TESS observations of Cepheid stars: first light results
E. Plachy, A. Pál, A. Bódi, P. Szabó, L. Molnár, L. Szabados, J. M. Benkő, R. I. Anderson, E. P. Bellinger, A. Bhardwaj, M. Ebadi, K. Gazeas, F. -J. Hambsch, A.… 展开作者
E. Plachy, A. Pál, A. Bódi, P. Szabó, L. Molnár, L. Szabados, J. M. Benkő, R. I. Anderson, E. P. Bellinger, A. Bhardwaj, M. Ebadi, K. Gazeas, F. -J. Hambsch, A. Hasanzadeh, M. I. Jurkovic, M. J. Kalaee, P. Kervella, K. Kolenberg, P. Mikołajczyk, N. Nardetto, J. M. Nemec, H. Netzel, C. -C. Ngeow, D. Ozuyar, J. Pascual-Granado, B. Pilecki, V. Ripepi, M. Skarka, R. Smolec, Á. Sódor, R. Szabó, J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, J. M. Jenkins, H. Kjeldsen, G. R. Ricker, R. Vanderspek
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30 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in ApJS
We present the first analysis of Cepheid stars observed by the TESS space mission in Sectors 1 to 5. Our sample consists of 25 pulsators: ten fundamental mode, three overtone and two double-mode classical Cepheids, plus three Type II and seven anomalous Cepheids. The targets were chosen from fields with different stellar densities, both from the Galactic field and from the Magellanic System. Three targets have 2-minute cadence light curves available by the TESS Science Processing Operations Center: for the rest, we prepared custom light curves from the full-frame images with our own differential photometric FITSH pipeline. Our main goal was to explore the potential and the limitations of TESS concerning the various subtypes of Cepheids. We detected many low amplitude features: weak modulation, period jitter, and timing variations due to light-time effect. We also report signs of non-radial modes and the first discovery of such a mode in an anomalous Cepheid, the overtone star XZ Cet, which we then confirmed with ground-based multicolor photometric measurements. We prepared a custom photometric solution to minimize saturation effects in the bright fundamental-mode classical Cepheid, $β$ Dor with the lightkurve software, and we revealed strong evidence of cycle-to-cycle variations in the star. In several cases, however, fluctuations in the pulsation could not be distinguished from instrumental effects, such as contamination from nearby sources which also varies between sectors. Finally, we discuss how precise light curve shapes will be crucial not only for classification purposes but also to determine physical properties of these stars.
Space photometric missions have been steadily accumulating observations of Cepheids in recent years, leading to a flow of new discoveries. In this short review we summarize the findings provided by the early missions such as WIRE, MOST, and CoRoT, and the recent results of the Kepler and K2 missions. The surprising and fascinating results from the high-precision, quasi-continuous data include the detection of the amplitude increase of Polaris, and exquisite details about V1154 Cyg within the original Kepler field of view. We also briefly discuss the current opportunities with the K2 mission, a…
Continuous, high-precision photometry from space revolutionized many fields of stellar astrophysics, and that extends to the well-studied families of RR Lyrae and Cepheid variable stars as well. After the pioneering work of MOST, the CoRoT and Kepler missions released an avalanche of discoveries. We found signals that needed exquisite precision, such as an abundance of additional modes and granulation. Other discoveries, like period doubling, simply needed us to break away from the day-night cycle of the Earth. And the future holds more possibilities, with the BRITE, K2, and Gaia missions at f…
We present a technique for decomposing Cepheid light curves into their fundamental constituent parts; that is, their radius and temperature variations. We demonstrate that any given pair of optical luminosity and color curves can be used to predict the shape, amplitude and phase of a Cepheid's light variation at any other wavelength. With such predictions in hand, a single new observation at any given new wavelength can be used to normalize the properties of the predicted light curve, and in specific, derive a precise value of the time-averaged mean. We suggest that this method will be of grea…
