HS2324+3944: discovery of non-radial pulsations in a hydrogen-rich PG1159 star

Abstract

HS\,2324+3944 is a peculiar PG\,1159 star, with a high amount of H in its atmosphere (Dreizler et al. 1995). Its location in the $\log T_{\rm eff}$ -- $\log g$ plane is well inside the GW Vir instability strip. In this paper I report the results of two photoelectric observations of HS\,2324+39, which clearly show that the luminosity of this star presents periodical variations with a period of (2140 $\pm$ 11) s. This photometric behaviour is most easily explained by the presence of non-radial oscillations. Therefore HS\,2324+39 is a new member of the GW Vir group, and is characterized by the longest pulsation period found among these stars. Moreover HS\,2324+39 appears to be the first pulsating PG\,1159 star with a high H abundance in its atmosphere (H/He = 2 by number, Dreizler et al. 1995). Were the pulsation mechanism based on the C/O cyclic ionization (Starrfield et al. 1984) at work, the H abundance should drop to zero sharply in the driving regions. Such a strong decrease of hydrogen looks quite unlikely; for this reason the presence of pulsations in HS\,2324+39 seems to be a very interesting phenomenon.

4 pages, uuencoded (LaTeX file + 3 .eps figures), accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters