On $ε$-mechanism driven pulsations in VV 47

Abstract

We report new observations of the central star of the planetary nebula VV 47 carried out to verify earlier assertions that the short-period pulsation modes detected in the star are driven by the $ε$ mechanism. In our data, VV 47 was not variable up to a limit of 0.52 mmag in the Fourier amplitude spectrum up to the Nyquist frequency of 21.7 mHz. Given this null result we re-analyzed the data set in which oscillations were claimed. After careful data reduction, photometry, extinction correction, and analysis with a conservative criterion of S/N $\geq$ 4 in the Fourier amplitude spectrum, we found that the star was not variable during the original observations. The oscillations reported earlier were due to an over-optimistic detection criterion. We conclude that VV 47 did not pulsate during any measurements at hand; the observational detection of $ε$-driven pulsations remains arduous.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 6 pages, 2 tables, 3 figures