Where Is the Flux Going? The Long-term Photometric Variability of Boyajian’s Star

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaa0c1

Title: Where Is the Flux Going? The Long-term Photometric Variability of Boyajian’s Star

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Abstract

We discuss ~800 days of photometric monitoring of Boyajian's Star (KIC 8462852) from the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) and ~4000 days of monitoring from the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS). We show that from 2015 to the present the brightness of Boyajian's Star has steadily decreased at a rate of 6.3 ± 1.4 mmag yr^–1, such that the star is now 1.5% fainter than it was in 2015 February. Furthermore, the longer time baseline afforded by ASAS predicts that Boyajian's Star has also undergone two brightening episodes in the past 11 years, rather than only exhibiting a monotonic decline. We review a sample of ~1000 comparison stars of similar brightness located in the same ASAS-SN field and demonstrate that the recent fading is significant at ≳99.4% confidence. The 2015–2017 dimming rate is consistent with that measured with Kepler data for the time period from 2009 to 2013. This long-term variability is difficult to explain with any of the physical models for the star's behavior proposed to date.

Authors:

Simon, Joshua D. ^[1];

^[1]; Pojmański, G. ^[2];

^[3];

^[4]; van Saders, Jennifer ^[1];

^[4]; Henden, Arne A. ^[5]

Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, CA (United States)
Warsaw Univ. Observatory, Warsaw (Poland)
Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)
The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Publication Date:: 2018-01-24

Research Org.:: Krell Institute, Ames, IA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Science (SC); Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; National Science Foundation (NSF)

OSTI Identifier:: 1542015

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-97ER25308

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: The Astrophysical Journal (Online)

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal (Online); Journal Volume: 853; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1538-4357

Publisher:: Institute of Physics (IOP)

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; stars: activity; stars: individual (Boyajian's Star); stars: peculiar (except chemically peculiar); stars: variables: general

Citation Formats


                    Simon, Joshua D., Shappee, Benjamin J., Pojmański, G., Montet, Benjamin T., Kochanek, C. S., van Saders, Jennifer, Holoien, T. W. -S., and Henden, Arne A. Where Is the Flux Going? The Long-term Photometric Variability of Boyajian’s Star.  United States: N. p., 2018. 
        Web.  doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaa0c1.

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                    Simon, Joshua D., Shappee, Benjamin J., Pojmański, G., Montet, Benjamin T., Kochanek, C. S., van Saders, Jennifer, Holoien, T. W. -S., & Henden, Arne A. Where Is the Flux Going? The Long-term Photometric Variability of Boyajian’s Star.  United States.  doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaa0c1.

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                    Simon, Joshua D., Shappee, Benjamin J., Pojmański, G., Montet, Benjamin T., Kochanek, C. S., van Saders, Jennifer, Holoien, T. W. -S., and Henden, Arne A. Wed .  
        "Where Is the Flux Going? The Long-term Photometric Variability of Boyajian’s Star".  United States.  doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaa0c1.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1542015.

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@article{osti_1542015,

  title        = {Where Is the Flux Going? The Long-term Photometric Variability of Boyajian’s Star},

  author       = {Simon, Joshua D. and Shappee, Benjamin J. and Pojmański, G. and Montet, Benjamin T. and Kochanek, C. S. and van Saders, Jennifer and Holoien, T. W. -S. and Henden, Arne A.},

  abstractNote = {We discuss ~800 days of photometric monitoring of Boyajian's Star (KIC 8462852) from the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) and ~4000 days of monitoring from the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS). We show that from 2015 to the present the brightness of Boyajian's Star has steadily decreased at a rate of 6.3 ± 1.4 mmag yr–1, such that the star is now 1.5% fainter than it was in 2015 February. Furthermore, the longer time baseline afforded by ASAS predicts that Boyajian's Star has also undergone two brightening episodes in the past 11 years, rather than only exhibiting a monotonic decline. We review a sample of ~1000 comparison stars of similar brightness located in the same ASAS-SN field and demonstrate that the recent fading is significant at ≳99.4% confidence. The 2015–2017 dimming rate is consistent with that measured with Kepler data for the time period from 2009 to 2013. This long-term variability is difficult to explain with any of the physical models for the star's behavior proposed to date.},

  doi          = {10.3847/1538-4357/aaa0c1},

  journal      = {The Astrophysical Journal (Online)},

  number       = 1,

  volume       = 853,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2018},

  month        = {1}

}

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