Abrupt Periodic Pulsation Resumptions in Deneb

TL;DR

This paper investigates the pulsation behavior of Deneb, revealing potential periodic resumptions of pulsations through analysis of historical and recent data, but emphasizes the need for more extensive observations for confirmation.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of Deneb's pulsation resumptions using historical and modern data, highlighting the potential periodicity and the necessity for further detailed observations.

Findings

Evidence suggests periodic resumptions of pulsations in Deneb.

Resumptions occur at irregular phases and may have larger amplitudes.

Further data is needed to confirm periodicity.

Abstract

Deneb (alpha Cygni) is a bright (V magnitude 1.25) blue-white supergiant (spectral type A2 Ia) which shows variability in both radial velocity and photometric measurements. H. Abt reviewed radial velocity measurements by Paddock (1935) using the Lick observatory 36-inch telescope spectrograph during 1927-1935. Abt noticed resumptions of pulsations with a dominant quasi-period of around 12 days that occur at intervals of around 70 days, and damp out after a few cycles. These resumptions appear to happen at arbitrary phase. Perhaps another event like this was captured in a shorter series of radial velocity measurements by Abt in 1956. We examined subsequent radial velocity and photometric data available in the literature, along with photometric measurements by the TESS spacecraft and V-magnitude observations by AAVSO observers. We find some evidence for periodic resumptions of larger-amplitude pulsations in these data. However, longer contiguous data sets combined with more frequent sampling are needed to confirm this periodicity in resumption of pulsations, and to help answer many more questions about Deneb and the alpha Cygni variables.