Evidence of Stellar Oscillations in the Post-common-envelope Binary Candidate ASASSN-V J205543.90+240033.5

Abstract

ASASSN-V J205543.90+240033.5 (ASJ2055) is a possible post-common-envelope binary system. Its optical photometric data show an orbital variation of about 0.52 days and a fast period modulation of P _0 ∼ 9.77 minutes, whose origin is unknown. In this Letter, we report evidence of the stellar oscillation of the companion star as the origin of the fast period modulation. We analyze the photometric data taken by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, the Liverpool Telescope, and the Lulin One-meter Telescope. It is found that the period of the 9.77 minutes signal measured in 2022 August is significantly shorter than that in 2021 July/August, and the magnitude of the change is of the order of ∣△ P _0 ∣/ P _0 ∼ 0.0008(4). Such a large variation will be incompatible with the scenario of the white dwarf (WD) spin as the origin of the 9.77 minutes periodic modulation. We suggest that the fast periodic signal is related to the emission from the irradiated companion star rather than that of the WD. Using existing photometric data covering a wide wavelength range, we estimate that the hot WD in ASJ2055 has a temperature of T _eff ∼ 80,000 K and is heating the oscillating M-type main-sequence star with T _eff ∼ 3500 K on its unirradiated surface. The stellar oscillation of the M-type main-sequence star has been predicted in theoretical studies, but no observational confirmation has been done. ASJ2055, therefore, has the potential to be a unique laboratory for investigating the stellar oscillation of an M-type main-sequence star and the heating effect on stellar oscillation.

Keywords

• Binary stars
• White dwarf stars