Rotation and oblique pulsation in Kepler observations of the roAp star KIC 10483436

Abstract

Photometry of KIC 10483436 was obtained continuously with 1-min exposures over a 27-d period from the Kepler satellite. The light curve shows rotational variations from surface spots with a period of 4.303 ± 0.002 d, an amplitude of about 6 mmag and eight pulsation frequencies typical of roAp stars. The high-frequency pattern consists of a quintuplet of equally spaced peaks where the frequency of the dominant central peak (68 μmag amplitude) is 1353.00 μHz (P = 12.32 min). A second set of three peaks of lower amplitude are also visible. These appear to form part of a quintuplet centred on 1511.6 μHz with the central peak and one side peak missing. The equidistant frequency spacing is 2.69 μHz, which corresponds to the 4.303 d rotation period. However, the amplitudes (12 μmag) of these peaks are too close to the detection level to allow definite identification of the multiplets. Although no spectrum is available, the character of the pulsations shows that this is a roAp star with two high-frequency modes modulated in amplitude in accordance with the oblique pulsator model. The 4.303-d variation in the light curve, which is interpreted as rotational modulation, shows harmonics as high as the 26th. These harmonics are probably a result of many patches of varying surface brightness associated with surface abundance variations characteristic of Ap stars.