Studying the mass loss characteristics of Be stars through the photometric analysis of flickers

• Grant number: 24/17860-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2024
• End date: November 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Stellar Astrophysics
• Principal Investigator: Alex Cavaliéri Carciofi
• Grantee: Guilherme Pimentel Pereira Bolzan
• Host Institution: Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas (IAG). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/04055-8 - High precision spectroscopy: from the first stars to planets, AP.TEM

Abstract

Be stars are fast rotators and non-radial pulsators characterized by the presence of Keplerian circumstellar disks, consisting of material ejected by the star itself. Their variable behavior, controlled by mass loss events and complex viscous fluid dynamics in the disk, has been monitored through high-rate space photometry by satellites such as NASA's TESS. The resulting light curves show phenomena called flickers: temporary brightening followed by a slower return to previous emission levels. Flickers are understood as the photometric counterpart of stellar mass loss events, during which the mass ejection rate increases. This project proposes to analyze a sample of about 200 Be star light curves with flickers, produced by TESS through a routine for classifying their behavioral phases. The aim is to provide an insight into the mass loss phenomenon in Be stars, an active area of ¿¿research, by resolving individual flickers in a sample with statistical significance for the first time.