Magnetic characterization of the SPB/β Cep hybrid pulsator HD 43317

Abstract

Large-scale magnetic fields at the surface of massive stars do not only influence the outer-most layers of the star, but also have consequences for the deep interior, only observationally accessible through asteroseismology. We performed a detailed characterization of the dipolar magnetic field at the surface of the B3.5V star HD 43317, a SPB/β Cep hybrid pulsator, by studying the rotationally modulated magnetic field of archival and new Narval spectropolarimetry. Additionally, we employed a grid-based approach to compare the Zeeman signatures with model profiles. By studying the rotational modulation of the He lines in both the Narval and HARPS spectroscopy caused by co-rotating surface abundance inhomogeneities, we updated the rotation period to 0.897673 ± 0.000004 d. The inclination angle between the rotation axis and the observer’s line of sight remains ill-defined, because of the low level of variability in Stokes V and deformations in the intensity profiles by stellar pulsation modes. The obliquity angle between the rotation and magnetic axes is constrained to β ∈ [ 67,90 ] °, and the strength of the dipolar magnetic field is of the order of 1 kG to 1.5 kG. This magnetic field at the stellar surface is sufficiently strong to warrant a uniformly rotating radiative envelope, causing less convective core overshooting, which should be visible in future forward seismic modeling.