0000000000054935
AUTHOR
Christophe Martayan
The B0.5IVe CoRoT target HD 49330. I. Photometric analysis from CoRoT data
International audience; Context: Be stars undergo outbursts producing a circumstellar disk from the ejected material. The beating of non-radial pulsations has been put forward as a possible mechanism of ejection. Aims: We analyze the pulsational behavior of the early B0.5IVe star HD 49330 observed during the first CoRoT long run towards the Galactical anticenter (LRA1). This Be star is located close to the lower edge of the beta Cephei instability strip in the HR diagram and showed a 0.03 mag outburst during the CoRoT observations. It is thus an ideal case for testing the aforementioned hypothesis. Methods: We analyze the CoRoT light curve of HD 49330 using Fourier methods and non-linear le…
The B0.5 IVe CoRoT target HD 49330. II. Spectroscopic ground-based observations
International audience; Context: We present spectroscopic ground-based observations of the early Be star HD 49330 obtained simultaneously with the CoRoT-LRA1 run just before the burst observed in the CoRoT data. Aims: Ground-based spectroscopic observations of the early Be star HD 49330 obtained during the precursor phase and just before the start of an outburst allow us to disantangle stellar and circumstellar contributions and identify modes of stellar pulsations in this rapidly rotating star. Methods: Time series analysis (TSA) is performed on photospheric line profiles of He I and Si III by means of the least squares method. Results: We find two main frequencies f1 = 11.86 c d-1 and f2 …
Massive Oe/Be stars at low metallicity: Candidate progenitors of long GRBs?
At low metallicity the B-type stars rotate faster than at higher metallicity, typically in the SMC. As a consequence, it was expected a larger number of fast rotators in the SMC than in the Galaxy, in particular more Be/Oe stars. With the ESO-WFI in its slitless mode, the SMC open clusters were examined and an occurence of Be stars 3 to 5 times larger than in the Galaxy was found. The evolution of the angular rotational velocity seems to be the main key on the understanding of the specific behaviour and of the stellar evolution of such stars at different metallicities. With the results of this WFI study and using observational clues on the SMC WR stars and massive stars, as well as the theo…
Pulsating B and Be stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Context: Stellar pulsations in main-sequence B-type stars are driven by the kappa-mechanism due to the Fe-group opacity bump. The current models do not predict the presence of instability strips in the B spectral domain at very low metallicities. As the metallicity of the SMC is lower than Z=0.005, it constitutes a very suitable object to test these predictions. Aims: The main objective is to investigate the existence of B-type pulsators at low metallicities, searching for short-term periodic variability in absorption-line B and Be stars in the SMC. The analysis has been performed in a sample of 313 B and Be stars with fundamental astrophysical parameters accurately determined from high-res…
Study of a sample of faint Be stars in the exofield of CoRoT
International audience; Context. Be stars are probably the most rapid rotators among stars in the main sequence (MS) and, as such, are excellent candidates to study the incidence of the rotation on the characteristics of their non-radial pulsations, as well as on their internal structure. Pulsations are also thought to be possible mechanisms that help the mass ejection needed to build up the circumstellar disks of Be stars.Aims. The purpose of this paper is to identify a number of faint Be stars observed with the CoRoT satellite and to determine their fundamental parameters, which will enable us to study their pulsation properties as a function of the location in the HR diagram and to searc…
Album: A Tool for the Analysis of Slitless Spectra and its Application to ESO WFI Data
ALBUM is a general-purpose tool to visualize and screen large amounts of slitless spectra∈dex slitless spectra. It was developed for a search for emission-line stars in SMC and LMC clusters. The observations were obtained with ESO’s Wide Field Imager (WFI∈dexWFI) and comprise ~8 million low-resolution spectra. The tool as well as the results of its application to the SMC part of the database are presented. The inferred frequency of Be stars is compared to the one in the higher-metallicity environment of the Milky Way.
