Estimate the radius of the convective core of main-sequence stars from observed oscillation frequencies

Abstract

The determination of the size of the convective core of main-sequence stars is usually dependent on the construction of models of stars. Here we introduce a method to estimate the radius of the convective core of main-sequence stars with masses between about 1.1 and 1.5 $M_{\odot }$ from observed frequencies of low-degree p-modes. A formula is proposed to achieve the estimation. The values of the radius of the convective core of four known stars are successfully estimated by the formula. The radius of the convective core of KIC 9812850 estimated by the formula is $0.140\pm 0.028$ $R_{\odot }$. In order to confirm this prediction, a grid of evolutionary models were computed. The value of the convective-core radius of the best-fit model of KIC 9812850 is $0.149$ $R_{\odot }$, which is in good agreement with that estimated by the formula from observed frequencies. The formula aids in understanding the interior structure of stars directly from observed frequencies. The understanding is not dependent on the construction of models.

Accepted for publication in ApJ. 13 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (7)

• Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Three Year Results: Implications for Cosmology
• Correcting stellar oscillation frequencies for near-surface effects
• TASS Mark IV Photometric Survey of the Northern Sky
• Asteroseismic Signatures of Small Convective Cores
• Modeling Convective Core Overshoot and Diffusion in Procyon Constrained by Asteroseismic Data
• Asteroseismic analysis of two alpha-enhanced stars KIC 7976303 and KIC 8694723
• The frequency separations of stellar p-modes

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Calibrating Core Overshooting Parameters With Two-dimensional Hydrodynamical Simulations
• The effects of the overshooting of the convective core on main-sequence turnoffs of young- and intermediate-age star clusters
• Rotating Solar Models in Agreement with Helioseismic Results and Updated Neutrino Fluxes
• Impact of convective overshooting on the single-degenerate model of Type Ia supernovae