of bodies located inside the orbit of Venus. Despite searches up to the end of 2019, none had been found. We report discovery and follow-up observations of (594913) 'Ayló'chaxnim, an asteroid with an orbit entirely interior to Venus. (594913) 'Ayló'chaxnim has an aphelion distance of ~0.65 au, is ~2 km in diameter and is red in colour. The detection of such a large asteroid inside the orbit of Venus is surprising given their rarity according to near-Earth asteroid population models. As the first officially numbered and named asteroid located entirely within the orbit of Venus, we propose that the class of interior to Venus asteroids be referred to as 'Ayló'chaxnim asteroids.

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arXiv2022

Power-2 limb-darkening coefficients for the uvby, UBVRIJHK, SDSS ugriz, Gaia, Kepler, and TESS photometric systems

Limb darkening is an important stellar phenomenon and must be accounted for in the study of stellar spectra, eclipsing binaries, transiting planetary systems, and microlensing events. The power-2 limb-darkening law provides a good match to the specific intensities predicted by stellar atmosphere models: it is better than other two-parameter laws and is only surpassed by the four-parameter law. Predictions of the limb-darkening coefficients for the power-2 law are not widely available. We therefore compute them, using stellar atmosphere models generated by the ATLAS (plane-parallel) code. Limb-darkening coefficients were computed for the space missions Gaia, Kepler, and TESS as well as for the photometric systems uvby, UBVRIJHK, and SDSS ugriz.The calculations were performed by adopting the Levenberg-Marquardt least-squares minimisation method and were computed with a resolution of 100 equally spaced viewing angles. We used 9586 model atmospheres covering 19 metallicities, effective temperatures of 3500 to 50000 K, log g values from 0.0 to 5.0, and microturbulent velocities of 0, 1, 2, 4, and 8 km. We confirm the superiority of the power-2 law, in terms of the quality of the fits, over other two-parameter laws. This is particularly relevant for the quadratic law, which is widely used. We recommend the use of the power-2 law in cases where a two-parameter law is needed.

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arXiv2022

Fundamental effective temperature measurements for eclipsing binary stars -- III. SPIRou near-infrared spectroscopy and CHEOPS photometry of the benchmark G0V star EBLM J0113+31

EBLM J0113+31 is moderately bright (V=10.1), metal-poor ([Fe/H]$\approx-0.3$) G0V star with a much fainter M dwarf companion on a wide, eccentric orbit (=14.3 d). We have used near-infrared spectroscopy obtained with the SPIRou spectrograph to measure the semi-amplitude of the M dwarf's spectroscopic orbit, and high-precision photometry of the eclipse and transit from the CHEOPS and TESS space missions to measure the geometry of this binary system. From the combined analysis of these data together with previously published observations we obtain the following model-independent masses and radii: $M_1 = 1.029 \pm 0.025 M_{\odot}$, $M_2 = 0.197 \pm 0.003 M_{\odot}$, $R_1 = 1.417 \pm 0.014 R_{\odot}$, $R_2 = 0.215 \pm 0.002 R_{\odot}$. Using $R_1$ and the parallax from Gaia EDR3 we find that this star's angular diameter is $θ= 0.0745 \pm 0.0007$ mas. The apparent bolometric flux of the G0V star corrected for both extinction and the contribution from the M dwarf ($<0.2$ per cent) is ${\mathcal F}_{\oplus,0} = (2.62\pm 0.05)\times10^{-9}$ erg.cm$^{-2}$.s$^{-1}$. Hence, this G0V star has an effective temperature $T_{\rm eff,1} = 6124{\rm\,K} \pm 40{\rm \,K\,(rnd.)} \pm 10 {\rm \,K\,(sys.)}$. EBLM J0113+31 is an ideal benchmark star that can be used for "end-to-end" tests of the stellar parameters measured by large-scale spectroscopic surveys, or stellar parameters derived from asteroseismology with PLATO. The techniques developed here can be applied to many other eclipsing binaries in order to create a network of such benchmark stars.

