Related papers: New Links between Pulsation and Stellar History
Masses determined from classical Cepheids in binary systems are a primary test of both pulsation and evolutionary calculations. The first step is to determine the orbit from ground-based radial velocities. Complementary satellite data from…
X-ray observations have been made of a sample of 20 classical Cepheids, including two new observations (Polaris and {\it l} Car) reported here. The occurrence of X-ray flux around the pulsation cycle is discussed. Three Cepheids are…
Cepheids in multiple systems provide information on the outcome of the formation of massive stars. They can also lead to exotic end-stage objects. This study concludes our survey of 70 galactic Cepheids using the {\it Hubble Space…
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…
Cepheids have long been used as standard candles to determine distances around the Milky Way and to nearby galaxies. A discrepancy still remains for Hubble Constant determinations using Cepheids vs. the cosmic microwave background or…
Cepheid masses continue to be important tests of evolutionary tracks for intermediate mass stars as well as important predictors of their future fate. For systems where the secondary is a B star, {\it Hubble Space Telescope} ultraviolet…
The 30 year orbit of the Cepheid Polaris has been followed with observations by the CHARA Array (Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy) from 2016 through 2021. An additional measurement has been made with speckle interferometry at…
Cepheid stars are crucial objects for a variety of topics that range from stellar pulsation and the evolution of intermediate-mass stars to the understanding the structure of the Galaxy and the Universe through the distance measurements…
Classical Cepheid stars have been considered since more than a century as reliable tools to estimate distances in the universe thanks to their Period-Luminosity (P-L) relationship. Moreover, they are also powerful astrophysical…
We have conducted an imaging survey with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera~3 (WFC3) of 70 Galactic Cepheids, typically within 1~kpc, with the aim of finding resolved physical companions. The WFC3 field typically covers the 0.1 pc…
As part of a program to determine dynamical masses of Cepheids, we have imaged the nearest and brightest Cepheid, Polaris, with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 and Wide Field Camera 3. Observations were obtained at…
We briefly review the main problems related to the computation of the evolution of intermediate-mass stars: the treatment of turbulent convection and the occurrence of blue loops during the core He-burning phase. It is shown that, in order…
V350 Sgr is a classical Cepheid suitable for mass determination. It has a hot companion which is prominent in the ultraviolet and which is not itself a binary. We have obtained two high resolution echelle spectra of the companion at orbital…
Multiwavelength opportunities have provided important new insights into the properties of binary/multiple 5 Msun stars. The combination of cool evolved primaries and hot secondaries in Cepheids (geriatric B stars) has yielded detailed…
Surveys of pulsating stars in the inner Galaxy have been very limited, but recent large-scale surveys are rapidly bringing us new samples of various kinds of variable stars and new insights into stellar populations therein. Because of the…
Physical parameters were recently measured for several Cepheids in eclipsing binary systems in the LMC. It is a good opportunity to compare these results with models obtained from pulsation theory. Having well determined physical parameters…
From our Secret Lives of Cepheids program, the prototype Classical Cepheid, $\delta$ Cep, is found to be an X-ray source with periodic pulsation-modulated X-ray variations. This finding complements our earlier reported phase-dependent…
Cepheids provide approaches to determining binary parameters which are often complementary to those for main sequence massive and intermediate mass stars. Specifically, we are using high resolution imaging, radial velocities, and X-ray…
Young intermediate-mass stars have become high-priority targets for direct-imaging planet searches following the recent discoveries of planets orbiting e.g. HR 8799 and Beta Pictoris. Close stellar companions to these stars can affect the…
The B-W method is used to determine the distance of Cepheids and consists in combining the angular size variations of the star, as derived from infrared surface-brightness relations or interferometry, with its linear size variation, as…