Related papers: The occurrence of classical Cepheids in binary sys…
Measurements of rates of period change of Classical Cepheids probe stellar physics and evolution. Additionally, better understanding of Cepheid structure and evolution provides greater insight into their use as standard candles and tools…
The period-change rate (PCR) of pulsating variable stars is a useful probe of changes in their interior structure, and thus of their evolutionary stages. So far, the PCRs of Classical Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) have been…
The majority of stars more massive than the Sun is found in binary or multiple star systems and many of them will interact during their evolution. Specific interactions, where progenitors and post-mass transfer (MT) systems are clearly…
Detecting companions to Cepheids is difficult. In most cases the bright pulsator overshines the fainter secondary. Since Cepheids play a key role in determining the cosmic distance scale it is crucial to find binaries among the calibrating…
Context. The Cepheid mass discrepancy, the difference between masses predicted from stellar evolution and stellar pulsation calculations, is a challenge for the understanding of stellar astrophysics. Recent models of the eclipsing binary…
We have computed stellar evolutionary models for stars in a mass range characteristic of Cepheid variables ($3<m/\Msol<12$) for different metallicities representative of the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds populations. The stellar…
Classical Cepheids are not only excellent standard candles, but also invaluable tools to test stellar evolution and pulsation theories. Rates of their pulsation period change, quantified usually through $O-C$ diagrams, can be confronted…
Massive star evolution plays a crucial role in astrophysics but bares large uncertainties. This problem becomes more severe by the majority of massive stars being born in close binary systems, whose evolution is affected by the interaction…
The majority of close massive binary stars with initial periods of a few days experience a contact phase, in which both stars overflow their Roche lobes simultaneously. We perform the first dedicated study of the evolution of massive…
Based on new observations and improved modeling techniques, we have reanalyzed seven Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Improved physical parameters have been determined for the exotic system OGLE LMC-CEP-1718 composed of two…
We present here the first spectroscopic and photometric analysis of the double-lined eclipsing binary containing the classical, first-overtone Cepheid OGLE-LMC-CEP-2532 (MACHO 81.8997.87). The system has an orbital period of 800 days and…
Context. The properties of variable stars can give independent constraints on the star formation history of the host galaxy, by determining the age and metallicity of the parent population. Aims. We investigate the pulsation properties of…
Classical Cepheids are useful tracers of the Galactic young stellar population because their distances and ages can be determined from their period-luminosity and period-age relations. In addition, the radial velocities and chemical…
Classical Cepheids are blue loop stars that have famously been dubbed "magnifying glasses of stellar evolution" and have been studied for a long time. As more and more precise observations of Cepheids are secured over ever-increasing…
The recent sample of 21 detached eclipsing binaries in the Small Magellanic Cloud (Harries et al. 2003, Hilditch et al. 2005) provides a valuable test of the binary mass function for massive stars. We show that 50% of detached binaries have…
Thirty eight long-period (P>10 days), apparently contact binary stars discovered by the OGLE-II project in the SMC appear to be Beta Lyrae-type systems with ellipsoidal variations of the cool components dominating over eclipse effects in…
We briefly review the evolutionary status of the classical Cepheid variables, their structure, and the properties of the linear modes. Then we discuss the current status of the nonlinear hydrodynamical modelling, including modern adaptive…
Modeling binary star populations is critical to linking the theories of star formation and stellar evolution with observations. In order to test these theories, we need accurate models of observable binary populations. The Kepler Eclipsing…
The Galactic Center (GC) is dominated by the gravity of a super-massive black hole (SMBH), Sagittarius A$^*$, and is suspected to contain a sizable population of binary stars. Such binaries form hierarchical triples with the SMBH,…
We present the analysis of photometric and spectroscopic data of six bright Galactic Cepheids: GH Carinae, V419 Centauri, V898 Centauri, AD Puppis, AY Sagittarii, and ST Velorum. Based on new radial velocity data (in some cases supplemented…