Helium-burning stars, in particular Cepheids, are especially difficult to model, as the choice of free parameters can greatly impact the shape of the blue loops - the part of the evolutionary track at which instability strip is crossed. Contemporary one-dimensional stellar evolution codes, like MESA (Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics), come with a large number of free parameters that allow to model the physical processes in stellar interiors under many assumptions. The uncertainties that arise from this freedom are rarely discussed in the literature despite their impact on the evolution of the model. We calculate a grid of evolutionary models with MESA, varying several controls, like solar mixture of heavy elements, mixing length theory prescription, nuclear reaction rates, scheme to determine convective boundaries, atmosphere model, temporal and spatial resolution, and quantify their impact on age and location of the evolutionary track on the HR diagram from the main sequence till the end of core-helium burning. Our investigation was conducted for a full range of masses and metallicities expected for classical Cepheids. The uncertainties are significant, especially during core-helium burning, reaching or exceeding the observational uncertainties of log Teff and log L for detached eclipsing binary systems. For models below 9 solar masses, thin convective shells develop and evolve erratically, not allowing the models to converge. A careful inspection of Kippenhahn diagrams and convergence study is advised for a given mass and metallicity, to assess how severe this problem is and to what extent it may affect the evolution.
Self-Consistent Nonlinear Classical Cepheid Pulsations During Stellar Evolution with MESA
Yale University（耶鲁大学）；Arizona State University（亚利桑那州立大学）；Flatiron Institute（平顿研究所）；Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院尼古拉·哥白尼天文学中心）；State University of New York at Oswego（纽约州立大学奥斯威戈分校）
The light curve model fitting of LMC Cepheids: MESA-RSP versus Stellingwerf's code predictions
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）；INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico d’Abruzzo（意大利国家天体物理研究所阿布鲁佐天文台）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)—Sez. di Napoli（意大利国家核物理研究所那不勒斯分部）；Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA)（大学天文学与天体物理学交叉中心）；Cotton University（科顿大学）；European Southern Observatory（欧洲南方天文台）；Scuola Superiore Meridionale（南方高等学院）；State University of New York, Oswego（纽约州立大学奥斯威戈分校）
Toward a Comprehensive Grid of Cepheid Models with MESA. III. Evolutionary and Pulsation Relations for Models with Core and Envelope Overshooting
Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院尼古拉·哥白尼天文学中心）；Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange（法国蔚蓝海岸大学、蔚蓝海岸天文台、法国国家科学研究中心、拉格朗日实验室）
Toward a Comprehensive Grid of Cepheid Models with MESA. IV. Modest Effects of Rotation on Blue Loops
Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院尼古拉·哥白尼天文学中心）；Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange（蔚蓝海岸大学，蔚蓝海岸天文台，法国国家科学研究中心，拉格朗日实验室）
Toward a Comprehensive Grid of Cepheid Models with MESA II. Impact of Physical and Numerical Assumptions on Elemental Abundances
Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院尼古拉·哥白尼天文学中心）；Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research (STAR) Institute, Université de Liège（列日大学空间科学、技术与天体物理研究（STAR）研究所）
Cepheid masses derived from pulsations or binary dynamics are generally lower than those derived from stellar evolution models. Recent efforts have been dedicated to investigating the effects of abundances, mass loss, rotation, convection and overshooting prescriptions for modifying the evolution tracks to reduce or remove this Cepheid mass discrepancy. While these approaches are promising, either alone or in combination, more work is required to distinguish between possible solutions. Here we investigate nuclear reaction rate and opacity modifications on Cepheid evolution using the MESA code.…
Pulsation modelling of the Cepheid Y Ophiuchi with RSP/MESA. Impact of the circumstellar envelope and a high projection factor on Baade-Wesselink method
MESAlab: A Python pipeline for MESA grid processing with integrated GYRE/MESA-RSP execution
Konkoly Observatory, HUN-REN CSFK, MTA Centre of Excellence（孔科利天文台，HUN-REN 匈牙利科学院研究中心，MTA 卓越中心）；MTA–HUN-REN CSFK Lendület ”Momentum” Stellar Pulsation Research Group（MTA-HUN-REN 匈牙利科学院研究中心 Lendulet “动量”恒星脉动研究组）
We update the capabilities of the open-knowledge software instrument Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA). RSP is a new functionality in MESAstar that models the non-linear radial stellar pulsations that characterize RR Lyrae, Cepheids, and other classes of variable stars. We significantly enhance numerical energy conservation capabilities, including during mass changes. For example, this enables calculations through the He flash that conserve energy to better than 0.001 %. To improve the modeling of rotating stars in MESA, we introduce a new approach to modifying the pressur…
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…
Period-color (PC) relations may be used to study the interaction of the stellar photosphere and the hydrogen ionization front (HIF). RR Lyraes (RRLs) and long period classical Cepheids (P > 10d) have been found to exhibit different PC behavior at minimum and maximum light which can be explained by the HIF-photosphere interaction based on their location on the HR diagram. In this work, we extend the study to include type II Cepheids (T2Cs) with an aim to test the HIF-photosphere interaction theory across a broad spectrum of variable star types. We find W Vir stars and BL Her stars to have simil…
