The WISE View of RV Tauri Stars

Abstract

We present a detailed study based on infrared photometry of all Galactic RV Tauri stars from the General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS). RV Tauri stars are the brightest among the population II Cepheids. They are thought to evolve away from the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) towards the white dwarf domain. IRAS detected several RV Tauri stars because of their large IR excesses and it was found that they occupy a specific region in the [12] - [25], [25] - [60] IRAS two-colour diagram. We used the all sky survey of WISE to extend these studies and compare the infrared properties of all RV Tauri stars in the GCVS with a selected sample of post-AGB objects with the goal to place the RV Tauri pulsators in the context of post-AGB evolution. Moreover, we correlated the IR properties of both the RV Tauri stars and the comparison sample with other observables like binarity and the presence of a photospheric chemical anomaly called depletion. We find that Galactic RV Tauri stars display a range of infrared properties and we differentiate between disc sources, objects with no IR excess and objects for which the spectral energy distribution (SED) is uncertain. We obtain a clear correlation between disc sources and binarity. RV Tauri stars with a variable mean magnitude are exclusively found among the disc sources. We also find evidence for disc evolution among the binaries. Furthermore our studies show that the presence of a disc seems to be a necessary but not sufficient condition for the depletion process to become efficient.

14 pages, 13 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)

References in corpus (13)

• Keplerian discs around post-AGB stars: a common phenomenon?
• SPITZER survey of dust grain processing in stable discs around binary post-AGB stars
• Defining the instability strip of pulsating post-AGB binary stars from ASAS and NSVS photometry
• Detection of Keplerian dynamics in a disk around the post-AGB star AC Her
• Binary central stars of planetary nebulae with long orbits: the radial velocity orbit of BD+33.2642 (PN G052.7+50.7) and the orbital motion of HD112313 (PN LoTr5)
• Dust-grain processing in circumbinary discs around evolved binaries. The RV Tauri spectral twins RU Cen and AC Her
• The evolved circumbinary disk of AC Her: a radiative transfer, interferometric and mineralogical study
• An interferometric study of the post-AGB binary 89 Herculis. II Radiative transfer models of the circumbinary disk
• AGB nucleosynthesis in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Detailed abundance analysis of the RV Tauri star MACHO47.2496.8
• First detection of photospheric depletion in the LMC
• Searching for Dust around Hyper Metal-Poor Stars
• A Spectroscopic and Photometric Study of the Metal-Poor, Pulsating, Post-AGB Binary HD 46703
• Kinematic structure of the atmosphere and envelope of the post-AGB star HD56126

Cited by in corpus (49)

• Orbital properties of binary post-AGB stars
• The orbits of subdwarf-B + main-sequence binaries: III. The period - eccentricity distribution
• Further ALMA observations and detailed modeling of the Red Rectangle
• Establishing binarity amongst Galactic RV Tauri stars with a disc
• Detailed homogeneous abundance studies of 14 Galactic s-process enriched post-AGB stars: In search of lead (Pb)
• A population of transition disks around evolved stars: Fingerprints of planets? Catalog of disks surrounding Galactic post-AGB binaries
• High-resolution observations of IRAS 08544-4431. Detection of a disk orbiting a post-AGB star and of a slow disk wind
• A mid-IR interferometric survey with MIDI/VLTI: resolving the second-generation protoplanetary disks around post-AGB binaries
• A second post-AGB nebula that contains gas in rotation and in expansion: ALMA maps of IW Car
• Modelling depletion by re-accretion of gas from a dusty disc in post-AGB stars
• The perturbed sublimation rim of the dust disk around the post-AGB binary IRAS08544-4431
• A plethora of new R Coronae Borealis stars discovered from a dedicated spectroscopic follow-up survey
• VLTI/PIONIER survey of disks around post-AGB binaries. Dust sublimation physics rules!
• Disc-binary interactions in depleted post-AGB binaries
• Keplerian disks and outflows in post-AGB stars: AC Herculis, 89 Herculis, IRAS 19125+0343, and R Scuti
• The evolutionary nature of RV Tauri stars in the SMC and LMC
• Amplitude variations of modulated RV Tauri stars support the dust obscuration model of the RVb phenomenon
• Periodicities of the RV Tau-type pulsating star DF Cygni: a combination of Kepler data with ground-based observations
• Evidence for Binarity and Possible Disk Obscuration in Kepler Observations of the Pulsating RV Tau Variable DF Cygni
• The spectroscopic binaries RV Tauri and DF Cygni
• Census of R Coronae Borealis stars I: Infrared light curves from Palomar Gattini IR
• Li-rich K giants, dust excess, and binarity
• Determining mass accretion and jet mass-loss rates in post-asymptotic giant branch binary systems
• Resolved imaging of the AR Puppis circumbinary disk
• The stellar photosphere-hydrogen ionization front interaction in Classical Pulsators: a theoretical explanation for observed period-colour relations
• Discovery of a Metal-poor, Luminous Post-AGB Star that Failed the Third Dredge-up
• Physical properties of galactic RV Tauri stars from Gaia DR2 data
• Jet parameters for a diverse sample of jet-launching post-AGB binaries
• The binary central star of the bipolar pre-planetary nebula IRAS 08005-2356 (V510 Pup)
• Do Water Fountain Jets Really Indicate the Onset of the Morphological Metamorphosis of Circumstellar Envelopes?
• GK Car and GZ Nor: Two low-luminous, depleted RV Tauri stars
• Second-generation protoplanetary discs around evolved binaries: a high-resolution polarimetric view with SPHERE/IRDIS
• A Census of Above-Horizontal-Branch Stars in Galactic Globular Clusters
• Rapid grain growth in post-AGB disc systems from far-infrared and sub-millimetre photometry
• s-process Enriched Evolved Binaries in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds
• s-process Enriched Post-AGB Star J003643.94-723722.1 in the SMC with an Extreme C/O Ratio and the First Precise Detection of Lead
• On the Relation of Silicates and SiO Maser in Evolved Stars
• A SOFIA FORCAST Grism Study of the Mineralogy of Dust in the Winds of Proto-planetary Nebulae: RV Tauri Stars and SRd Variables
• Multiwavelength Observations of the RV Tauri Variable System U Monocerotis: Long-Term Variability Phenomena That Can Be Explained by Binary Interactions with a Circumbinary Disk
• The nebula around the binary post-AGB star 89 Herculis
• Long-term photospheric instabilities and envelopes dynamics in the post-AGB binary system 89 Herculis
• Modelling the impact of circumbinary disk accretion on post-AGB binary evolution and surface chemistry
• SPHERE/ZIMPOL insights into discs around evolved stars: arcs, asymmetries and dust properties
• Discovery of a hot post-AGB star in Galactic globular cluster E3
• Yellow Post-Asymptotic-Giant-Branch Stars as Standard Candles. I. Calibration of the Luminosity Function in Galactic Globular Clusters
• CO second overtone line variability in three carbon-rich early post-AGB stage stars
• Spectroscopy of a sample of RV Tauri stars without IR excess
• A homogeneous distance catalogue for Galactic RV Tauri objects
• Decoding the RVb Enigma of DF Cyg: Pulsations, Circumstellar Disks, and Post-RGB Evolution Revealed by Multi-Wavelength Observations