Tidally Tilted Pulsations in HD 265435, a Subdwarf B Star with a Close White Dwarf Companion

Tidally tilted pulsators (TTPs) are an intriguing new class of oscillating stars in binary systems; in such stars, the pulsation axis coincides with the line of apsides, or tidal axis, of the binary. All three TTPs discovered so far have been delta Scuti stars. In this Letter, we report the first conclusive discovery of tidally tilted pulsations in a subdwarf B (sdB) star. HD 265435 is an sdB-white dwarf binary with a 1.65 hr period that has been identified and characterized as the nearest potential Type Ia supernova progenitor. Using TESS 20 s cadence data from Sectors 44 and 45, we show that the pulsation axis of the sdB star has been tidally tilted into the orbital plane and aligned with the tidal axis of the binary. We identify 31 independent pulsation frequencies, 27 of which have between 1 and 7 sidebands separated by the orbital frequency (nu (orb)) or multiples thereof. Using the observed amplitude and phase variability due to tidal tilting, we assign l and m values to most of the observed oscillation modes and use these mode identifications to generate preliminary asteroseismic constraints. Our work significantly expands our understanding of TTPs, as we now know that (i) they can be found in stars other than delta Scuti pulsators, especially highly evolved stars that have lost their H-rich envelopes, and (ii) tidally tilted pulsations can be used to probe the interiors of stars in very tight binaries.

Automated summary

Tidally tilted pulsators, a new class of oscillating stars in binary systems, have been discovered in a subdwarf B star. This discovery expands our understanding of these pulsating stars and their potential applications in probing the interiors of stars in tight binaries.