VARIABILITY IN PROTO-PLANETARY NEBULAE

VARIABILITY IN PROTO-PLANETARY NEBULAE. IV. LIGHT CURVE ANALYSIS OF FOUR OXYGEN-RICH, F SPECTRAL TYPE OBJECTS

Authors:

Hrivnak et al

Abstract:

We present new light curves covering 14–19 years of observations of four bright proto-planetary nebulae (PPNs), all oxygen-rich and of F spectral type. They each display cyclical light curves with significant variations in amplitude. All four were previously known to vary in light. Our data were combined with published data and searched for periodicity. The results are as follows: IRAS 19475+3119 (HD 331319; 41.0 days), 17436+5003 (HD 161796; 45.2 days), 19386+0155 (101.8 days), and 18095+2704 (113.3 days). The two longer periods are in agreement with previous studies while the two shorter periods each reveal for the first time a dominant period over these long observing intervals. Multiple periods were also found for each object. The secondary periods were all close to the dominant periods, with P2/P1 ranging from 0.86 to 1.06. The variations in color reveal maximum variations in Teff of 400–770 K. These variations are due to pulsations in these post-asymptotic giant branch objects. Maximum seasonal light variations are all less than 0.23 mag (V), consistent for their temperatures and periods with the results of Hrivnak et al. for 12 C-rich PPNs. For all of these PPNs, there is an inverse relationship between period and temperature; however, there is a suggestion that the period–temperature relationship may be somewhat steeper for the O-rich than for the C-rich PPNs.