MESA Isochrones and Stellar Tracks. II. Models with alpha-enhanced chemical composition
Dartmouth College（达特茅斯学院）；Universita di Padova（帕多瓦大学）；Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica – Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova（意大利国家天体物理研究所-帕多瓦天文台）；University of Wyoming（怀俄明大学）；Flatiron Institute（平顿研究所）；Princeton University（普林斯顿大学）
Pulsation periods reveal tension between theoretical and empirical radii for classical Cepheids in eclipsing binary systems
Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Polish Academy of Sciences（尼古拉·哥白尼天文中心，波兰科学院）；Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange（蔚蓝海岸大学，蔚蓝海岸天文台，法国国家科学研究中心，拉格朗日实验室）
Theoretical RR Lyrae Instability Strip from MESA-RSP Pulsation models and updated BaSTI Evolutionary Tracks
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）；Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA)（大学间天文学与天体物理学中心）；INFN – Sezione di Pisa（意大利国家核物理研究所比萨分部）；INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Abruzzo（意大利国家天体物理研究所阿布鲁佐天文台）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)—Sez. di Napoli（意大利国家核物理研究所那不勒斯分部）
V350 Sgr is a classical Cepheid suitable for mass determination. It has a hot companion which is prominent in the ultraviolet and which is not itself a binary. We have obtained two high resolution echelle spectra of the companion at orbital velocity maximum and minimum with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) in the 1320 to 1510 Å\/ region. By cross-correlating these spectra we obtained the orbital velocity amplitude of the companion with an uncertainty in the companion amplitude of 1.9 km sec$^{-1}$. This provides a mass ratio of the Cepheid to the com…
The evolutionary calculations for population I stars with masses on the main sequence 5 M_\odot <= M_0 <= 6.1 M_\odot and initial fractional abundances of helium Y_0=0.28 and heavier elements Z_0=0.02 were carried out to the stage of central helium exhaustion. Selected core helium--burning models were used as initial conditions for solution of the equations of hydrodynamics and time--dependent convection describing radial pulsations of Cepheids. In the Hertzsprung--Russel diagram the evolutionary tracks are shown to cross the red edge of the instability strip for M_0 > 5.1M_\odot. The grid of …
The period-change rate (PCR) of pulsating variable stars is a useful probe of changes in their interior structure, and thus of their evolutionary stages. So far, the PCRs of Classical Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) have been explored in a limited sample of the total population of these variables. Here we use a template-based method to build observed minus computed (O-C) period diagrams, from which we can derive PCRs for these stars by taking advantage of the long time baseline afforded by the Digital Access to a Sky Century @ Harvard (DASCH) light curves, combined with additional…
Using MESA code (Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics, version 9575), an evaluation was made of the evolutionary state of the epsilon Aurigae binary system (HD 31964, F0Iap + disk). We sought to satisfy several observational constraints: 1) requiring evolutionary tracks to pass close to the current temperature and luminosity of the primary star; 2) obtaining a period near the observed value of 27.1 years; 3) matching a mass function of 3.0; 4) concurrent Roche lobe overflow and mass transfer; 5) an isotopic ratio 12 C/ 13 C = 5 and, (6) matching the interferometrically determined an…
In light of recently revised observational measurements of the radius and spectroscopic parameters of the extremely old and metal-poor Gaia benchmark star HD 140283 -- also known as the Methuselah star due to prior suggestions that its age is in tension with the age of the Universe -- we present new, best estimates for the star's mass and age from stellar modeling. These are derived using 1D stellar evolutionary tracks computed with MESA and the most up-to-date measurements from CHARA interferometry. Excluding modeling variance from the uncertainties, we report a mass of $0.809 \pm 0.001 M_{\o…
Bridging theory and observations in stellar pulsations: The impact of convection and metallicity on the instability strips of Classical and Type-II Cepheids
Parameters and abundances have been derived for 435 Cepheids based on an analysis of 1127 spectra. Results from five or more phases are available for 52 of the program stars. The latter set of stars span periods between 1.5 and 68 days. The parameters and abundances show excellent consistency across phase. For iron, the average range in the determined abundance is 0.11 from these 52 stars. For 163 stars with more than one phase available the average range is 0.07. The variation in effective temperature tracks well with phase, as does the total broadening velocity. The gravity and microturbulen…
Based on GAIA EDR3, we revisit and update our sample of bonafide single stars in the Hyades open cluster. The small observational uncertainties in parallax and photometry of EDR3 result in a tightly defined stellar sequence, which is ideal for the testing and calibration of theoretical stellar evolutionary tracks and isochrones. We benchmark the solar-scaled MESA evolutionary models against the single star sequence. We find that the non-rotating MESA models for [Fe/H] = +0.25 provide a good fit for stars with masses above 0.85, and very low mass stars below 0.25 M$_\odot$. For stars with masse…
