Id. Howarth et al., TIME-DEPENDENT STRUCTURE IN ULTRAVIOLET-ABSORPTION LINES OF THE RAPIDROTATORS HD-64760 (B0-IB) AND HD-93521 (O9.5-V), Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 296(4), 1998, pp. 949-960
Cross-correlation provides an effective line-averaging function for sp
ectra containing many line features, a result which can be exploited i
n order to perform time-series and spatial-domain analyses of absorpti
on-line variability in data of (relatively) poor quality. We apply thi
s method to high-resolution IUE spectra. For the known non-radial puls
ator HD 93521 (09.5 V), time-series analysis of the cross-correlation
function recovers two periods that are confirmed in independent optica
l data (P-1 = 1.77 h, P-2 = 2.90 h); there is no statistically signifi
cant excess power at these frequencies in lines formed in the stellar
wind. By comparing phase information from the time-series analysis wit
h results from pulsation models we estimate l=10+/-1 and 6+/-1 as the
harmonic degrees for P-1 and P-2, respectively, with l+m less than or
similar to 2 for each mode (where pn is the azimuthal order of the mod
e). We also present evidence for absorption-line variability in HD 647
60 (HR 3090; B0.5 Ib), finding marginally significant signals with P-1
= 8.9 h (or, possibly, 14.2h) and P-2 = 29 h. The longer period is pr
esent, with a strong signal, in wind-formed lines. We consider possibl
e circumstellar and (quasi-)photospheric origins for P-2, and conclude
that this signal probably does not arise through rotational modulatio
n (with the corollary that the stellar-wind signal also does not arise
in corotating structures, contrary to previous suggestions). The phas
e behaviour of the signals is consistent with non-radial pulsation mod
els characterized by l=5+/-1 (P-1) and 2+/-1 (P-2), with l+m less than
or equal to 1, supporting a previous suggestion by Baade that both lo
w- and higher-order modes are present; the wind modulation at P-2 may
then result from leakage of pulsation energy into the supersonic outfl
ow. The lack of significant photometric variability is a serious diffi
culty for this model (any sinusoidal photometric variability at P-2 ha
s semiamplitude <2 mmag at lambda(eff) = 1575 Angstrom, with 95 per ce
nt confidence), but this may itself be a consequence of wave leakage.