arXiv subjects

M. Vanrespaille

Publications and source records attributed to M. Vanrespaille.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Expanding stellar horizons with polarized light

The polarization of light is a critically under-utilized, rich source of information in astronomy. For stars in particular, surface magnetism polarization that can be detected and measured with spectro-polarimetry. Many questions about these surface fields remain unanswered due to a lack of dedicated instruments capable of probing weak and strong surface magnetic fields for the entire mass range of stars, from M-dwarfs (and even substellar objects) to massive O-type stars at different evolutionary stages and metallicities. These questions range from the origin of these fields to their true incidence rate throughout the stellar population and the dependence on metallicity. Magnetic fields, although currently often excluded from stellar evolution models, play an important role in stellar evolution. Connecting the surface fields to internal fields through asteroseismology will instigate a new era of understanding stellar evolution and the transport of angular momentum and chemical elements throughout stellar interiors, also impacting our understanding of star-planet interactions and stellar remnants. Polarimetry is also an under-utilized tool to observationally constrain the mode identification of nonradial oscillations, which lies at the basis of accurate asteroseismic parameter estimation at percentage-level for stellar radii, masses, ages, internal rotation, and magnetic field strengths. Combining strong constraints on mode identification and surface magnetic properties through the acquisition of time-resolved, high-resolution and high-signal-to-noise (S/N) spectro-polarimetry and spectroscopy promises to bring leaps forward in our understanding of stellar structure, particularly when combined with long-term space photometric data from past, current, and future missions.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Learning novel representations of variable sources from multi-modal $\textit{Gaia}$ data via autoencoders

Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3) published for the first time epoch photometry, BP/RP (XP) low-resolution mean spectra, and supervised classification results for millions of variable sources. This extensive dataset offers a unique opportunity to study their variability by combining multiple Gaia data products. In preparation for DR4, we propose and evaluate a machine learning methodology capable of ingesting multiple Gaia data products to achieve an unsupervised classification of stellar and quasar variability. A dataset of 4 million Gaia DR3 sources is used to train three variational autoencoders (VAE), which are artificial neural networks (ANNs) designed for data compression and generation. One VAE is trained on Gaia XP low-resolution spectra, another on a novel approach based on the distribution of magnitude differences in the Gaia G band, and the third on folded Gaia G band light curves. Each Gaia source is compressed into 15 numbers, representing the coordinates in a 15-dimensional latent space generated by combining the outputs of these three models. The learned latent representation produced by the ANN effectively distinguishes between the main variability classes present in Gaia DR3, as demonstrated through both supervised and unsupervised classification analysis of the latent space. The results highlight a strong synergy between light curves and low-resolution spectral data, emphasising the benefits of combining the different Gaia data products. A two-dimensional projection of the latent variables reveals numerous overdensities, most of which strongly correlate with astrophysical properties, showing the potential of this latent space for astrophysical discovery. We show that the properties of our novel latent representation make it highly valuable for variability analysis tasks, including classification, clustering and outlier detection.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2024

MOCKA -- A PLATO mock asteroseismic catalogue: Simulations for gravity-mode oscillators

With ESA's PLATO space mission set for launch in December 2026, a new photometric legacy and a future of new scientific discoveries await. In this work we investigate PLATO's potential for observing pulsating stars across the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram as part of the PLATO Complimentary Science program (PLATO-CS). Specifically, a PLATO mock asteroseismic catalogue (MOCKA) of intermediate to massive stars is presented as a benchmark to highlight the asteroseismic yield of PLATO-CS in a quantitative way. MOCKA includes simulations of $\beta$~Cephei, slowly pulsating B (SPB), $\delta$~Scuti, $\gamma$~Doradus, RR Lyrae, Cepheid, hot subdwarf, and white dwarf stars. In particular, main-sequence gravity (g) mode pulsators are of interest as some of these stars form an important foundation for the scientific calibration of PLATO. MOCKA is based on a magnitude limited ($G\lesssim17$) \textit{Gaia} catalogue and is a product of realistic end-to-end \texttt{PlatoSim} simulations of stars for the first PLATO pointing field in the Southern hemisphere, which will be observed for a minimally 2-yr duration. We show that an abundant spectrum of frequencies is achievable across a wide range of magnitudes and co-pointing PLATO cameras. Within the magnitude limited regimes simulated ($G \lesssim 14$ for $\gamma$~Doradus stars and $G \lesssim 16$ for SPB stars) the dominant g-mode frequency is recovered in more than $95\%$ of the cases. MOCKA help us to understand the limits of the PLATO mission as well as highlight the opportunities to push astrophysics beyond current stellar models. All data products of this paper are made available to the community for further exploration. The key data products of MOCKA are the magnitude limited \textit{Gaia} catalogue of the first PLATO pointing field, together with fully reduced light curves from multi-camera observations for each pulsation class.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2024

Mode identification and ensemble asteroseismology of 119 $\beta$ Cep stars detected by Gaia light curves and monitored by TESS

The Gaia mission detected many new candidate $\beta$ Cephei ($\beta$ Cep) pulsators, whose variability classification has since been confirmed from Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) space photometry of the nominal mission. We aim to analyse all currently available TESS data for these $\beta$ Cep pulsators, of which 145 were new discoveries, in order to exploit their asteroseismic potential. Although they are of critical importance to improve evolution models of massive stars, $\beta$ Cep stars are under-represented in the current space photometry revolution. We extracted light curves for 216 stars from TESS full-frame images and performed frequency analysis by means of pre-whitening. Based on Gaia Data Release 3, we deduced stellar properties and compared them to those of known $\beta$ Cep stars from the literature. We developed a methodology to identify the dominant pulsation modes of the $\beta$ Cep stars from the detection of rotationally-split multiplets and Gaia and TESS amplitude ratios. We used grid modelling to gain insights into the population of $\beta$ Cep stars. Combining TESS and Gaia, we successfully identified the mode degrees for 148 stars in our sample. We find the majority to have a dominant dipole non-radial mode. Many non-radial modes show splittings in their TESS frequency spectra, which we use to calculate their envelope rotation, spin parameter, and the level of differential envelope-to-surface rotation (upper limit of about 3). We also provide relative frequency asymmetries within the multiplets, ranging from -0.15 to 0.15 with most being positive. Based on grid modelling, we provide mass, convective core mass, and age distributions for 119 stars. Our study prepares for future detailed modelling based on individual frequencies of identified modes leading towards a better understanding of these massive pulsators. (abridged)

astro-ph.SR↗