(abridged) Spectral energy distributions (SEDs) were constructed for a sample of 477 classical cepheids (CCs). The SEDs were fitted with a dust radiative transfer code. Four stars showed a large mid- or far-infrared excess and the fitting then included a dust component. These comprise the well-known case of RS Pup, and three stars that are (likely) Type-II cepheids (T2Cs), AU Peg, QQ Per, and FQ Lac. The remainder of the sample was fitted with a stellar photosphere to derive the best-fitting luminosity and effective temperature. Distance and reddening were taken from the literature. The stars …
As part of a program to determine dynamical masses of Cepheids, we have imaged the nearest and brightest Cepheid, Polaris, with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 and Wide Field Camera 3. Observations were obtained at three epochs between 2007 and 2014. In these images, as in HST frames obtained in 2005 and 2006, which we discussed in a 2008 paper, we resolve the close companion Polaris Ab from the Cepheid Polaris Aa. Because of the small separation and large magnitude difference between Polaris Aa and Ab, we used PSF deconvolution techniques to carry out astrometry of th…
New CCD photometry has been combined with published and unpublished earlier observations to study the three Cepheid variables in M13: V1, V2 and V6. The light curve characteristics in $B$, $V$ and $I_{\rm C}$ have been determined and the periods updated. A period change analysis shows all three stars have increasing periods but for V1 and V2 the rate of period increase does not appear to be constant over the 118 years of observation. The observed rates of period increase are in good agreement with the predictions of the Pisa theoretical models with helium abundance $Y = 0.25$. Theory suggests …
We perform a comprehensive study of the stellar populations in the young Large Magellanic Cloud cluster NGC 1866, combining the analysis of its best-studied Cepheids with that of a very accurate colour-magnitude diagram (CMD) obtained from the most recent Hubble Space Telescope photometry. We use a Bayesian method based on new PARSEC stellar evolutionary tracks with overshooting and rotation to obtain ages and initial rotation velocities of five well-studied Cepheids of the cluster. We find that four of the five Cepheids belong to an initially slowly rotating young population (of $ 176 \pm 5$ …
Updated evolutionary and pulsational model predictions are combined in order to interpret the properties of Galactic Classical Cepheids in the Gaia Data Release 2. In particular, the location of the instability strip boundaries and the analytical relations connecting pulsation periods to the intrinsic stellar parameters are combined with evolutionary tracks to derive reliable and accurate period-age, and the first theoretical period-age-color relations in the Gaia bands for a solar chemical abundance pattern ($Z$=$0.02$, $Y$=$0.28$). The adopted theoretical framework takes into account possibl…
Supermassive stars forming at $z \sim$ 15 - 20 are one of the leading contenders for the origin of the first quasars, over 200 of which have now been discovered at $z >$ 6. These stars likely form in pristine, atomically cooled haloes immersed in strong Lyman-Werner UV backgrounds or in highly supersonic baryon streaming flows. Atomic cooling triggers catastrophic baryon collapse capable of building up stars at rates of up to $\sim$1 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$. Here we examine the evolution of supermassive stars with a much larger and finer grid of accretion rates than in previous studies with the …
Custom Colors: A Module for Computing Synthetic Photometry On-the-Fly in Stellar Evolution Calculations, Integrated with MESA and Usable with Other Stellar Evolution Codes
University of Wyoming（怀俄明大学）；Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute（计算天体物理中心，Flatiron研究所）
In the era of advanced electromagnetic and gravitational wave detectors, it has become increasingly important to effectively combine and study the impact of stellar evolution on binaries and dynamical systems of stars. Systematic studies dedicated to exploring uncertain parameters in stellar evolution are required to account for the recent observations of the stellar populations. We present a new approach to the commonly used Single-Star Evolution (SSE) fitting formulae, one that is more adaptable: Method of Interpolation for Single Star Evolution (METISSE). It makes use of interpolation betwe…
Rapid binary population synthesis codes are often used to investigate the evolution of compact-object binaries. They typically rely on analytical fits of single-star evolutionary tracks and parameterized models for interactive phases of evolution (e.g., mass-transfer on thermal timescale, determination of dynamical instability, and common envelope) that are crucial to predict the fate of binaries. These processes can be more carefully implemented in stellar structure and evolution codes such as MESA. To assess the impact of such improvements, we compare binary black hole mergers as predicted i…
The Gaia M-dwarf gap is a recently discovered feature in the colour-magnitude diagram that shows a deficiency of low-mass and low-metallicity stars at the lower end of the main sequence. We aim at performing theoretical stellar modelling at low metallicities using a fine mass step and a fine time step, looking specifically for the transition of models from partially to fully convective, since the convective kissing instability that occurs at this transition is believed to be the cause of the gap. Stellar evolution models with metallicities of Z = 0.01, Z = 0.001 and Z = 0.0001 are performed us…
