V532 Oph is a New R Coronae Borealis Star

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

11 pages, 4 figures, PASP in press

Scientific paper

V532 Oph has been found to be a member of the rare, hydrogen-deficient R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars from new photometric and spectroscopic data reported in this paper. The lightcurve of V532 Oph shows the sudden, deep, irregularly spaced declines characteristic of RCB stars. Its optical spectrum is typical of a warm (T(eff)~7000 K) RCB star, showing weak or absent hydrogen lines, the C2 Swan bands, and no evidence for 13C. In addition, the star shows small pulsations typical of an RCB star and an infrared excess due to circum- stellar dust. It also appears to be significantly reddened by foreground dust. The distance to V532 Oph is estimated to be 5.5-8.7 kpc. These new data show that this star was misclassified as an eclipsing binary in the General Catalog of Variable Stars. The new data presented here for V532 Oph reveal the power of high-quality, high-cadence all-sky photometric surveys, such as ASAS-3, to identify new RCB candidates on the basis of lightcurve data alone, now that they have been collecting data for durations sufficiently long to reveal multiple declines. Despite their small numbers, RCB stars may be of great importance in understanding the late stages of stellar evolution. In particular, their measured isotopic abundances imply that many, if not most, RCB stars are produced by WD mergers, which may be the low-mass counterparts of the more massive mergers thought to produce type Ia supernovae. Therefore, establishing the population of RCB stars in the Galaxy will help constrain the frequency of these WD mergers.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

V532 Oph is a New R Coronae Borealis Star does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with V532 Oph is a New R Coronae Borealis Star, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and V532 Oph is a New R Coronae Borealis Star will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-151204

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.