With the step-and-stare approach of the K2 mission, Kepler will be able to observe a large number of Cepheid an RR Lyrae stars. In this paper we describe the target selection efforts, and the first impressions based on the K2 two-wheel engineering test data. We also summarize the scientific goals that can be achieved by Kepler, including the understanding of the various additional modes and the Blazhko effect, population studies and the possibilities to observe extragalactic stars in selected campaigns.
Gaia's Cepheids and RR Lyrae Stars and Luminosity Calibrations Based on Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution
盖亚数据发布1包含超过700颗银河系造父变星和RR型天琴座恒星的星表，作为第谷-盖亚天体测量解决方案（TGAS）的一部分进行计算。我们利用TGAS光度计，结合文献（$V, I, J, {K_\mathrm{s}}, W_1$）光度学和光谱学，标定了经典造父变星和II型造父变星的周期-光度和周期-韦森关系的零点，以及近红外周期-光度、周期-光度-金属丰度和光学光度-金属丰度关系。在这方面的贡献，我们简要地总结了通过拟合这些基本关系，采用不同的技术，无论是在视差或距离（绝对星等）空间。
We present a machine learning method to estimate the physical parameters of classical pulsating stars such as RR Lyrae and Cepheid variables based on an automated comparison of their theoretical and observed light curve parameters at multiple wavelengths. We train artificial neural networks (ANNs) on theoretical pulsation models to predict the fundamental parameters (mass, radius, luminosity, and effective temperature) of Cepheid and RR Lyrae stars based on their period and light curve parameters. The fundamental parameters of these stars can be estimated up to 60 percent more accurately when …
The separation between RR Lyrae (RRLs) and Type II Cepheid (T2Cs) variables based on their period is debated. Both types of variable stars are distance indicators and we aim to promote the use of T2Cs as distance indicators in synergy with RRLs. We adopted new and existing optical and Near-Infrared (NIR) photometry of \wcen~to investigate several diagnostics (colour-magnitude diagram, Bailey diagram, Fourier decomposition of the light curve, amplitude ratios) for their empirical separation. We found that the classical period threshold at 1 day is not universal and does not dictate the evolutio…
Globular clusters are both primary fossils of galactic evolution and formation and are ideal laboratories for constraining the evolution of low-mass and metal-poor stars. RR Lyrae and type II Cepheid variables are low-mass, radially pulsating stars that trace old-age stellar populations. These stellar standard candles in globular clusters are crucial for measuring their precise distances and, in turn, absolute ages, and for the calibration of the extragalactic distance scale. Herein, the evolutionary stages of RR Lyrae and type II Cepheids are discussed, and their pulsation properties, includi…
Messier 15 (NGC 7078) is an old and metal-poor post core-collapse globular cluster which hosts a rich population of variable stars. We report new optical ($gi$) and near-infrared (NIR, $JK_s$) multi-epoch observations for 129 RR Lyrae, 4 Population II Cepheids (3 BL Herculis, 1 W Virginis), and 1 anomalous Cepheid variable candidate in M15 obtained using the MegaCam and the WIRCam instruments on the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Multi-band data are used to improve the periods and classification of variable stars, and determine accurate mean magnitudes and pulsational amplitudes from th…
Stellar Pulsation and Evolution: a Combined Theoretical Renewal and Updated Models (SPECTRUM) -- I: Updating radiative opacities for pulsation models of Classical Cepheid and RR-Lyrae
