Variability of Galactic blue supergiants observed with TESS

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kourniotis, Michalis, Cidale, Lydia S., Kraus, Michaela, Diaz, Matias A. Ruiz, Adam, Aldana Alberici
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Kourniotis, Michalis
Cidale, Lydia S.
Kraus, Michaela
Diaz, Matias A. Ruiz
Adam, Aldana Alberici
author_facet Kourniotis, Michalis
Cidale, Lydia S.
Kraus, Michaela
Diaz, Matias A. Ruiz
Adam, Aldana Alberici
contents Blue supergiants (BSGs) mediate between the main sequence and the late stages of massive stars, which makes them valuable for assessing the physics that drives the stars across the diverse evolutionary channels. By exploring correlations between the parameters of BSGs and their variability properties, we aim to improve the constraints on the models of the evolved star structure and on the physics of the post-main-sequence evolution. We conducted a variability study of 41 BSGs with known spectroscopic parameters in the Galaxy using photometry from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. We described the time domain of the stars by means of three statistical measures and extracted frequencies via iterative pre-whitening. Alongside, we investigated the stochastic low-frequency (SLF) variability, which manifests itself in all amplitude spectra. We report a positive correlation between the amplitude of variability and the stellar luminosity. For log(L/L$_{\odot}\lesssim 5$), stars display frequencies that match the rotational one, suggesting that variability is driven by surface spots and/or features embedded in the wind. For log(L/L$_{\odot}\gtrsim 5$), variables of the $α$ Cyg class manifest themselves with their diverse and/or time-variant properties. Moreover, we report a positive correlation between the SLF variability amplitude and $T_{\rm eff}$, indicating an influential role that the stellar age plays on the emergence of the background signal beyond the main sequence. Positive, though weak, correlation is observed between the intrinsic brightness and the SLF variability amplitude, similar to the findings in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which suggests an in common excitation mechanism that depends only mildly on metallicity. Exceptionally, the $α$ Cyg variables display a suppressed SLF variability that prompts to the interior changes that the evolving stars undergo.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_20860
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Variability of Galactic blue supergiants observed with TESS
Kourniotis, Michalis
Cidale, Lydia S.
Kraus, Michaela
Diaz, Matias A. Ruiz
Adam, Aldana Alberici
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Blue supergiants (BSGs) mediate between the main sequence and the late stages of massive stars, which makes them valuable for assessing the physics that drives the stars across the diverse evolutionary channels. By exploring correlations between the parameters of BSGs and their variability properties, we aim to improve the constraints on the models of the evolved star structure and on the physics of the post-main-sequence evolution. We conducted a variability study of 41 BSGs with known spectroscopic parameters in the Galaxy using photometry from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. We described the time domain of the stars by means of three statistical measures and extracted frequencies via iterative pre-whitening. Alongside, we investigated the stochastic low-frequency (SLF) variability, which manifests itself in all amplitude spectra. We report a positive correlation between the amplitude of variability and the stellar luminosity. For log(L/L$_{\odot}\lesssim 5$), stars display frequencies that match the rotational one, suggesting that variability is driven by surface spots and/or features embedded in the wind. For log(L/L$_{\odot}\gtrsim 5$), variables of the $α$ Cyg class manifest themselves with their diverse and/or time-variant properties. Moreover, we report a positive correlation between the SLF variability amplitude and $T_{\rm eff}$, indicating an influential role that the stellar age plays on the emergence of the background signal beyond the main sequence. Positive, though weak, correlation is observed between the intrinsic brightness and the SLF variability amplitude, similar to the findings in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which suggests an in common excitation mechanism that depends only mildly on metallicity. Exceptionally, the $α$ Cyg variables display a suppressed SLF variability that prompts to the interior changes that the evolving stars undergo.
title Variability of Galactic blue supergiants observed with TESS
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.20860