Kepler detected gravity-mode period spacings in a red giant star

P. G. Beck (1) , T. R. Bedding (2) , B. Mosser (3) , D. Stello (2) , R.A. Garcia (4) , T. Kallinger (5) , S. Hekker (6) , Y. Elsworth (6) , S. Frandsen (7) , F. Carrier (1) , J. de Ridder (1) , C. Aerts (1) , T. R. White (2) , D. Huber (2) , M.-A. Dupret (8) , J. Montalbán (8) , A. Miglio (8) , A. Noels (8) , W. J. Chaplin (6) , H. Kjeldsen (9) , J. Christensen-Dalsgaard (9) , R. L. Gilliland (10) , T. M. Brown (11) , S. D. Kawaler (12) , S. Mathur (13) , J. M. Jenkins (14)

1 Instituut voor Sterrenkunde [Leuven]
2 SIfA - Sydney Institute for Astronomy
3 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics
4 AIM (UMR_7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112) - Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation
5 Department of Physics and Astronomy [Vancouver]
6 School of Physics and Astronomy
7 AI PANNEKOEK - Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek
8 Institut d'Astrophysique et de Géophysique [Liège]
9 Department of Physics and Astronomy [Aarhus]
10 STSci - Space Telescope Science Institute
11 Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope
12 Department of Physics and Astronomy [Ames, Iowa]
13 HAO - High Altitude Observatory
14 SETI - Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute

Stellar interiors are inaccessible through direct observations. For this reason, helioseismologists made use of the Sun's acoustic oscillation modes to tune models of its structure. The quest to detect modes that probe the solar core has been ongoing for decades. We report the detection of mixed modes penetrating all the way to the core of an evolved star from 320 days of observations with the Kepler satellite. The period spacings of these mixed modes are directly dependent on the density gradient between the core region and the convective envelope

Domains: Astrophysics [astro-ph]; Solar and Stellar Astrophysics [astro-ph.SR]

P. G. Beck, T. R. Bedding, B. Mosser, D. Stello, R.A. Garcia, et al.. Kepler detected gravity-mode period spacings in a red giant star. Science, 2011, 332 (6026), pp.205. ⟨10.1126/science.1201939⟩. ⟨cea-00863835⟩