We analyze Galactic, Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud Cepheids and RR Lyrae variables in terms of period-color (PC) and amplitude-color (AC) diagrams at the phases of maximum and minimum light. We compiled Galactic Cepheids $V$- and $I$-band data from the literature. We make use of optical bands light curve data from OGLE-III survey for Cepheids and RR Lyrae variables in the Magellanic Clouds. We apply the $F$-statistical test to check the significance of any variation in the slope of PC and AC relations for Cepheid variables. The PC relation at maximum light for Galactic Ceph…
We present the study of the metallicity dependence of the Fourier amplitude ratios R_21 and R_31 for the light curves of short-period Galactic classical Cepheids in B, V, R_C and I_C bands. Based on the available photometric and spectroscopic data we determined the relations between the atmospheric iron abundance, [Fe/H], and the Fourier parameters. Using these relations we calculated the photometric [Fe/H] values of all program Cepheids with an average accuracy of 0.15 dex. No spectroscopic iron abundance was known before for 14 of these stars. These empirical results provide an alternate met…
Classical Cepheid and RR Lyrae variables are fundamental tracers of cosmic distances and stellar evolution and pulsation. Light curve analysis and pulsation properties of these radially pulsating stars provide stringent tests for theoretical evolution and pulsation models. I discuss a detailed light curve analysis of classical Cepheid variables in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds at multiple wavelengths. The variation of light curve parameters as a function of period, wavelength and metallicity is quantified to constrain the theoretical parameters, such as, the mass-luminosity relations ob…
We present new near-infrared (NIR) light-curve templates for fundamental (FU, JHK) and first overtone (FO, J) Cepheids. The new templates together with PL and PW relations provide Cepheid distances from single-epoch observations with a precision only limited by the intrinsic accuracy of the method adopted. The templates rely on a very large set of Galactic and Magellanic Clouds (MCs) Cepheids (FU,~600; FO,~200) with well sampled NIR (IRSF data) and optical (V,I; OGLE data) light curves. To properly trace the change in the shape of the light curve as a function of period, we split the sample of…
Recent studies have revealed a hitherto unknown complexity of Cepheid pulsation. We implement local kernel regression to search for both period and amplitude modulations simultaneously in continuous time and to investigate their detectability, and test this new method on 53 classical Cepheids from the OGLE-III catalog. We determine confidence intervals using parametric and non-parametric bootstrap sampling to estimate significance and investigate multi-periodicity using a modified pre-whitening approach that relies on time-dependent light curve parameters. We find a wide variety of period and …
We present a sample of the most interesting classical Cepheids selected from the OGLE collection of classical Cepheids in the Magellanic System. The main selection criterion for this sample was the presence of non-standard, unique pulsational properties. The sample contains the first known double-mode Cepheid pulsating in the second- and third-overtone modes and a large number of objects with non-radial modes excited. We also found Cepheids revealing Blazhko-like light curve modulation, objects ceasing pulsations or showing atypical shapes of their light curves. Additionally, the status of sev…
Over the past decade, the Secret Lives of Cepheids (SLiC) program has been carried out at Villanova University to study aspects and behaviors of classical Cepheids that are still not well-understood. In this, the first of several planned papers on program Cepheids, we report the current results for delta Cep, the Cepheid prototype. Ongoing photometry has been obtained to search for changes in the pulsation period, light curve morphology and amplitude. Combining our photometry with the times of maximum light compilation by Berdnikov 2000 returns a small period change of dP/dt ~ -0.1006 +/- 0.00…
Light curves in the B, V, and I_c passbands have been obtained for the type II Cepheids V154 in M3 and V42 and V84 in M5. Alternating cycle behavior, similar to that seen among RV Tauri variables, is confirmed for V84. Old and new observations, spanning more than a century, show that V154 has increased in period while V42 has decreased in period. V84, on the other hand, has shown large, erratic changes in period that do not appear to reflect the long term evolution of V84 through the HR diagram.
