Hysteresis of atmospheric parameters of 12 RR Lyrae stars based on multichannel simultaneous Stroemgren photometry

TL;DR

This study uses simultaneous Stroemgren photometry to analyze atmospheric parameter hysteresis in 12 RR Lyrae stars, revealing correlations between spectral line strengths, stellar radius, and pulsation dynamics, and highlighting discrepancies in gravity estimates.

Contribution

It introduces a method to derive atmospheric parameters from multichannel photometry and uncovers new insights into pulsation-related atmospheric variations and gravity discrepancies in RR Lyrae stars.

Findings

Balmer-line strengths correlate with T_eff.

Ca II K line strength correlates with stellar radius.

Atmospheric gravity fluctuates between 2.3 and 4.5 dex.

Abstract

RR Lyrae stars have been observed to improve the insight into the processes at work in their atmospheres. Simultaneous Stroemgren-photometry allows to obtain a rapid sequence of measurements in which photometric indices are unaffected by non-optimum observing conditions. The indices y, b-y, and c_1 are used with an established calibration to derive T_eff and to derive the gravity, log g_BJ from the Balmer jump, throughout the pulsation cycle. By employing the equations for stellar structure, additional parameters can be derived. Stroemgren photometry and its calibration in terms of T_eff and log g can be used to determine the run of R and the atmosphere pulsation velocity. We find that the Balmer-line strengths are correlated with T_eff and that the strength of the Ca_ii K line correlates well with the radius of the star and thus the pulsation-dependent density of the atmosphere. The density in the stellar atmosphere fluctuates as indicated by the changes in the gravity log g_BJ, derived from c_1, between 2.3 and 4.5 dex. Also the Stroemgren metal index, m_1, fluctuates. We find a disagreement between log g(T,L,M), the gravity calculated from T_eff, L, and the mass M,and the gravity log g_BJ. This can be used to reassess the mass and the absolute magnitude of an individual star.The curves derived for the pulsational velocity V_pul differ from curves obtained from spectra needed to apply the Baade-Wesselink method; we think these differences are due to phase dependent differences in the optical depth levels sampled in continuum photometry and in spectroscopy. We find an atmospheric oscillation in these fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars of periodicity P/7.