Mode identification and ensemble asteroseismology of 119 $\beta$ Cep stars detected by Gaia light curves and monitored by TESS

TL;DR

This study analyzes 119 $eta$ Cephei stars using Gaia and TESS data to identify pulsation modes, derive stellar properties, and enhance understanding of massive star evolution through asteroseismology.

Contribution

It introduces a methodology combining Gaia and TESS data for mode identification and provides detailed stellar parameters for a large sample of $eta$ Cephei stars.

Findings

Majority have dominant dipole non-radial modes

Detected rotational splittings used to estimate envelope rotation

Mass, age, and core properties derived for 119 stars

Abstract

The Gaia mission detected many new candidate $\beta$ Cephei ($\beta$ Cep) pulsators, whose variability classification has since been confirmed from Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) space photometry of the nominal mission. We aim to analyse all currently available TESS data for these $\beta$ Cep pulsators, of which 145 were new discoveries, in order to exploit their asteroseismic potential. Although they are of critical importance to improve evolution models of massive stars, $\beta$ Cep stars are under-represented in the current space photometry revolution. We extracted light curves for 216 stars from TESS full-frame images and performed frequency analysis by means of pre-whitening. Based on Gaia Data Release 3, we deduced stellar properties and compared them to those of known $\beta$ Cep stars from the literature. We developed a methodology to identify the dominant pulsation modes of the $\beta$ Cep stars from the detection of rotationally-split multiplets and Gaia and TESS amplitude ratios. We used grid modelling to gain insights into the population of $\beta$ Cep stars. Combining TESS and Gaia, we successfully identified the mode degrees for 148 stars in our sample. We find the majority to have a dominant dipole non-radial mode. Many non-radial modes show splittings in their TESS frequency spectra, which we use to calculate their envelope rotation, spin parameter, and the level of differential envelope-to-surface rotation (upper limit of about 3). We also provide relative frequency asymmetries within the multiplets, ranging from -0.15 to 0.15 with most being positive. Based on grid modelling, we provide mass, convective core mass, and age distributions for 119 stars. Our study prepares for future detailed modelling based on individual frequencies of identified modes leading towards a better understanding of these massive pulsators. (abridged)