Browsing by Subject "instability strip"
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Item Discovery of A ZZ Ceti in the Kepler Mission Field(2011-11) Hermes, J. J.; Mullally, Fergal; Ostensen, R. H.; Williams, Kurtis A.; Telting, John; Southworth, John; Bloemen, S.; Howell, Steve B.; Everett, Mark; Winget, D. E.; Hermes, J. J.; Winget, D. E.We report the discovery of the first identified pulsating DA white dwarf, WD J1916+3938 (Kepler ID 4552982), in the field of the Kepler mission. This ZZ Ceti star was first identified through ground-based, time-series photometry, and follow-up spectroscopy confirms that it is a hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarf with T(eff) = 11,129 +/- 115 K and log g = 8.34 +/- 0.06, placing it within the empirical ZZ Ceti instability strip. The object shows up to 0.5% amplitude variability at several periods between 800 and 1450 s. Extended Kepler observations of WD J1916+3938 could yield the best light curve, to date, of any pulsating white dwarf, allowing us to directly study the interior of an evolved object representative of the fate of the majority of stars in our Galaxy.Item Fine Grid Asteroseismology Of G117-B15A And R548(2008-03) Bischoff-Kim, Agnes; Montgomery, Michael H.; Winget, D. E.; Bischoff-Kim, Agnes; Montgomery, Michael H.; Winget, D. E.We now have a good measurement of the cooling rate of G117-B15A. In the near future, we will have equally well determined cooling rates for other pulsating white dwarfs, including R548. The ability to measure their cooling rates offers us a unique way to study weakly interacting particles that would contribute to their cooling. Working toward that goal, we perform a careful asteroseismological analysis of G117-B15A and R548. We study them side by side because they have similar observed properties. We carry out a systematic, fine grid search for best-fit models to the observed period spectra of those stars. We freely vary four parameters: the effective temperature, the stellar mass, the helium layer mass, and the hydrogen layer mass. We identify and quantify a number of uncertainties associated with our models. Based on the results of that analysis and fits to the periods observed in R548 and G117-B15A, we clearly define the regions of the four-dimensional parameter space occupied by the best-fit models.Item Hubble Space Telescope And Ground-Based Observations Of V455 Andromedae Post-Outburst(2013-09) Szkody, Paula; Mukadam, Anjum S.; Gansicke, Boris T.; Henden, Arne; Sion, Edward M.; Townsley, Dean M.; Christian, Damian; Falcon, Ross E.; Pyrzas, Stylianos; Brown, Justin; Funkhouser, Kelsey; Falcon, Ross E.Hubble Space Telescope spectra obtained in 2010 and 2011, 3 and 4 yr after the large amplitude dwarf nova outburst of V455 And, were combined with optical photometry and spectra to study the cooling of the white dwarf, its spin, and possible pulsation periods after the outburst. The modeling of the ultraviolet (UV) spectra shows that the white dwarf temperature remains similar to 600 K hotter than its quiescent value at 3 yr post-outburst, and still a few hundred degrees hotter at 4 yr post-outburst. The white dwarf spin at 67.6 s and its second harmonic at 33.8 s are visible in the optical within a month of outburst and are obvious in the later UV observations in the shortest wavelength continuum and the UV emission lines, indicating an origin in high-temperature regions near the accretion curtains. The UV light curves folded on the spin period show a double-humped modulation consistent with two-pole accretion. The optical photometry 2 yr after outburst shows a group of frequencies present at shorter periods (250-263 s) than the periods ascribed to pulsation at quiescence, and these gradually shift toward the quiescent frequencies (300-360 s) as time progresses past outburst. The most surprising result is that the frequencies near this period in the UV data are only prominent in the emission lines, not the UV continuum, implying an origin away from the white dwarf photosphere. Thus, the connection of this group of periods with non-radial pulsations of the white dwarf remains elusive.Item Measuring The Evolutionary Rate Of Cooling Of ZZ Ceti(2013-07) Mukadam, Anjum S.; Bischoff-Kim, Agnes; Fraser, Oliver; Corsico, A. H.; Montgomery, Michael H.; Kepler, S. O.; Romero, A. D.; Winget, D. E.; Hermes, J. J.; Riecken, T. S.; Kronberg, M. E.; Winget, K. I.; Falcon, Ross E.; Chandler, Dean W.; Kuehne, J. W.; Sullivan, Denis J.; Reaves, D.; von Hippel, Ted; Mullally, Fergal; Shipman, H.; Thompson, Susan E.; Silvestri, N. M.; Hynes, Robert I.; Winget, D. E.; Hermes, J. J.; Winget, K. I.; Falcon, Ross E.; Reaves, D.We have finally measured the evolutionary rate of cooling of the pulsating hydrogen atmosphere (DA) white dwarf ZZ Ceti (Ross 548), as reflected by the drift rate of the 213.13260694 s period. Using 41 yr of time-series photometry from 1970 November to 2012 January, we determine the rate of change of this period with time to be dP/dt = (5.2 +/- 1.4) x 10(-15) s s(-1) employing the O - C method and (5.45 +/- 0.79) x 10(-15) s s(-1) using a direct nonlinear least squares fit to the entire lightcurve. We adopt the dP/dt obtained from the nonlinear least squares program as our final determination, but augment the corresponding uncertainty to a more realistic value, ultimately arriving at the measurement of dP/dt = (5.5 +/- 1.0) x 10(-15) s s(-1). After correcting for proper motion, the evolutionary rate of cooling of ZZ Ceti is computed to be (3.3 +/- 1.1) x 10(-15) s s(-1). This value is consistent