Analysis of high-resolution FEROS spectroscopy for a sample of variable B-type stars assembled from TESS photometry

TL;DR

This study provides precise spectroscopic parameters for 166 B-type stars using high-resolution FEROS data, aiding asteroseismic modeling, and identifies new binary systems and pulsators, enhancing understanding of stellar interiors and variability.

Contribution

It offers a homogeneous spectroscopic analysis of a large B-type star sample, employing machine learning and line profile methods, and uncovers new pulsators and binary systems.

Findings

Identified 26 spectroscopic binaries among the sample.

Discovered 13 new HgMn stars, with only one in a binary system.

Detected fast rotating g-mode pulsators with shifted frequencies.

Abstract

Spectroscopic data are necessary to break degeneracies in asteroseismic modelling of the interior structure in high- and intermediate-mass stars. We derive precise photospheric stellar parameters for a sample of 166 B-type stars with TESS light curves, suitable for detailed asteroseismic studies, through a homogeneous spectroscopic analysis. The variability types of these stars are classified based on all currently available TESS sectors. We obtained high-resolution spectra for all 166 targets with the FEROS spectrograph in the context of a large program. The Least-Squares Deconvolution method is employed to investigate spectral line profile variability and to detect binary systems. We identify 26 spectroscopic double-lined binaries; the remainder of the sample are 42 supergiants in the LMC galaxy and 98 Galactic stars. The spectra of the Galactic stars are analysed with the zeta-Payne, a machine learning-based spectrum analysis algorithm. We determine the five main surface parameters with average formal precisions of 70 K (Teff), 0.03 dex (logg), 0.07 dex ([M/H]), 8 km/s (vsini), and 0.7 km/s (vmicro). The average internal uncertainties we find for FEROS spectra with our spectrum analysis method are 430 K (Teff), 0.12 dex (logg), 0.13 dex ([M/H]), 12 km/s (vsini), and 2 km/s (vmicro). We find spectroscopic evidence that eight of the 98 Galactic targets are fast rotating g-mode pulsators occurring in between the slowly pulsating B (SPB) stars and delta Scuti instability strips. The g-mode frequencies of these pulsators are shifted to relatively high frequency values due to their rotation. Their apparently too low Teff relative to the SPB instability region can in most cases be explained by the gravity darkening effect. We also discover 13 new HgMn stars of which only one is found in a spectroscopic binary, resulting in a biased and therefore unreliable low binary rate of only 8%.