Probing the Variability of the Supergiant Star Deneb
Faculty Mentor Name
Noel Richardson
Format Preference
Poster
Abstract
Deneb is the prototype of the supergiant stars called alpha Cygni variables. These stars are highly luminous OBA stars that exhibit low amplitude variations both in photometry and velocity. They exhibit non-radial pulsations when the surface of a star is contracting and expanding at the same time. The mechanism responsible for these variations eludes theory thus far but photometric and spectroscopic observations of the stars will aid in finding the source for stars such as Deneb. Photometric observation campaigns have been done with the BRITE-Constellation nanosatellites between 2014-2022, which will provide a clearer understanding of the photometric variability. Fourier transformations were done for each data set as part of the analysis process. We aim to compare these results to similar results from spectroscopic and photometric campaigns in the past to examine the driving mechanisms for variability while also considering recent interferometric results of Deneb.
Probing the Variability of the Supergiant Star Deneb
Deneb is the prototype of the supergiant stars called alpha Cygni variables. These stars are highly luminous OBA stars that exhibit low amplitude variations both in photometry and velocity. They exhibit non-radial pulsations when the surface of a star is contracting and expanding at the same time. The mechanism responsible for these variations eludes theory thus far but photometric and spectroscopic observations of the stars will aid in finding the source for stars such as Deneb. Photometric observation campaigns have been done with the BRITE-Constellation nanosatellites between 2014-2022, which will provide a clearer understanding of the photometric variability. Fourier transformations were done for each data set as part of the analysis process. We aim to compare these results to similar results from spectroscopic and photometric campaigns in the past to examine the driving mechanisms for variability while also considering recent interferometric results of Deneb.