We present results from a comparative study of light curves of Cepheid and RR Lyrae stars in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds with their theoretical models generated from the stellar pulsation codes. Fourier decomposition method is used to analyse the theoretical and the observed light curves at multiple wavelengths. In case of RR Lyrae stars, the amplitude and Fourier parameters from the models are consistent with observations in most period bins except for low metal-abundances ($Z<0.004$). In case of Cepheid variables, we observe a greater offset between models and observations for both …
We present a census of eclipsing binary systems with classical Cepheid as a component. All such systems known were found in the OGLE collection of classical Cepheids in the Magellanic System. We extend the list of potential candidates adding four new objects found in the OGLE-IV photometric data. One of the new Cepheids in the eclipsing system, OGLE-SMC-CEP-3235, revealed only one eclipse during 15 years of the OGLE photometric monitoring. However, it additionally shows very well pronounced light-time effect indicating that the binarity is real. We also search for the light-time effect in othe…
We present the results of the analysis of Type II and anomalous Cepheids using the data from the Kepler K2 mission. The precise light curves of these pulsating variable stars are the key to study the details of their pulsation, such as the period-doubling effect or the presence of additional modes. We applied the Automated Extended Aperture Photometry (autoEAP) to obtain the light curves of the targeted variable stars which were observed. The light curves were Fourier analyzed. We investigated twelve stars observed by the K2 mission, seven Type II and five anomalous Cepheids. Among the Type II…
We present a theoretical investigation of multifilter (U,B,V, I and K) light and radial velocity curves of five Classical Cepheids in NGC 1866, a young massive cluster of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The best fit models accounting for the luminosity and radial velocity variations of the five selected variables, four pulsating in the fundamental mode and one in the first overtone, provide direct estimates of their intrinsic stellar parameters and individual distances. The resulting stellar properties indicate a slightly brighter Mass Luminosity relation than the canonical one, possibly due to mi…
We present a detailed period analysis of the bright Cepheid-type variable star V1154 Cygni (V =9.1 mag, P~4.9 d) based on almost 600 days of continuous observations by the Kepler space telescope. The data reveal significant cycle-to-cycle fluctuations in the pulsation period, indicating that classical Cepheids may not be as accurate astrophysical clocks as commonly believed: regardless of the specific points used to determine the O-C values, the cycle lengths show a scatter of 0.015-0.02 days over the 120 cycles covered by the observations. A very slight correlation between the individual Four…
We have generated accurate V and I template light curves using a combination of Fourier decomposition and principal component analysis for a large sample of Cepheid light curves. Unlike previous studies, we include short period Cepheids and stars pulsating in the first overtone mode in our analysis. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations show that our templates can be used to precisely measure Cepheid magnitudes and periods, even in cases where there are few observational epochs. These templates are ideal for characterizing serendipitously discovered Cepheids and can be used in conjunction with sur…
Period-colour and amplitude-colour (PCAC) relations can be used to probe both the hydrodynamics of outer envelope structure and evolutionary status of Cepheids and RR Lyraes. In this work, we incorporate the PCAC relations for RR Lyraes, BL Her, W Vir and classical Cepheids in a single unifying theory that involves the interaction of the hydrogen ionization front (HIF) and stellar photosphere and the theory of stellar evolution. PC relations for RR Lyraes and classical Cepheids using OGLE-IV data are found to be consistent with this theory: RR Lyraes have shallow/sloped relations at minimum/ma…
We present results from a detailed analysis of theoretical and observed light curves of classical Cepheid variables in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds. Theoretical light curves of Cepheid variables are based on non-linear convective hydrodynamical pulsation models and the observational data are taken from the ongoing wide-field variability surveys. The variation in theoretical and observed light curve parameters as a function of period, wavelength and metallicity is used to constrain the input physics to the pulsation models, such as the mass-luminosity relations obeyed by Cepheid variabl…
Fundamental mode classical Cepheids have light curves which repeat accurately enough that we can watch them evolve (change period). The new level of accuracy and quantity of data with the {\it Kepler} and {\it MOST} satellites probes this further. An intriguing result was found in the long time-series of Kepler data for V1154 Cyg the one classical Cepheid (fundamental mode, P = 4.9$^d$) in the field, which has short term changes in period ($\simeq$20 minutes), correlated for $\simeq$10 cycles (period jitter). To follow this up, we obtained a month long series of observations of the fundamental…
