A RADIAL-VELOCITY SEARCH FOR P-MODE PULSATIONS IN ETA-BOOTIS

The subgiant eta Boo (G5 IV) has been reported to show p-mode pulsatio ns, as evidenced by variations in the equivalent width of its hydrogen Balmer lines (reported by Kjeldsen et al.). In an attempt to confirm this report, we observed eta Boo's radial velocity with the AFOE spect rograph for a total of 22 hours spread over seven successive nights in 1995 March. We find no evidence for the presence of excess power at t he frequencies reported by Kjeldsen et al.; our upper limit correspond s to typical mode amplitudes of 0.5 m s(-1), about 3 times smaller tha n the velocity amplitudes they inferred. Signals with amplitudes large r than 0.5 m s(-1) may be present at other frequencies within the 0-10 00 mu Hz range, but evidence for such signals is scanty, and typical m ode amplitudes greater than 1.5 m s(-1) are clearly inconsistent with our observations.