Does Kepler unveil the mystery of the Blazhko effect? First detection of period doubling in Kepler Blazhko RR Lyrae stars

Details Does Kepler unveil the mystery of the Blazhko effect? First detection of period doubling in Kepler Blazhko RR Lyrae stars Does Kepler unveil the mystery of the Blazhko effect? First detection of period doubling in Kepler Blazhko RR Lyrae stars

2010-07-20

arxiv.org/abs/1007.3404v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

10 pages, 12 figures and 1 table, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Scientific paper

The first detection of the period doubling phenomenon is reported in the Kepler RR Lyrae stars RR Lyr, V808 Cyg and V355 Lyr. Interestingly, all these pulsating stars show Blazhko modulation. The period doubling manifests itself as alternating maxima and minima of the pulsational cycles in the light curve, as well as through the appearance of half-integer frequencies located halfway between the main pulsation period and its harmonics in the frequency spectrum. The effect was found to be stronger during certain phases of the modulation cycle. We were able to reproduce the period doubling bifurcation in our nonlinear RR Lyrae models computed by the Florida-Budapest hydrocode. This enabled us to trace the origin of this instability in RR Lyrae stars to a resonance, namely a 9:2 resonance between the fundamental mode and a high-order (9th) radial overtone showing strange-mode characteristics. We discuss the connection of this new type of variation to the mysterious Blazhko effect and argue that it may give us fresh insights to solve this century-old enigma.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Does Kepler unveil the mystery of the Blazhko effect? First detection of period doubling in Kepler Blazhko RR Lyrae stars 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 Does Kepler unveil the mystery of the Blazhko effect? First detection of period doubling in Kepler Blazhko RR Lyrae stars, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Does Kepler unveil the mystery of the Blazhko effect? First detection of period doubling in Kepler Blazhko RR Lyrae stars will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-125779