A study of the B and Be star population in the field of the LMC open cluster NGC 2004 with VLT-FLAMES
Observations of hot stars belonging to the young cluster LMC-NGC2004 and its surrounding region have been obtained with the VLT-GIRAFFE facilities in MEDUSA mode. 25 Be stars were discovered; the proportion of Be stars compared to B-type stars is found to be of the same order in the LMC and in the Galaxy fields. 23 hot stars were discovered as spectroscopic binaries (SB1 and SB2), 5 of these are found to be eclipsing systems from the MACHO database, with periods of a few days. About 75% of the spectra in our sample are polluted by hydrogen (Halpha and Hgamma), [SII] and [NII] nebular lines. These lines are typical of HII regions. They could be associated with patchy nebulosities with a bi-m…
Pulsating B and Be Stars in the Magellanic Clouds
Stellar pulsations in main-sequence B-type stars are driven by the κ-mechanism due to the Fe-group opacity bump. The current models do not predict the presence of instability strips in the B spectral domain at very low metallicities. As the metallicity of the Magellanic Clouds (MC) has been measured to be around Z = 0. 002 for the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and Z = 0. 007 for the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), they constitute a very suitable objects to test these predictions. The aim of this work is to investigate the existence of B-type pulsators at low metallicities, searching for short-term periodic variability in a large sample of B and Be stars from the MC with accurately determined f…
Stochastic gravito-inertial modes discovered by CoRoT in the hot Be star HD 51452
International audience; Context. Be stars are rapidly rotating stars with a circumstellar decretion disk. They usually undergo pressure and/or gravity pulsation modes excited by the κ-mechanism, i.e. an effect of the opacity of iron-peak elements in the envelope of the star. In the Milky Way, p-modes are observed in stars that are hotter than or equal to the B3 spectral type, while g-modes are observed at the B2 spectral type and cooler. Aims. We observed a B0IVe star, HD 51452, with the high-precision, high-cadence photometric CoRoT satellite and high-resolution, ground-based HARPS and SOPHIE spectrographs to study its pulsations in great detail. We also used the lower resolution spectra a…
Photometric variability of the Be star CoRoT-ID 102761769
Classical Be stars are rapid rotators of spectral type late O to early A and luminosity class V-III, wich exhibit Balmer emission lines and often a near infrared excess originating in an equatorially concentrated circumstellar envelope, both produced by sporadic mass ejection episodes. The causes of the abnormal mass loss (the so-called Be phenomenon) are as yet unknown. For the first time, we can now study in detail Be stars outside the Earth's atmosphere with sufficient temporal resolution. We investigate the variability of the Be Star CoRoT-ID 102761769 observed with the CoRoT satellite in the exoplanet field during the initial run. One low-resolution spectrum of the star was obtained wi…
Low-amplitude variations detected by CoRoT in the B8IIIe star HD 175869
International audience; Context: The origin of the short-term variability in Be stars remains a matter of controversy. Pulsations and rotational modulation are the components of the favored hypothesis. Aims: We present our analysis of CoRoT data of the B8IIIe star HD 175869 observed during the first short run in the center direction (SRC1). Methods: We review both the instrumental effects visible in the CoRoT light curve and the analysis methods used by the CoRoT Be team. We applied these methods to the CoRoT light curve of the star HD 175869. A search for line-profile variations in the spectroscopic data was also performed. We also searched for a magnetic field, by applying the LSD techniq…
The pulsations of the B5IVe star HD 181231 observed with CoRoT and ground-based spectroscopy
International audience; Context: HD 181231 is a B5IVe star, which has been observed with the CoRoT satellite during ~5 consecutive months and simultaneously from the ground in spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry. Aims: By analysing these data, we aim to detect and characterize as many pulsation frequencies as possible, to search for the presence of beating effects possibly at the origin of the Be phenomenon. Our results will also provide a basis for seismic modelling. Methods: The fundamental parameters of the star are determined from spectral fitting and from the study of the circumstellar emission. The CoRoT photometric data and ground-based spectroscopy are analysed using several Fourier…