Variable Stars as Seen with Photometric Space Telescopes

A special issue of Universe (ISSN 2218-1997). This special issue belongs to the section "Stellar Astronomy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 December 2022) | Viewed by 7666

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Konkoly Thege Miklós út 15-17, 1121 Budapest, Hungary
Interests: astrophysics; variable stars; space astronomy

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Guest Editor
Institute of Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, and Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Ulitsa Pyatnitskaya, 48, 119017 Moscow, Russia
Interests: astrophysics; variable stars; star clusters

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The substantial progress in variable star astronomy is striking. In recent decades, the two major aspects of this advance are:

  • The tremendous increase in the number of known variable stars;
  • The unprecedented improvement in photometric accuracy.

While the first item is only partly due to the commencement of the era of photometry by space telescopes, the second one is solely the consequence of the existence of space photometry. The results of this micromagnitude revolution include the discovery of new types of variable stars, thousands of transiting exoplanets, as well as new or unusual phenomena shown by already known variables. Variable stars are important objects for astrophysics because they serve as remote “laboratories” for testing the validity of theoretical models of stellar structure and evolution. Discovering and characterizing exoplanets facilitates our understanding of the formation and evolution of our Solar System and planet Earth.

This Special Issue is a collection of papers on our latest achievements related to variable stars based on space photometry. A separate review paper will be dedicated to each of the already completed projects of MOST, CoRoT, and Kepler/K2 space telescopes, as well as the ongoing activity of BRITE and TESS projects. On the one hand, the extensive database of past space photometric projects is a treasure-house for achieving new results and discoveries, and it will be so in the near future, too. On the other hand, the ongoing projects offer a data flow to be analyzed. In addition, other past and still active space telescopes have also contributed to variable star astronomy with photometric measurements in optical and other spectral regions.

We look forward to receiving—and publishing—the most recent interesting results obtained from space photometry in this Special Issue on “Variable Stars with Photometric Space Telescopes” of the journal Universe.

Prof. Dr. Laszlo Szabados
Dr. Nikolay N. Samus
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Variable stars
  • Space photometry
  • Micromagnitude
  • Exoplanets
  • Variability of dwarf novae on various time scales
  • Continuous light curve of supernovae
  • Pre-main sequence variable stars (involving infrared space observations, too)
  • Planetary nebulae, variability of their central stars

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Review

21 pages, 4314 KiB  
Review
The Purport of Space Telescopes in Supernova Research
by József Vinkó, Tamás Szalai and Réka Könyves-Tóth
Universe 2023, 9(6), 244; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/universe9060244 - 23 May 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1060
Abstract
The violent stellar explosions known as supernovae have received especially strong attention in both the research community and the general public recently. With the advent of space telescopes, the study of these extraordinary events has switched gears and it has become one of [...] Read more.
The violent stellar explosions known as supernovae have received especially strong attention in both the research community and the general public recently. With the advent of space telescopes, the study of these extraordinary events has switched gears and it has become one of the leading fields in modern astrophysics. In this paper, we review some of the recent developments, focusing mainly on studies related to space-based observations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Variable Stars as Seen with Photometric Space Telescopes)
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43 pages, 8180 KiB  
Review
Space-Based Photometry of Binary Stars: From Voyager to TESS
by John Southworth
Universe 2021, 7(10), 369; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/universe7100369 - 30 Sep 2021
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 3493
Abstract
Binary stars are crucial laboratories for stellar physics, so have been photometric targets for space missions beginning with the very first orbiting telescope (OAO-2) launched in 1968. This review traces the binary stars observed and the scientific results obtained from the early days [...] Read more.
Binary stars are crucial laboratories for stellar physics, so have been photometric targets for space missions beginning with the very first orbiting telescope (OAO-2) launched in 1968. This review traces the binary stars observed and the scientific results obtained from the early days of ultraviolet missions (OAO-2, Voyager, ANS, IUE), through a period of diversification (Hipparcos, WIRE, MOST, BRITE), to the current era of large planetary transit surveys (CoRoT, Kepler, TESS). In this time observations have been obtained of detached, semi-detached and contact binaries containing dwarfs, sub-giants, giants, supergiants, white dwarfs, planets, neutron stars and accretion discs. Recent missions have found a huge variety of objects such as pulsating stars in eclipsing binaries, multi-eclipsers, heartbeat stars and binaries hosting transiting planets. Particular attention is paid to eclipsing binaries, because they are staggeringly useful, and to the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) because its huge sky coverage enables a wide range of scientific investigations with unprecedented ease. These results are placed into context, future missions are discussed, and a list of important science goals is presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Variable Stars as Seen with Photometric Space Telescopes)
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32 pages, 11972 KiB  
Review
Space Photometry with Brite-Constellation
by Werner W. Weiss, Konstanze Zwintz, Rainer Kuschnig, Gerald Handler, Anthony F. J. Moffat, Dietrich Baade, Dominic M. Bowman, Thomas Granzer, Thomas Kallinger, Otto F. Koudelka, Catherine C. Lovekin, Coralie Neiner, Herbert Pablo, Andrzej Pigulski, Adam Popowicz, Tahina Ramiaramanantsoa, Slavek M. Rucinski, Klaus G. Strassmeier and Gregg A. Wade
Universe 2021, 7(6), 199; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/universe7060199 - 16 Jun 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2343
Abstract
BRITE-Constellation is devoted to high-precision optical photometric monitoring of bright stars, distributed all over the Milky Way, in red and/or blue passbands. Photometry from space avoids the turbulent and absorbing terrestrial atmosphere and allows for very long and continuous observing runs with high [...] Read more.
BRITE-Constellation is devoted to high-precision optical photometric monitoring of bright stars, distributed all over the Milky Way, in red and/or blue passbands. Photometry from space avoids the turbulent and absorbing terrestrial atmosphere and allows for very long and continuous observing runs with high time resolution and thus provides the data necessary for understanding various processes inside stars (e.g., asteroseismology) and in their immediate environment. While the first astronomical observations from space focused on the spectral regions not accessible from the ground it soon became obvious around 1970 that avoiding the turbulent terrestrial atmosphere significantly improved the accuracy of photometry and satellites explicitly dedicated to high-quality photometry were launched. A perfect example is BRITE-Constellation, which is the result of a very successful cooperation between Austria, Canada and Poland. Research highlights for targets distributed nearly over the entire HRD are presented, but focus primarily on massive and hot stars. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Variable Stars as Seen with Photometric Space Telescopes)
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