DY Pegasi, abbreviated DY Peg, is a binary star system in the northern constellation of Pegasus. It is a well-studied

SX Phoenicis variable An SX Phoenicis variable is a type of variable star. These stars exhibit a short period pulsation behavior that varies on time scales of 0.03–0.08 days (0.7–1.9 hours). They have spectral classifications in the range A2-F5 and vary in magnitude ...

star with a brightness that ranges from an

apparent visual magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's lig ...

of 9.95 down to 10.62 with a period of . This system is much too faint to be seen with the naked eye, but can be viewed with large binoculars or a telescope. Based on its high space motion and low abundances of heavier elements, it is a

population II During 1944, Walter Baade categorized groups of stars within the Milky Way into stellar populations. In the abstract of the article by Baade, he recognizes that Jan Oort originally conceived this type of classification in 1926: Baade noticed ...

star system.

Observation history

The variability of this star was first reported by Otto Morgenroth in 1934, and the first

light curve In astronomy, a light curve is a graph of light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude of light received on the y axis and with time on the x axis. The light is usually in a particular frequ ...

s of its photometric behavior were constructed by A. V. Soloviev in 1938. This curve showed a rapid increase of 0.7 in magnitude followed by a slower decline. It was found to be an intrinsic variable with an "ultra-short" period of 105 minutes. The 'b-v'

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...

index of the star was found to vary with each cycle, corresponding to a change in

spectral type In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the ...

from A7 at maximum to F1 at minimum. Direct observation of spectra showed a variation from A3 to A9. Evidence was found of small variations in the light curve between each cycle. By 1972, it was widely regarded as a dwarf cepheid; a

Delta Scuti variable A Delta Scuti variable (sometimes termed dwarf cepheid when the V-band amplitude is larger than 0.3 mag.) is a subclass of young pulsating star. These variables as well as classical cepheids are important standard candles and have been used to es ...

. However, some astronomers classed it as a short-period RR_s Lyrae variable. Photometric observations of DY Peg in 1975 by E. H. Geyer and M. Hoffman showed non-periodic changes to the light curve that suggested an overtone pulsation. A frequency analysis of observations made by A. Masani and P. Broglia in 1953 strengthened the evidence that DY Peg is a double mode cepheid, showing a fundamental pulsation and a weaker first overtone with a period ratio of 0.764. By 1982, similarities with

SX Phoenicis SX Phoenicis is a variable star in the southern constellation Phoenix. With an apparent visual magnitude ranging around 7.33, it is too faint to be readily seen with the naked eye and requires binoculars. It is located 272 light yea ...

had been found, with both showing comparable drifts in their beat periods. Application of the Baade-Wesselink method provided a preliminary distance estimate to DY Peg of . In 2003, J. N. Fu and C. Sterken suggested that much of the long-term trend in variability period changes could be explained by a highly-eccentric orbital model, although it was not deemed a complete solution since some small residuals remained from the period 1930–1950. They computed a preliminary

orbital period The orbital period (also revolution period) is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy, it usually applies to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun, moons orbiting planets ...

of with an

eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry * Eccentricity (g ...

of . L.-J. Li and S.-B. Qian in 2010 found a mass estimate of the secondary in the range of 0.028 to , which suggests the companion may be a

brown dwarf Brown dwarfs (also called failed stars) are substellar objects that are not massive enough to sustain nuclear fusion of ordinary hydrogen ( 1H) into helium in their cores, unlike a main-sequence star. Instead, they have a mass between the most ...

Properties

A 2020 analysis of data collected by the

AAVSO The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) is an international nonprofit organization, founded in 1911, focused on coordinating, analyzing, publishing, and archiving variable star observations made largely by amateur astronomers ...

found three independent frequencies in the variability of the visible component. The primary and secondary modes are radial pulsations with 13.71249 and 17.7000 cycles per day, respectively, while a newly discovered non-radial mode has a frequency of 18.138 cycles per day. Consistent with being a population II star, it has a low metallicity. The stellar class ranges from A3 to F1 over each cycle, and the radius of the star varies by 3.5%. To explain certain discrepant properties of the system, H.-F. Xue and J.-S. Niu proposed that the primary may be accreting mass from an orbiting dust disk. This is conjectured to be leftover material from a

white dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes ...

companion as it passed through the asymptotic giant branch. DY Pegasi has been classified as a SX Phoenicis variable on the basis of its low metallicity. However, a 2014 study by S. Barcza and J. M. Benkő found a much higher general abundance of heavy elements with /H= dex, approaching solar in composition. (This notation indicates the base-10 logarithm of the ratio of "metals" 'M' to hydrogen 'H', compared to the same abundances in the Sun. A value of 0.0 is solar.) They proposed that this may instead be a high amplitude

. The short period of this variable rules it out as an RR Lyrae variable. The properties of DY Pegasi are uncertain due to the presence of an unknown companion, but it appears to lie close to the main sequence at the red (cool) edge of the

instability strip The unqualified term instability strip usually refers to a region of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram largely occupied by several related classes of pulsating variable stars: Delta Scuti variables, SX Phoenicis variables, and rapidly oscillat ...

. However, it has also been treated as a possible RR Lyrae variable which would be a horizontal branch star. As an old low-metallicity SX Phoenicis variable, it is very similar to

blue straggler A blue straggler is a main-sequence star in an open or globular cluster that is more luminous and bluer than stars at the main sequence turnoff point for the cluster. Blue stragglers were first discovered by Allan Sandage in 1953 while perform ...

s, which are formed from stellar mergers or mass transfer in binary systems.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DY Pegasi Variable stars Binary stars Pegasus (constellation) BD+16 4877 218549 114290 Pegasi, DY SX Phoenicis variables