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With all the data from @NASA_TESS& #39;s nominal mission now available from @MAST_News, it seems like a good time to reflect on how things panned out for me and, to some extent, the field of solar-like oscillations.
My first thread. Read on for lightcurves!
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧵" title="Thread" aria-label="Emoji: Thread">
My first thread. Read on for lightcurves!
One thing we expected was the sheer pace of the data. It started coming a few months before we expected and we never kept up. But did anyone really expect to?
For my science (solar-like oscillations), it felt a bit disappointing but mostly because we were too optimistic.
For my science (solar-like oscillations), it felt a bit disappointing but mostly because we were too optimistic.
The time I spent on non-detections feel like a loss but at least I learned to manipulate the data.
Solar-like oscillations are, after all, weak and for interior stellar physics IMO we still need to really exploit Kepler& #39;s nominal mission data. (K2& #39;s also largely untapped.)
Solar-like oscillations are, after all, weak and for interior stellar physics IMO we still need to really exploit Kepler& #39;s nominal mission data. (K2& #39;s also largely untapped.)
This isn& #39;t to say TESS didn& #39;t observe solar-like oscillators: there are many! Plus @NASA_TESS& #39;s sky coverage means we can look at oscillations in otherwise interesting stars like standard calibrators (δ Eri) and known planet hosts (λ² For).
https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.00497 ">https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.... ← λ² For
https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.00497 ">https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.... ← λ² For
I still think that @NASA_TESS will bring breakthroughs in the study of those variable stars that haven& #39;t had so many lightcurves at such high duty cycle and high cadence. For now, it doesn& #39;t have the duration of ground-based monitoring, but here& #39;s hoping for many more extensions!
I look forward to teaching stellar structure and evolution again because I can add a lecture in which I can just show students examples of all the kinds of variability out there. Shall we give it a try now?
(These aren& #39;t science-grade lightcurves. TESS magnitudes are rough.)
(These aren& #39;t science-grade lightcurves. TESS magnitudes are rough.)
Great! How about γ Doradus variables? Why settle for anything less than γ Doradus itself?
Something a bit more traditional, like a classical Cepheid? Well, I scrolled through some lightcurves and found EE Mon. (I think δ Cep was too bright for a pipeline 2-min lightcurve.)
No quick lightcurve for δ Cep? Well, there are always those "other" Cepheid variables: the β Cepheids! Here& #39;s a small chunk of β Cep itself.
δ Sct itself wasn& #39;t observed so how about it& #39;s low-metallicity cousin, SX Phe?
What about those high-order δ Sct variables from Bedding et al. (2020)? How about an amplitude spectrum of the famous planet host β Pic?
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.06157 ">https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.... ← High-frequency δ Scts
What about those high-order δ Sct variables from Bedding et al. (2020)? How about an amplitude spectrum of the famous planet host β Pic?
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.06157 ">https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.... ← High-frequency δ Scts
How about an RR Lyr? I know, I know, RR Lyr was in the Kepler field but this (small snippet) isn& #39;t bad.
You like eclipsing binaries? There are frankly too many to choose! How about an Algol-type? Like... Algol.
Something longer period, like γ Per? Though it only eclipses every 14.6 years, TESS happened to see the November 2019 eclipse.
Something longer period, like γ Per? Though it only eclipses every 14.6 years, TESS happened to see the November 2019 eclipse.
But there are plenty of less well known types, too. How about BR Dra? SIMBAD tells me it& #39;s an eruptive variable. Judging from this phase-folded lightcurve, I think that& #39;s right. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😉" title="Zwinkerndes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Zwinkerndes Gesicht">
" title="But there are plenty of less well known types, too. How about BR Dra? SIMBAD tells me it& #39;s an eruptive variable. Judging from this phase-folded lightcurve, I think that& #39;s right. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😉" title="Zwinkerndes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Zwinkerndes Gesicht">" class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
With so many stars, we start to find some that have interesting things going on. Are the eclipses in GK Hya drifting in phase relative to the (presumably) ellipsoidal variations?
Or, finally, how about this: the single-sided pulsator CO Cam, which will probably keeps us scratching our heads for a while. (The lightcurve is a snippet; the phase-folded lightcurve has mildly transparent points.)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.03471 ">https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.... ← CO Cam
https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.03471 ">https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.... ← CO Cam
There are surely more but I can only spend so much time tweeting interesting TESS lightcurves. It& #39;s exciting to think how much more will come from the full-frame images (FFIs), especially now that the extended mission is taking FFIs every 10 minutes. Long live TESS!
