Over a century of $\delta$ Ceti variability investigation

TL;DR

This study of $ ext{δ}$ Ceti over four years combines radial velocity data and historical observations to suggest a secondary companion, revise the star's period change rate, and confirm its physical parameters, refining previous models.

Contribution

The paper provides the first long-term radial velocity analysis of $ ext{δ}$ Ceti, revealing a potential secondary companion and refining its evolutionary parameters.

Findings

Detected a possible secondary companion with minimum mass 1.10 M☉

Revised the intrinsic period change rate to 0.018 s/century

Confirmed physical parameters consistent with lower mass and slower evolution

Abstract

We present results of a 2014-2018 campaign of radial velocity measurements of $\delta$ Ceti. Combining our determination of pulsation period with historical data we conclude that the most likely explanation of observed changes is the presence of a secondary component with a minimum mass of $1.10 \pm 0.05 M_{\odot}$ on an orbit with a period of $169 \pm 6$ years. Consequently, we revised the intrinsic, evolutionary period change rate to not larger than $0.018 \pm 0.004$ s/century, which is significantly lower than previous estimations and is consistent with evolutionary models of Neilson & Ignace (2015). We did not find any significant multiperiodic frequencies in radial velocity periodograms such as those reported by Aerts et al. (2006) in photometric data from MOST satellite. Using interferometric angular size of $\delta$ Ceti from JMMC Stellar Diameters Catalogue we determined several physical parameters of the star with bolometric flux method. They turned out to be consistent with most previous deteminations, confirming lower mass and slower evolution of $\delta$ Ceti than obtained using different methods by Aerts et al. (2006) and Neilson & Ignace (2015).