Publication
Title
TESS observations of Cepheid stars : first light results
Author
Abstract
We present the first analysis of Cepheid stars observed by the TESS space mission in Sectors 1-5. 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 minutes 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 nonradial 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, beta 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.
Language
English
Source (journal)
The astrophysical journal : supplement series. - Chicago, Ill., 1954, currens
Publication
Chicago, Ill. : 2021
ISSN
0067-0049 [print]
1538-4365 [online]
DOI
10.3847/1538-4365/ABD4E3
Volume/pages
253 :1 (2021) , 24 p.
Article Reference
11
ISI
000621914900001
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
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Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
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Creation 30.03.2021
Last edited 29.11.2024
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