We present a detailed analysis of the bright Cepheid-type variable star V1154 Cygni using 4 years of continuous observations by the Kepler space telescope. We detected 28 frequencies using standard Fourier transform method.We identified modulation of the main pulsation frequency and its harmonics with a period of ~159 d. This modulation is also present in the Fourier parameters of the light curve and the O-C diagram. We detected another modulation with a period of about 1160 d. The star also shows significant power in the low-frequency region that we identified as granulation noise. The effect…
Classical Cepheids remain a cornerstone of the cosmic distance scale, and thus characterizing the dependence of their light amplitude on metallicity is important. Period-amplitude diagrams constructed for longer-period classical Cepheids in IC 1613, NGC 3109, SMC, NGC 6822, LMC, and the Milky Way imply that very metal-poor Cepheids typically exhibit smaller V-band amplitudes than their metal-rich counterparts. The results provide an alternate interpretation relative to arguments for a null and converse metallicity dependence. The empirical results can be employed to check predictions from theo…
As one of the most luminous Cepheids in the Milky Way, the 41.5-day RS Puppis is an analog of the long-period Cepheids used to measure extragalactic distances. An accurate distance to this star would therefore help anchor the zero-point of the bright end of the period-luminosity relation. But, at a distance of about 2 kpc, RS Pup is too far away for measuring a direct trigonometric parallax with a precision of a few percent with existing instrumentation. RS Pup is unique in being surrounded by a reflection nebula, whose brightness varies as pulses of light from the Cepheid propagate outwards. …
In this presentation I summarize recent work on Cepheid research carried out at the National Central University. The mid-infrared period-luminosity (P-L) relations for Cepheids are important in the James Webb Space Telescope era for distance scale work, as the relations have potential to derive the Hubble constant within ~2% accuracy - a critical constraint in the precision cosmology. Consequently, we have derived the mid-infrared P-L relations for Cepheids in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, using archival data from the Spitzer Space Telescope. Kepler Space Telescope is a NASA mission t…
A novel method of analysis of double-lined eclipsing binaries containing a radially pulsating star is presented. The combined pulsating-eclipsing light curve is built up from a purely eclipsing light curve grid created using an existing modeling tool. For every pulsation phase the instantaneous radius and surface brightness are taken into account, being calculated from the disentangled radial velocity curve of the pulsating star and from its out-of-eclipse pulsational light curve and the light ratio of the components, respectively. The best model is found using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo met…
Detailed knowledge of the variability of classical Cepheids, in particular their modulations and mode composition, provides crucial insight into stellar structure and pulsation. However, tiny modulations of the dominant radial-mode pulsation were recently found to be very frequent, possibly ubiquitous in Cepheids, which makes secondary modes difficult to detect and analyse, since these modulations can easily mask the potentially weak secondary modes. The aim of this study is to re-investigate the secondary mode content in the sample of OGLE-III and -IV single-mode classical Cepheids using kern…
We performed a new and accurate fit of light and radial velocity curves of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) Cepheid --OGLE-LMC-CEP-0227-- belonging to a detached double-lined eclipsing binary system. We computed several sets of nonlinear, convective models covering a broad range in stellar mass, effective temperature and in chemical composition. The comparison between theory and observations indicates that current theoretical framework accounts for luminosity --V and I band-- and radial velocity variations over the entire pulsation cycle. Predicted pulsation mass --M=4.14+-0.06 Mo-- and mean e…
A selection of known and newly-discovered northern hemisphere Cepheids and related objects are being monitored regularly through CCD observations at the automated Abbey Ridge Observatory, near Halifax, and photoelectric photometry from the Saint Mary's University Burke-Gaffney Observatory. Included is Polaris, which is displaying unusual fluctuations in its growing light amplitude, and a short-period, double-mode Cepheid, HDE 344787, with an amplitude smaller than that of Polaris, along with a selection of other classical Cepheids in need of additional observations. The observations are being …
