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Author

T. C. Teixeira

Other affiliations: University of Porto
Bio: T. C. Teixeira is an academic researcher from Aarhus University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Asteroseismology & Solar-like oscillations. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 3 publications receiving 206 citations. Previous affiliations of T. C. Teixeira include University of Porto.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reported the discovery of solar-like oscillations in a giant star with the CORALIE spectrograph attached to the 1.2 m Swiss Euler telescope.
Abstract: We report the firm discovery of solar-like oscillations in a giant star. We monitored the star ξ Hya (G7III) continu- ously during one month with the CORALIE spectrograph attached to the 1.2 m Swiss Euler telescope. The 433 high-precision radial-velocity measurements clearly reveal multiple oscillation frequencies in the range 50-130 µHz, corresponding to periods between 2.0 and 5.5 hours. The amplitudes of the strongest modes are slightly smaller than 2ms −1 . Current model calculations

181 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the radius of the nearby star τ Cet has been determined from interferometry using the VINCI instrument on VLTI using the siderostats.
Abstract: We have determined from interferometry the radius of the nearby star τ Cet, using recent observations with the VINCI instrument on VLTI using the siderostats. The limb-darkened disk diameter is determined, with an unprecedented internal precision of 0.5%, to be 1.971 ± 0.009(int.) ± 0.05(ext.) mas, corresponding to a physical radius of 0.773 ± 0.004(int.) ± 0.02(ext.) R� . With this determination τ Cet becomes a prime target for asteroseismic campaigns to determine its internal structure, and thereby test stellar evolution theory. We discuss implications for asteroseismology and present predictions for oscillation properties.

27 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
21 May 2009-Nature
TL;DR: The presence of radial and non-radial oscillations in more than 300 giant stars is reported, finding giant stars with equally spaced frequency peaks in the Fourier spectrum of the time series, as well as giants for which the spectrum seems to be more complex.
Abstract: When main-sequence stars like the Sun near the end of their life, they expand to become oscillating red giants. Such evolved stars could in principle provide stringent tests of stellar theory via analysis of radial and non-radial stellar oscillations. Until now it has been unclear whether non-radial modes are observable at all in red giants. De Ridder et al. now report the presence of both radial and non-radial oscillations in over 300 giant stars. For some red giants, mode lifetimes are of the order of a month. Current stellar evolution theory cannot account for these observations. Towards the end of their lives, stars like the Sun expand greatly to become red giant stars that oscillate. Such evolved stars could provide stringent tests of stellar theory through the analysis of radial and non-radial stellar oscillations. Here, the presence of such oscillations in more than 300 giant stars is reported, with mode lifetimes of some of the giants in the order of a month. Towards the end of their lives, stars like the Sun greatly expand to become red giant stars. Such evolved stars could provide stringent tests of stellar theory, as many uncertainties of the internal stellar structure accumulate with age. Important examples are convective overshooting and rotational mixing during the central hydrogen-burning phase, which determine the mass of the helium core, but which are not well understood1. In principle, analysis of radial and non-radial stellar oscillations can be used to constrain the mass of the helium core. Although all giants are expected to oscillate2, it has hitherto been unclear whether non-radial modes are observable at all in red giants, or whether the oscillation modes have a short or a long mode lifetime3,4,5,6,7, which determines the observational precision of the frequencies. Here we report the presence of radial and non-radial oscillations in more than 300 giant stars. For at least some of the giants, the mode lifetimes are of the order of a month. We observe giant stars with equally spaced frequency peaks in the Fourier spectrum of the time series, as well as giants for which the spectrum seems to be more complex. No satisfactory theoretical explanation currently exists for our observations.

325 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors extracted accurate seismic parameters from the Kepler time series and used them to infer asteroseismic fundamental parameters from scaling relations and a comparison with red-giant models.
Abstract: Context. Clear power excess in a frequency range typical for solar-type oscillations in red giants has been detected in more than 1000 stars, which have been observed during the first 138 days of the science operation of the NASA Kepler satellite. This sample includes stars in a wide mass and radius range with spectral types G and K, extending in luminosity from the bottom of the giant branch up to high-luminous red giants, including the red bump and clump. The high-precision asteroseismic observations with Kepler provide a perfect source for testing stellar structure and evolutionary models, as well as investigating the stellar population in our Galaxy. Aims. We aim to extract accurate seismic parameters from the Kepler time series and use them to infer asteroseismic fundamental parameters from scaling relations and a comparison with red-giant models. Methods. We fit a global model to the observed power density spectra, which allows us to accurately estimate the granulation background signal and the global oscillation parameters, such as the frequency of maximum oscillation power. We find regular patterns of radial and non-radial oscillation modes and use a new technique to automatically identify the mode degree and the characteristic frequency separations between consecutive modes of the same spherical degree. In most cases, we can also measure the small separation between l = 0, 1, and 2 modes. Subsequently, the seismic parameters are used to estimate stellar masses and radii and to place the stars in an H-R diagram by using an extensive grid of stellar models that covers a wide parameter range. Using Bayesian techniques throughout our entire analysis allows us to determine reliable uncertainties for all parameters. Results. We provide accurate seismic parameters and their uncertainties for a large sample of red giants and determine their astero

