Chemically peculiar stars investigated by the BRITE Mission

TL;DR

This study uses BRITE satellite data to analyze 85 chemically peculiar stars, refining their rotational periods, identifying multiperiodicity, and uncovering potential misclassifications, demonstrating the value of combined space-based photometry.

Contribution

It provides a uniform analysis of CP stars using BRITE and TESS data, revealing new multiperiodic stars and correcting classifications, advancing understanding of stellar variability.

Findings

47 stars have significant rotational periods derived.

Six stars show multiperiodicity and possible misclassification.

BRITE and TESS data effectively verify and refine stellar variability data.

Abstract

We present a comprehensive analysis of BRITE photometry for 85 chemically peculiar stars, aimed at refining or determining their rotational periods. Utilizing a uniform Lomb-Scargle-based pipeline, we derived significant periods for 47 targets. A comparison with existing literature periods reveals generally good agreement, although several stars exhibit discrepant or previously unrecognized behavior. Notably, six targets display clear multiperiodicity, which, when combined with archival TESS data, suggests that these six candidates are likely misclassified, for example, as a magnetic CP2 or a CP4 star and instead exhibit characteristics consistent with a Be/shell star. Furthermore, eleven stars show no detectable periodic variations within the precision limits of BRITE. Our analysis demonstrates the effectiveness of long-term nanosatellite photometry, particularly when complemented by TESS data, in verifying catalogue periods, identifying multiperiodic behavior, and detecting potential misclassifications among bright CP stars.