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Title: AT LAST-A V777 HER PULSATOR IN THE KEPLER FIELD

Abstract

We present the discovery of the first-and so far the only-pulsating white dwarf star located in the field of view of the Kepler spacecraft. During our ongoing effort to search for compact pulsator candidates that can benefit from the near-continuous coverage of Kepler, we recently identified a faint DB star from spectroscopy obtained with the William Herschel Telescope. After establishing its physical parameters to be T{sub eff} = 24,950 K and log g = 7.91 dex, placing it right in the middle of the V777 Her instability strip, we immediately submitted the target for follow-up space observations. The Kepler light curve reveals a pulsation spectrum consisting of five modes that follow a sequence roughly equally spaced in period with a mean spacing of 37 s. The three strongest modes show a triplet structure with a mean splitting of 3.3 {mu}Hz. We conclude that this object is a V777 Her pulsator with a mass of {approx}0.56 M{sub sun}, and very similar to the class prototype.

Authors:
; ; ; ;  [1]; ;  [2];  [3]
  1. Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, K.U. Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven (Belgium)
  2. NASA Ames Research Center/Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, MS 244-30, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States)
  3. Institut fuer Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Universitaet Kiel, 24098 Kiel (Germany)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
21562502
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 736; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/736/2/L39; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-8205
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; PULSATIONS; SPECTRA; TRIPLETS; WHITE DWARF STARS; DWARF STARS; MULTIPLETS; STARS

Citation Formats

Oestensen, R H, Bloemen, S, Vuckovic, M, Aerts, C, Oreiro, R, Kinemuchi, K, Still, M, and Koester, D. AT LAST-A V777 HER PULSATOR IN THE KEPLER FIELD. United States: N. p., 2011. Web. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/736/2/L39.
Oestensen, R H, Bloemen, S, Vuckovic, M, Aerts, C, Oreiro, R, Kinemuchi, K, Still, M, & Koester, D. AT LAST-A V777 HER PULSATOR IN THE KEPLER FIELD. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/736/2/L39
Oestensen, R H, Bloemen, S, Vuckovic, M, Aerts, C, Oreiro, R, Kinemuchi, K, Still, M, and Koester, D. 2011. "AT LAST-A V777 HER PULSATOR IN THE KEPLER FIELD". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/736/2/L39.
@article{osti_21562502,
title = {AT LAST-A V777 HER PULSATOR IN THE KEPLER FIELD},
author = {Oestensen, R H and Bloemen, S and Vuckovic, M and Aerts, C and Oreiro, R and Kinemuchi, K and Still, M and Koester, D},
abstractNote = {We present the discovery of the first-and so far the only-pulsating white dwarf star located in the field of view of the Kepler spacecraft. During our ongoing effort to search for compact pulsator candidates that can benefit from the near-continuous coverage of Kepler, we recently identified a faint DB star from spectroscopy obtained with the William Herschel Telescope. After establishing its physical parameters to be T{sub eff} = 24,950 K and log g = 7.91 dex, placing it right in the middle of the V777 Her instability strip, we immediately submitted the target for follow-up space observations. The Kepler light curve reveals a pulsation spectrum consisting of five modes that follow a sequence roughly equally spaced in period with a mean spacing of 37 s. The three strongest modes show a triplet structure with a mean splitting of 3.3 {mu}Hz. We conclude that this object is a V777 Her pulsator with a mass of {approx}0.56 M{sub sun}, and very similar to the class prototype.},
doi = {10.1088/2041-8205/736/2/L39},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/21562502}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal Letters},
issn = {2041-8205},
number = 2,
volume = 736,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2011},
month = {Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2011}
}