The additional signals observed in the frequency spectra of the first-overtone RR Lyrae stars, that form a period ratio around 0.61 with the period of the first overtone, are a common phenomenon for RRc and RRd stars, as well as for first-overtone classical Cepheids. The recently proposed model explains these signals as harmonics of non-radial modes of degrees 8 or 9 in the case of RR Lyrae stars and 7, 8, or 9 in the case of classical Cepheids. We selected at least triple-mode RR Lyrae stars pulsating in radial and non-radial modes for asteroseismic modeling. We assume the identification of t…
When a Period Is Not a Full Stop: Light Curve Structure Reveals Fundamental Parameters of Cepheid and RR Lyrae Stars
Aarhus University（奥胡斯大学）；State University of New York（纽约州立大学）；INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte（意大利国家天体物理研究所-卡波迪蒙特天文台）；Peking University（北京大学）
We present a chemo-dynamical study of the Orphan stellar stream using a catalog of RR~Lyrae pulsating variable stars for which photometric, astrometric, and spectroscopic data are available. Employing low-resolution spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we determined line-of-sight velocities for individual exposures and derived the systemic velocities of the RR~Lyrae stars. In combination with the stars' spectroscopic metallicities and \textit{Gaia} EDR3 astrometry, we investigated the northern part of the Orphan stream. In our probabilistic approach, we found 20 single mode RR~Lyr…
The Population of Pulsating Variable Stars in the Sextans Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy
智利托洛洛山美洲天文台的布兰科望远镜用暗能量照相机对六分仪矮球状星系的一个7平方度的大扩展区进行了变星观测。我们报告了7颗异常造父变星、199颗天琴座RR星和16颗矮造父变星。这只是第五个星系外的矮造父变星已被系统地搜索。尽管如此，新的恒星增加了来自不同环境的恒星的普查，可以用来评估使用矮造父变星作为标准烛光的优势和局限性，因为这些恒星的金属丰度不一定是已知的。在六分仪座发现的矮造父变星的平均周期为0.066天，平均$g$振幅为0.87磁等。它们位于水平分支的下方，跨度为0.8等，介于$21.9 < g < 22.7$之间。与船底座等其他星系相比，六分仪座中的矮造父变星数量较少，而船底座星系拥有大量的中年人口。另一方面，天琴座RR型恒星与矮造父变星的数量和比例与玉夫座非常相似，玉夫座是一个像六分仪座一样被古老的恒星星族所控制的星系。在六分仪中发现的造父矮星遵循一个很好的周期-光度关系，在$g$波段的均方根=0.05等，这是通过锚定到由天琴座RR型恒星给出的距离模量而建立的。虽然六分仪座中的大多数变星都位于星系的中心，但我们在星系的外围发现了2颗天琴座RR星和1颗异常造父变星，它们可能是潮汐外恒星，表明该星系可能正在经历潮汐破坏。这些可能的潮外变星与六分仪座有着相同的自行，正如最近的盖亚测量所看到的。
We report the discovery of high velocity candidates among RR~Lyrae stars found in the Milky Way halo. We identified 9 RR~Lyrae stars with Galactocentric velocities exceeding the local escape velocity based on the assumed Galaxy potential. Based on close examination of their orbits', we ruled out their ejection location in the Milky Way disk and bulge. The spatial distribution revealed that seven out of 9 pulsators overlap with the position of the Sagittarius stellar stream. Two out of these seven RR~Lyrae stars can be tentatively linked to the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy on the basis o…
We present measurements of the periods, amplitudes, and types of 74 RR Lyrae stars in the globular cluster M15 derived from Nickel 1 m telescope observations conducted at LickObservatory in 2019 and 2020. Of these RR Lyrae stars, two were previously reported but without a determination of the period. In addition, we identify five Type II Cepheid variable stars for which we report three novel period determinations, and a further 34 stars with uncertain classifications and periods. We discuss the development and subsequent application to our data of a new Python package, Period-determination and…
NGC 6441 is a bulge globular cluster with an unusual horizontal branch morphology and a rich population of RR Lyrae (RRL) and Type II Cepheid (T2C) variables that is unexpected for its relatively high metallicity. We present near-infrared (NIR, $JHK_s$) time-series observations of 42 RRL, 8 T2Cs, and 10 eclipsing binary candidate variables in NGC 6441. The multi-epoch observations were obtained using the FLAMINGOS-2 instrument on the 8-m Gemini South telescope. Multi-band data are used to investigate pulsation properties of RRL and T2C variables including their light curves, instability strip,…
