The δ Scuti Pulsator Occurrence as a Function of Age, T eff , Rotation, and Metallicity
- 1University of Hawai‘i
- 2University of Sydney
- 3University of Southern Queensland
Abstract
Many A- and F-type stars do not display δ Scuti pulsations, despite being located within the instability strip. We use photometry from the TESS Mission to discover and study δ Scuti pulsators in open clusters within 500 pc and with ages between 20 and 900 Myr, which provide a unique opportunity to study δ Scuti pulsators in coeval populations with uniform chemical composition. We measure pulsator occurrence, which corrects the pulsator fraction for incompleteness, across all clusters. We find that clusters younger than 200 Myr tend to exhibit higher occurrence rates, with an average occurrence of 88% ± 3%. The occurrence rates in clusters older than 200 Myr tend to resemble the pulsator fraction of field-star samples, with an average occurrence of 62% ± 3%. In addition, we find that pulsators tend to rotate more rapidly in older clusters than their younger counterparts and that hotter pulsators may stop pulsating earlier than their cooler counterparts. These results show that pulsator occurrence decreases with age and that rapid rotation is critical in maintaining δ Scuti pulsations over time.
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BibTeX
@article{berry2026scuti,
title = {{The δ Scuti Pulsator Occurrence as a Function of Age, T eff , Rotation, and Metallicity}},
author = {Ian Berry and Daniel Huber and Yaguang Li and Daniel Hey and Timothy R. Bedding and Simon J. Murphy},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae9764},
url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae9764},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The δ Scuti Pulsator Occurrence as a Function of Age, T eff , Rotation, and Metallicity
AU - Ian Berry
AU - Daniel Huber
AU - Yaguang Li
AU - Daniel Hey
AU - Timothy R. Bedding
AU - Simon J. Murphy
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/30
JO - The Astrophysical Journal
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/ae9764
UR - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae9764
AB - Many A- and F-type stars do not display δ Scuti pulsations, despite being located within the instability strip. We use photometry from the TESS Mission to discover and study δ Scuti pulsators in open clusters within 500 pc and with ages between 20 and 900 Myr, which provide a unique opportunity to study δ Scuti pulsators in coeval populations with uniform chemical composition. We measure pulsator occurrence, which corrects the pulsator fraction for incompleteness, across all clusters. We find that clusters younger than 200 Myr tend to exhibit higher occurrence rates, with an average occurrence of 88% ± 3%. The occurrence rates in clusters older than 200 Myr tend to resemble the pulsator fraction of field-star samples, with an average occurrence of 62% ± 3%. In addition, we find that pulsators tend to rotate more rapidly in older clusters than their younger counterparts and that hotter pulsators may stop pulsating earlier than their cooler counterparts. These results show that pulsator occurrence decreases with age and that rapid rotation is critical in maintaining δ Scuti pulsations over time.
SN - 0004-637X
SN - 1538-4357
ER -