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arXiv2022

Precision measurement of a brown dwarf mass in a binary system in the microlensing event OGLE-2019-BLG-0033/MOA-2019-BLG-035

Context. Brown dwarfs are poorly understood transition objects between stars and planets, with several competing mechanisms having been proposed for their formation. Mass measurements are generally difficult for isolated objects but also for brown dwarfs orbiting low-mass stars, which are often too faint for spectroscopic follow-up. Aims. Microlensing provides an alternative tool for the discovery and investigation of such faint systems. Here we present the analysis of the microlensing event OGLE-2019-BLG-0033/MOA-2019-BLG-035, which is due to a binary system composed of a brown dwarf orbiting a red dwarf. Methods. Thanks to extensive ground observations and the availability of space observations from Spitzer, it has been possible to obtain accurate estimates of all microlensing parameters, including parallax, source radius and orbital motion of the binary lens. Results. After accurate modeling, we find that the lens is composed of a red dwarf with mass $M_1 = 0.149 \pm 0.010M_\odot$ and a brown dwarf with mass $M_2 = 0.0463 \pm 0.0031M_\odot$, at a projected separation of $a_\perp = 0.585$ au. The system has a peculiar velocity that is typical of old metal-poor populations in the thick disk. Percent precision in the mass measurement of brown dwarfs has been achieved only in a few microlensing events up to now, but will likely become common with the Roman space telescope.

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arXiv2022

Homogeneous Transit Timing Analyses of Ten Exoplanet Systems

We study the transit timings of 10 exoplanets in order to investigate potential Transit Timing Variations (TTVs) in them. We model their available ground-based light curves, some presented here and others taken from the literature, and homogeneously measure the mid-transit times. We statistically compare our results with published values and find that the measurement errors agree. However, in terms of recovering the possible frequencies, homogeneous sets can be found to be more useful, of which no statistically relevant example has been found for the planets in our study. We corrected the ephemeris information of all ten planets we studied and provide these most precise light elements as references for future transit observations with space-borne and ground-based instruments. We found no evidence for secular or periodic changes in the orbital periods of the planets in our sample, including the ultra-short period WASP-103 b, whose orbit is expected to decay on an observable timescale. Therefore, we derive the lower limits for the reduced tidal quality factors (Q$^{\prime}_{\star}$) for the host stars based on best fitting quadratic functions to their timing data. We also present a global model of all available data for WASP-74 b, which has a Gaia parallax-based distance value ~25% larger than the published value.

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arXiv2022

V456 Cyg: An eclipsing binary with tidally perturbed g-mode pulsations

Context. Many well-known bright stars have been observed by the ongoing Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) space mission. For several of them, these new data reveal previously unobserved variability, such as tidally perturbed pulsations in close binary stars. Aims. Using newly detected gravity-mode (g-mode) pulsations in V456 Cyg, we aim to determine the global stellar properties of this short-period eclipsing binary and evaluate the interaction between these pulsations and the tides. Methods. We model the binary orbit and determine the physical properties of the component stars using the TESS photometry and published spectroscopy. We then measure the pulsation frequencies from the residuals of the light curve fit using iterative prewhitening, and analyse them to determine the global asteroseismic stellar parameters. We evaluate the pulsation parameters as a function of the orbital phase. Results. We find that the pulsations belong to the secondary component of V456 Cyg and that this star likely has a uniform radial rotation profile, synchronous ($ν_{\rm rot} = 1.113(14) \rm d^{-1}$) with the binary orbit ($ν_{\rm orb} = 1.122091(8) \rm d^{-1}$). The observed g modes are amplified by almost a factor three in the stellar hemisphere facing the primary. We present evidence that this is caused by tidal perturbation of the pulsations, with the mode coupling being strongly affected. Conclusions. V456 Cyg is only the second object for which tidally perturbed high-order g-mode pulsations are identified, after $π^5$ Ori. This opens up new opportunities for tidal g-mode asteroseismology, as it demonstrates another avenue in which g modes and tides can interact with each other.

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