A search for evolutionary period variations of Cepheids using the Harvard plate stacks: FF Aql

作者：Berdnikov L N^*; Turner D G; Henden A A

来源：Astronomy Reports, 2014, 58(4): 240-248.

DOI：10.1134/S1063772914040015

Photographic plates of the Harvard Observatory stacks have been used to obtain 1261 brightness estimates for the low-amplitude Cepheid FF Aql (P = 4.47 days). Combined with published visual, photoelectric, and CCD observations, these data enable the construction of an O-C diagram spanning 122 years. The resulting O-C diagram is parabola-shaped, enabling the determination of quadratic brightness elements for the first time. The evolutionary rate of increase of the period, dP/dt = 0.072 +/- 0.011 s/year, is in agreement with theoretical computations for the third crossing of the instability strip. The available data, reduced using the technique of by Eddington and Plakidis, reveal the presence of small, random period fluctuations, E > = 0.0061(d) +/- 0.0044(d), that do not distort the evolutionary trend of the O-C residuals.

• 出版日期2014-4