Limits to CCD ensemble photometry precision, and prospects for asteroseismology

Ronald L. Gilliland, Timothy M. Brown
1992 Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific  
We report results of CCD ensemble, time-resolved photometry with the KPNO 2.1-m telescope yielding precision of 400 ¿¿mag per minute of integration. Previous experience on 1-m class telescopes and well-known scaling laws for the limiting noise sources indicate that current 4-m class telescopes and existing detectors, operated as a network for about five days, would allow detection of coherent (solar-like) oscillations at an amplitude of 15 ¿¿mag. We provide detailed stellar-evolution modeling
more » ... d eigenfrequency-analysis results for the stars of the old open cluster M67. Using observed amplitudes of solar p-mode oscillations, and published scaling laws with spectral type, we show that direct detection of solar-analog oscillations on 13th-magnitude M67 stars is possible with a several-night 4-m network campaign. Asteroseismology on a substantial ensemble of cluster stars promises to allow fundamental new tests of stellar structure and evolution theory.
doi:10.1086/133032 fatcat:b3rzruzlsvgzdnrxjostlslshy