The Milky Way Cepheid RS Puppis is a particularly important calibrator for the Leavitt law (the Period-Luminosity relation). It is a rare, long period pulsator (P=41.5 days), and a good analog of the Cepheids observed in distant galaxies. It is the only known Cepheid to be embedded in a large (~0.5 pc) dusty nebula, that scatters the light from the pulsating star. Due to the light travel time delay introduced by the scattering on the dust, the brightness and color variations of the Cepheid imprint spectacular light echoes on the nebula. I here present a brief overview of the studies of this ph…
The eighth part of the OGLE-III Catalog of Variable Stars (OIII-CVS) contains type II Cepheids in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The sample consists of 43 objects, including 17 BL Her, 17 W Vir and 9 RV Tau stars (first examples ever found in the SMC). Seven stars have been classified as peculiar W Vir stars - a recently identified subclass of type II Cepheids. These stars have distinctive light curves, are brighter and bluer than the ordinary W Vir variables. We confirm that a large fraction of the peculiar W Vir stars are members of binary systems. Three type II Cepheids exhibit eclipsing…
Cataclysmic variables (CVs) exhibit a plethora of variable phenomena many of which require long, uninterrupted light curves to reveal themselves in detail. The month long datasets provided by TESS are well suited for this purpose. TESS has the additional advantage to have observed a huge number of stars, among them many CVs. Here, a search for periodic variations in a sample of CVs of the novalike and old novae subtypes is presented. In 10 of the 15 targets either previously unseen positive or negative superhumps or unusual features in known superhumps are identified. The TESS light curves dem…
We present H-band light curves of Milky Way Classical Cepheids observed as part of the DEHVILS survey with the Wide-Field Infrared Camera on the United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope. Due to the crowded nature of these fields caused by defocusing the Camera, we performed difference-imaging photometry by modifying a pipeline originally developed to analyze images from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. We achieved a photometric precision in line with expectations from photon statistics, reaching 0.01 mag for 8 <= H <= 11 mag. We used the resulting Cepheid light curves to derive corrections …
Recent work on Ultra Long Period Cepheids (ULPCs) has suggested their usefulness as a distance indicator, but has not commented on their relationship as compared with other types of variable stars. In this work, we use Fourier analysis to quantify the structure of ULPC light curves and compare them to Classical Cepheids and Mira variables. Our preliminary results suggest that the low order Fourier parameters of ULPCs show a continuous trend defined by Classical Cepheids after the resonance around 10 days. However their Fourier parameters also overlapped with those from Miras, which make the cl…
We report the discovery of the first type II Cepheids (BL Herculis stars) pulsating solely in the first overtone. We found two such objects among tens of millions of stars regularly observed by the OGLE survey in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Our classification and the pulsation mode identification is based on the position of these stars on the period-luminosity and color-magnitude diagrams and on the light curve analysis. We discuss why single-mode first-overtone BL Her pulsators must be very rare. For the two discovered stars we present non-linear models that successfully reproduce their light…
gamma-Cas stars constitute a subgroup of Be stars showing unusually hard and bright X-ray emission. In search for additional peculiarities, we analyzed the TESS lightcurves of 15 gamma-Cas analogs. Their periodograms display broad frequency groups and/or narrow isolated peaks, often superimposed over red noise. The detected signals appear at low frequencies, with few cases of significant signals beyond 5/d (and all of them are faint). The signal amplitudes, and sometimes the frequency content, change with time, even in the absence of outburst events. On the basis of their optical photometric v…
We present a comparative analysis of theoretical and observed light curves of Cepheid variables using Fourier decomposition. The theoretical light curves at multiple wavelengths are generated using stellar pulsation models for chemical compositions representative of Cepheids in the Galaxy and Magellanic Clouds. The observed light curves at optical ({\it VI}), near-infrared ({\it JHK}$_s$) and mid-infrared (3.6 $\&$ 4.5-$μ$m) bands are compiled from the literature. We discuss the variation of light curve parameters as a function of period, wavelength and metallicity. Theoretical and observed Fo…
The present study collects 456 new times of maximum light of the classical Cepheid RT Aur, covering the period from 1897 to 2022. The O-C diagram resulting from these observations shows that the period given by the GCVS has to be corrected. It results that no strong period variation is found. However, the observed O-C residuals show a long term periodic trend. In the hypothesis of RT Aur being in a binary system, an orbit cannot be deduced from the available astrophysical data.
