Gaia DR3 in Technicolor: Tracing Chromatic Signatures of Variable Hot Subdwarfs
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Hot subdwarf stars are core-helium-burning objects that were once red giants but have been stripped of their outer envelopes, likely through interactions with a nearby companion star. Most are in binaries and exhibit photometric oscillations due to pulsations, companion irradiation, ellipsoidal modulations, eclipses, or other effects. Like a fingerprint, the pattern of variability observed in their light curves, which is wavelength-dependent, can reveal the nature of the companion and help classify and characterize the binary. Gaia multi-epoch photometry is a long baseline data structure that provides intermittent photometric data in three distinct optical bandpasses dating back to 2014. By analyzing the photometric dispersions in the G, GBP, and GRP measurements of stars observed by Gaia, we create dispersion-dispersion plots that help us identify new variables, highlight anomalous objects, and reveal patterns amongst known hot subdwarf variables. We will discuss the details of this methodology, as applied to hot subdwarfs, and demonstrate the overall efficacy of this approach.
Authors: Kirby, Bennett, Barlow, Brad
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6949772843
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