Related papers: Evidence for Pulsation-Driven Mass Loss from delta…
Recently published Spitzer observations of the classical Cepheid archetype delta Cephei revealed an extended dusty nebula surrounding this star and its hot companion. The infrared emission resembles a bow shock aligned with the direction of…
We present the discovery of an infrared nebula around the Cepheid prototype delta Cephei and its hot companion HD 213307. Large scale (~2.1x10^4 AU) nebulosity is detected at 5.8, 8.0, 24 and 70 um. Surrounding the two stars, the 5.8 and…
Recent observations of Cepheids using infrared interferometry and Spitzer photometry have detected the presence of circumstellar envelopes (CSE) of dust and it has been hypothesized that the CSE's are due to dust forming in a Cepheid wind.…
Context. A longstanding challenge for understanding classical Cepheids is the Cepheid mass discrepancy, where theoretical mass estimates using stellar evolution and stellar pulsation calculations have been found to differ by approximately…
I investigate the discrepancy between the evolution and pulsation masses for Cepheid variables. A number of recent works have proposed that non-canonical mass-loss can account for the mass discrepancy. This mass-loss would be such that a…
An analytical derivation is presented for computing mass-loss rates of Cepheids by using the method of Castor, Abbott, & Klein (1975) modified to include a term for momentum input from pulsation and shocks generated in the atmosphere. Using…
The Cepheid mass discrepancy, the difference between mass estimates from stellar pulsation and stellar evolution models, is a long standing challenge for the understanding of stellar astrophysics. We discuss the current state of the mass…
A deep and detailed examination of 29 classical Cepheids with the Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed three stars with strong nearby extended emission detected in multiple bands which appears to be physically associated with the stars. RS…
The mass of a Cepheid is a fundamental parameter for studying the pulsation and evolution of intermediate-mass stars. But determining this variable has been a long-standing problem for decades. Detecting the companions (by spectroscopy or…
We report the detection of 15 GHz radio continuum emission associated with the classical Cepheid variable star delta Cephei based on observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. Our results constitute the first probable detection…
Both pulsation and mass loss are commonly observed in stars and are important ingredients for understanding stellar evolution and structure, especially for massive stars. There is a growing body of evidence that pulsation can also drive and…
The circumstellar dust shells of intermediate initial-mass (about 1 to 8 solar masses) evolved stars are generated by copious mass loss during the asymptotic giant branch phase. The density structure of their circumstellar shell is the…
The $\beta$ Cephei stars represent an important class of massive star pulsators probing the evolution of B-type stars and the transition from main sequence to hydrogen-shell burning evolution. By understanding $\beta$ Cep stars, we gain…
In an attempt to understand the extraordinarily small mass-loss rates of late-type O dwarfs, mass fluxes in the relevant part of (T_{eff}, g)-space are derived from first principles using a previously-described code for constructing moving…
We explore the role of mass loss and convective core overshoot in the evolution of Classical Cepheids. Stellar evolution models are computed with a recipe for pulsation-driven mass loss and it is found that mass loss alone is unable to…
CW Cep is an early B-type eclipsing binary with mass measurement precisions better than 1 \%. We report the discovery of pulsation signatures in the TESS time-series data of the system observed during Sectors 17 and 18. Our binary modeling…
The purpose of this preliminary work is to determine if Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) Cepheids have stellar winds. If a Cepheid undergoes mass loss then at some distance from the star, a fraction of the gas becomes dust, which causes an…
Intermediate-mass stars end their lives by ejecting the bulk of their envelope via a slow dense wind back into the interstellar medium, to form the next generation of stars and planets. Stellar pulsations are thought to elevate gas to an…
Extreme helium stars are very rare low-mass supergiants in a late stage of evolution. They are probably contracting to become white dwarfs following a violent phase of evolution which caused them to become hydrogen-deficient giants,…
Observations of nearby molecular clouds detect "shells", which are likely caused by winds from young main sequence stars. However, the progenitors of these observed features are not well characterized and the mass-loss rates inferred from…