New and improved rotational periods of magnetic CP stars from ASAS-3, KELT, and MASCARA data

Abstract

ABSTRACT Magnetic chemically peculiar (mCP) stars allow the investigation of such diverse phenomena as atomic diffusion, magnetic fields, and stellar rotation. The aim of the present investigation is to enhance our knowledge of the rotational properties of mCP stars by increasing the sample of objects with accurately determined rotational periods. To this end, archival photometric time-series data from the ASAS-3, KELT, and MASCARA surveys were employed to improve existing rotational period information and derive rotational periods for mCP stars hitherto not known to be photometric variables. Our final sample consists of 294 mCP stars, a considerable amount of which (more than 40 per cent) are presented here as photometric variables for the first time. In addition, we identified 24 mCP star candidates that show light variability in agreement with rotational modulation but lack spectroscopic confirmation. The rotational period distribution of our sample agrees well with the literature. Most stars are between 100 Myr and 1 Gyr old, with an apparent lack of very young stars. No objects were found on the zero-age main sequence; several stars seem to have evolved to the subgiant stage, albeit well before the first dredge-up. We identified four eclipsing binaries (HD 244391, HD 247441, HD 248784, and HD 252519), which potentially host an mCP star. This is of great interest because mCP stars are very rarely found in close binary systems, particularly eclipsing ones. Using archival spectra, we find strong evidence that the HD 252519 system indeed harbours an mCP star component.