High-frequency A-type pulsators discovered using SuperWASP

Holdsworth, Daniel L.; Smalley, B.; Gillon, M.; Clubb, K. I.; Southworth, J.; Maxted, P. F. L.; Anderson, D. R.; Barros, S. C. C.; Cameron, A. Collier; Delrez, L.; Faedi, F.; Haswell, C. A.; Hellier, C.; Horne, K.; Jehin, E.; Norton, A. J.; Pollacco, D.; Skillen, I.; Smith, A. M. S.; West, R. G.; Wheatley, P. J.

Abstract

We present the results of a survey using the WASP archive to search for high-frequency pulsations in F-, A- and B-type stars. Over 1.5 million targets have been searched for pulsations with amplitudes greater than 0.5 millimagnitude. We identify over 350 stars which pulsate with periods less than 30 min. Spectroscopic follow-up of selected targets has enabled us to confirm 10 new rapidly oscillating Ap stars, 13 pulsating Am stars and the fastest known δ Scuti star. We also observe stars which show pulsations in both the high-frequency domain and the low-frequency δ Scuti range. This work shows the power of the WASP photometric survey to find variable stars with amplitudes well below the nominal photometric precision per observation.

Citation

Holdsworth , D L , Smalley , B , Gillon , M , Clubb , K I , Southworth , J , Maxted , P F L , Anderson , D R , Barros , S C C , Cameron , A C , Delrez , L , Faedi , F , Haswell , C A , Hellier , C , Horne , K , Jehin , E , Norton , A J , Pollacco , D , Skillen , I , Smith , A M S , West , R G & Wheatley , P J 2014 , ' High-frequency A-type pulsators discovered using SuperWASP ' , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , vol. 439 , no. 2 , pp. 2078-2095 . https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu094

Publication

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Status

Peer reviewed

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu094

ISSN

0035-8711

Type

Journal article

Rights

St Andrews Research Repository