within uncertainties with the measurement of (4.19 +/- 0.73) x 10(-15) s s(-1) for another similar pulsating DA white dwarf, G 117-B15A. Measuring the cooling rate of ZZ Ceti helps us refine our stellar structure and evolutionary models, as cooling depends mainly on the core composition and stellar mass. Calibrating white dwarf cooling curves with this measurement will reduce the theoretical uncertainties involved in white dwarf cosmochronometry. Should the 213.13 s period be trapped in the hydrogen envelope, then our determination of its drift rate compared to the expected evolutionary rate suggests an additional source of stellar cooling. Attributing the excess cooling to the emission of axions imposes a constraint on the mass of the hypothetical axion particle.Item The Seismic Properties Of Low-Mass He-Core White Dwarf Stars(2012-11) Corsico, A. H.; Romero, A. D.; Althaus, L. G.; Hermes, J. J.; Hermes, J. J.Context. In recent years, many low-mass (less than or similar to 0.45 M-circle dot) white dwarf stars expected to harbor He cores have been detected in the field of the Milky Way and in several galactic globular and open clusters. Until recently, no objects of this kind showed pulsations. This situation has changed recently with the exciting discovery of SDSS J184037.78+642312.3, the first pulsating low-mass white dwarf star. Aims. Motivated by this extremely important finding, and in view of the very valuable asteroseismological potential of these objects, we present here a detailed pulsational study applied to low-mass He-core white dwarfs with masses ranging from 0.17 to 0.46 M-circle dot, based on full evolutionary models representative of these objects. This study is aimed to provide a theoretical basis from which to interpret future observations of variable low-mass white dwarfs. Methods. The background stellar models on which our pulsational analysis was carried out were derived by taking into account the complete evolutionary history of the progenitor stars, with special emphasis on the diffusion processes acting during the white dwarf cooling phase. We computed nonradial g-modes to assess the dependence of the pulsational properties of these objects with stellar parameters such as the stellar mass and the effective temperature, and also with element diffusion processes. We also performed a g- and p-mode pulsational stability analysis on our models and found well-defined blue edges of the instability domain, where these stars should start to exhibit pulsations. Results. We found substantial differences in the seismic properties of white dwarfs with M-* less than or similar to 0.20 M-circle dot and the extremely low-mass (ELM) white dwarfs (M-* less than or similar to 0.20 M-circle dot). Specifically, g-mode pulsation modes in ELM white dwarfs mainly probe the core regions and are not dramatically affected by mode-trapping effects by the He/H interface, whereas the opposite is true for more massive He-core white dwarfs. We found that element diffusion processes substantially affects the shape of the He/ H chemical transition region, leading to non-negligible changes in the period spectrum of low-mass white dwarfs, in particular in the range of stellar masses characteristic of ELM objects. Finally, our stability analysis successfully predicts the pulsations of the only known variable low-mass white dwarf (SDSS J184037.78+642312.3) at the right effective temperature, stellar mass and range of periods. Conclusions. Our computations predict both g-and p-mode pulsational instabilities in a significant number of known low-mass and ELM white dwarfs. It is worth observing these stars in order to discover if they pulsate.Item Seismology Of White Dwarfs: The ZZ Ceti Stars(2009-09) Castanheira, B. G.; Kepler, S. O.; Castanheira, B. G.We calculate an extensive adiabatic model grid for pulsating white dwarfs with H dominated atmospheres, the ZZ Ceti stars. We developed a new approach for asteroseismology, using the relative observed amplitudes as weights, and compared the computed modes with the observed ones for the class of ZZ Ceti stars. We measure the H layer mass for 83 stars and found an average of M(H)/M(*) = 10(-6.3), which is thinner than the predicted value of M(H)/M(*) = 10(-4). Our results indicate that the stars lose more mass during their evolution than previously expected.Item White Dwarf And Pre-White Dwarf Pulsations(2009-09) Montgomery, M. H.; Montgomery, M.H.In this review I describe the basic properties of white dwarfs and their pulsations. I then discuss some of the areas in which the pulsations can provide meaningful results, such as internal chemical profiles, possible emission of >exotic> particles, planet detection, crystallization, convection, accretion, and cosmochronology.Item The ZZ Ceti Red Edge(2002-06) Kanaan, A.; Kepler, S. O.; Winget, D. E.; Winget, D. E.With a time-series CCD photometric survey, we have demonstrated clearly that the observed red edge for the ZZ Ceti stars instability strip at 11 000 K is real, with the pulsation amplitude decreasing at least by a factor of 50. Previous surveys for variability among hydrogen atmosphere white dwarfs around 11 000 K have been carried out using time-series photoelectric photometry, not differential photometry, insensitive for small amplitude periodicities of 15 min and longer. In our survey we constantly monitor the sky brightness as well as one or more comparison stars through the same color filter, reducing the adverse effects of differential extinction and sky fluctuations, obtaining true differential photometry.