Tidally perturbed pulsations in the pre-main sequence δ Scuti binary RS Cha

¹ Institut für Astro- und Teilchenphysik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
e-mail: thomas.steindl@uibk.ac.at
² Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, 3001 Leuven, Belgium

Received: 3 August 2020
Accepted: 15 November 2020

Abstract

Context. Stellar components in binaries are subject to tidal forces which influence asteroseismic properties. Tidally pertubed pulsations have been reported for different objects but none of these are in their pre-main sequence phase of evolution. This makes RS Cha, consisting of two δ Scuti stars and with pulsational characteristics influenced by tidal effects, the first such object observed.

Aims. We aim to investigate the pulsational properties of the eclipsing binary RS Cha in terms of the theory of tidally perturbed pulsations.

Methods. Based on photometric time series obtained from the TESS satellite, we performed binary modelling using PHOEBE to interpret the binary light curve and to allow the investigation of the pulsations of both components in RS Cha. We modelled the detrended light curve with the superposition of linear modes. The frequencies were then interpreted as self excited modes perturbed by tidal forces.

Results. We find evidence for tidally perturbed modes, which enables the identification of pulsation modes. RS Cha mainly exhibits dipole modes, while one prominent l = 2 or l = 3 mode is also inferred. The latter verifies previous results from spectroscopic time series.

Conclusion. This work shows that RS Cha is an ideal candidate to test the theory of tidally perturbed pulsations within the framework of asteroseismic modelling. The identification of multiple pulsation modes using this theory is unprecedented and will be a keystone in the future of pre-main sequence asteroseismology. However, amplitude modulation caused by the changing light ratio during the orbital phase in an eclipsing binary also plays a significant role, which can complicate mode identification.