295 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
C. Lovis1, M. Mayor1
TL;DR: In this paper, a radial velocity planet search around red giants in the clump of intermediate-age open clusters was conducted to investigate how the planet formation process depends on the mass of the parent star, which will bring new insights into the properties of extrasolar planetary systems.
Abstract: Context. Many efforts are being made to characterize extrasolar planetary systems and unveil the fundamental mechanisms of planet formation. An important aspect of the problem, which remains largely unknown, is to understand how the planet formation process depends on the mass of the parent star. In particular, as most planets discovered to date orbit a solar-mass primary, little is known about planet formation around more massive stars. Aims. To investigate this point, we present first results from a radial velocity planet search around red giants in the clump of intermediate-age open clusters. We choose clusters harbouring red giants with masses between 1.5 and 4 M� , using the well-known cluster parameters to accurately determine the stellar masses. We are therefore exploring a poorly-known domain of primary masses, which will bring new insights into the properties of extrasolar planetary systems. Methods. We follow a sample of about 115 red giants with the Coralie and HARPS spectrographs to obtain high-precision radial velocity (RV) measurements and detect giant planets around these stars. We use bisector and activity index diagnostics to distinguish between planetary-induced RV variations and stellar photospheric jitter. Results. We present the discoveries of a giant planet and a brown dwarf in the open clusters NGC 2423 and NGC 4349, orbiting the 2.4 M� -star NGC 2423 No. 3 (TYC 5409-2156-1) and the 3.9 M� -star NGC 4349 No. 127 (TYC 8975-2606-1). These low-mass companions have orbital periods of 714 and 678 days and minimum masses of 10.6 and 19.8 MJup, respectively. Combined with the other known planetary systems, these detections indicate that the frequency of massive planets is higher around intermediate-mass stars, and therefore probably scales with the mass of the protoplanetary disk.

291 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors search the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) archive for previously unanalyzed observations of stellar H I Lyα emission lines, their primary purpose being to look for new detections of Lyα absorption from the outer heliosphere and to also search for analogous absorption of the astrospheres surrounding the observed stars.
Abstract: We search the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) archive for previously unanalyzed observations of stellar H I Lyα emission lines, our primary purpose being to look for new detections of Lyα absorption from the outer heliosphere and to also search for analogous absorption from the astrospheres surrounding the observed stars. The astrospheric absorption is of particular interest because it can be used to study solar-like stellar winds that are otherwise undetectable. We find and analyze 33 HST Lyα spectra in the archive. All the spectra were taken with the E140M grating of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) instrument on board HST. The HST STIS spectra yield four new detections of heliospheric absorption (70 Oph, ξ Boo, 61 Vir, and HD 165185) and seven new detections of astrospheric absorption (EV Lac, 70 Oph, ξ Boo, 61 Vir, δ Eri, HD 128987, and DK UMa), doubling the previous number of heliospheric and astrospheric detections. When combined with previous results, 10 of 17 lines of sight within 10 pc yield detections of astrospheric absorption. This high detection fraction implies that most of the ISM within 10 pc must be at least partially neutral, since the presence of H I within the ISM surrounding the observed star is necessary for an astrospheric detection. In contrast, the detection percentage is only 9.7% (3 out of 31) for stars beyond 10 pc. Our Lyα analyses provide measurements of ISM H I and D I column densities for all 33 lines of sight, and we discuss some implications of these results. Finally, we measure chromospheric Lyα fluxes from the observed stars. We use these fluxes to determine how Lyα flux correlates with coronal X-ray and chromospheric Mg II emission, and we also study how Lyα emission depends on stellar rotation.

290 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors combine results from interferometry, asteroseismology and spectroscopy to determine accurate fundamental parameters of 23 bright solar-type stars, from spectral type F5 to K2 and luminosity classes III-V.
Abstract: We combine results from interferometry, asteroseismology and spectroscopy to determine accurate fundamental parameters of 23 bright solar-type stars, from spectral type F5 to K2 and luminosity classes III–V. For some stars we can use direct techniques to determine the mass, radius, luminosity and effective temperature, and we compare with indirect methods that rely on photometric calibrations or spectroscopic analyses. We use the asteroseismic information available in the literature to infer an indirect mass with an accuracy of 4–15 per cent. From indirect methods we determine luminosity and radius to 3 per cent. We find evidence that the luminosity from the indirect method is slightly overestimated (≈5 per cent) for the coolest stars, indicating that their bolometric corrections (BCs) are too negative. For Teff we find a slight offset of −40 ± 20 K between the spectroscopic method and the direct method, meaning the spectroscopic temperatures are too high. From the spectroscopic analysis we determine the detailed chemical composition for 13 elements, including Li, C and O. The metallicity ranges from [Fe/H] =− 1. 7t o+0.4, and there is clear evidence for α-element enhancement in the metal-poor stars. We find no significant offset between the spectroscopic surface gravity and the value from combining asteroseismology with radius estimates. From the spectroscopy we also determine v sin i and we present a new calibration of macroturbulence and microturbulence. From the comparison between the results from the direct and spectroscopic methods we claim that we can determine Teff ,l ogg and [Fe/H] with absolute accuracies of 80 K, 0.08 and 0.07 dex. Photometric calibrations of Str¨ omgren indices provide accurate results for Teff and [Fe/H] but will be more uncertain for distant stars when interstellar reddening becomes important. The indirect methods are important to obtain reliable estimates of the fundamental parameters of relatively faint stars when interferometry cannot be used. This paper is the first to compare direct and indirect methods for a large sample of stars, and we conclude that indirect methods are valid, although slight corrections may be needed.

282 citations