Estimating metallicity of classical Cepheids is of prime importance for studying metallicity effect on stellar evolution, chemical evolution of galaxies, and ultimately its impact on period-luminosity relation used in the extragalactic distance scale. We aim at establishing new empirical relations for estimating the iron content of classical Cepheids for short and long-periods based on Fourier parameters from the $V$-band light curves. We calibrate new interrelations of Fourier parameters to convert $V$-band empirical relations into the $I$-band. Then we apply these relation in $V$ and $I$-ban…
The All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) provides long baseline (${\sim}4$ yrs) light curves for sources brighter than V$\lesssim17$ mag across the whole sky. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has started to produce high-quality light curves with a baseline of at least 27 days, eventually for most of the sky. The combination of ASAS-SN and TESS light curves probes both long and short term variability in great detail, especially towards the TESS continuous viewing zones (CVZ) at the ecliptic poles. We have produced ${\sim}1.3$ million V-band light curves covering a t…
We present a collection of classical, type II, and anomalous Cepheids detected in the OGLE fields toward the Galactic center. The sample contains 87 classical Cepheids pulsating in one, two or three radial modes, 924 type II Cepheids divided into BL Her, W Vir, peculiar W Vir, and RV Tau stars, and 20 anomalous Cepheids - first such objects found in the Galactic bulge. Additionally, we upgrade the OGLE Collection of RR Lyr stars in the Galactic bulge by adding 828 newly identified variables. For all Cepheids and RR Lyr stars, we publish time-series VI photometry obtained during the OGLE-IV pro…
PV Tel variables are extreme helium (EHe) stars known to be intrinsic light and velocity variable on characteristic timescales 0.1 - 2 d. With two exceptions, they are best described as irregular. Light curves have invariably been obtained from single-site terrestrial observatories. We present TESS observations of two bright EHe stars, Popper's star (V821 Cen) and Thackeray's star (PV Tel). PV Tel is variable on timescales previously reported. V821 Cen is proven to be variable for the first time. Neither light curve shows any evidence of underlying regularity. Implications are considered.
With the upcoming plethora of astronomical time-domain datasets and surveys, anomaly detection as a way to discover new types of variable stars and transients has inspired a new wave of research. Yet, the fundamental definition of what constitutes an anomaly and how this depends on the overall properties of the population of light curves studied remains a discussed issue. Building on a previous study focused on Kepler light curves, we present an analysis that uses the Unsupervised Random Forest to search for anomalies in TESS light curves. We provide a catalogue of anomalous light curves, clas…
The seventh part of the OGLE-III Catalog of Variable Stars (OIII-CVS) consists of 4630 classical Cepheids in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The sample includes 2626 fundamental-mode (F), 1644 first-overtone (1O), 83 second-overtone (2O), 59 double-mode F/1O, 215 double-mode 1O/2O, and three triple-mode classical Cepheids. For each object basic parameters, multi-epoch VI photometry collected within 8 or 13 years of observations, and finding charts are provided in the OGLE Internet archive. We present objects of particular interest: exceptionally numerous sample of single-mode second-overtone…
The quantity and quality of satellite photometric data strings is revealing details in Cepheid variation at very low levels. Specifically, we observed a Cepheid pulsating in the fundamental mode and one pulsating in the first overtone with the Canadian MOST satellite. The 3.7-d period fundamental mode pulsator (RT Aur) has a light curve that repeats precisely, and can be modeled by a Fourier series very accurately. The overtone pulsator (SZ Tau, 3.1 d period) on the other hand shows light curve variation from cycle to cycle which we characterize by the variations in the Fourier parameters. We …
BVR light curves and radial velocities for the double-lined eclipsing binary V1135\,Her were obtained. The brighter component of V1135\,Her is a Cepheid variable with a pulsation period of 4.22433$\pm$0.00026 days. The orbital period of the system is about 39.99782$\pm$0.00233 days, which is the shortest value among the known Type\,II Cepheid binaries. The observed B, V, and R magnitudes were cleaned for the intrinsic variations of the primary star. The remaining light curves, consisting of eclipses and proximity effects, are obtained. Our analyses of the multi-colour light curves and radial v…
We present new BVR band photometric light curves of BO Aries obtained in 2020 and combined them with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) light curves. We obtained times of minima based on Gaussian and Cauchy distributions and then applied the Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) method to measure the amount of uncertainty from our CCD photometry and TESS data. A new ephemeris of the binary system was computed employing 204 times of minimum. The light curves were analyzed using the Wilson-Devinney binary code combined with the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. For this light curve solution, …
A robust classification of Cepheids into their different sub-classes and, in particular, between classical and Type II Cepheids, is necessary to properly calibrate the period-luminosity relations and for populations studies in the Galactic disc. Type II Cepheids are, however, very diverse, and classifications based either on intrinsic (period, light curve) or external parameters (e.g., [Fe/H], |z|) do not provide a unique classification. We want to ascertain the classification of two Cepheids, HQ Car and DD Vel, that are sometimes classified as classical Cepheids and sometimes as Type II Cephe…
