Maia variables and other anomalies among pulsating stars

TL;DR

This study identifies Maia variables among B stars using TESS data, revealing their pulsation characteristics and highlighting significant gaps in current pulsational models, which fail to explain their behavior and relationships with other variable stars.

Contribution

It provides the first large-scale identification and analysis of Maia variables, challenging existing models and suggesting a continuum of pulsational properties across different star types.

Findings

Maia variables are not distinguished by rotation rates from SPB stars.

Many Maia stars pulsate with frequencies over 60 c/d.

Current pulsational models cannot explain Maia stars or the continuity among variable star groups.

Abstract

From TESS photometry, 493 mid- to late-B stars with high frequencies (Maia variables) have been identified. The distribution of projected rotational velocities shows that the rotation rates of Maia variables are no different from those of SPB stars. Moreover, many Maia stars pulsate with frequencies exceeding 60 c/d. Rapid rotation is ruled out as a possible factor in understanding the Maia variables. There is clearly a serious problem with current pulsational models. Not only are the models unable to account for the Maia stars, but they also fail to account for the fact that SPB and gamma Dor variables form one continuous instability strip from the cool end of the delta Sct region to the hot end of the beta Cep instability strip. Likewise, there is continuity between the distributions of delta Sct, Maia, and beta Cep variables. In fact, Maia stars seem to be an extension of delta Sct stars to the mid-B type. These observations suggest an interplay between multiple driving mechanisms rather than separate dominant mechanisms for each variability group.