[en] Stellar interiors are inaccessible through direct observations. For this reason, helioseismologists made use of the Sun’s acoustic oscillation modes to tune models of its structure. The quest to detect modes that probe the solar core has been ongoing for decades. We report the detection of mixed modes penetrating all the way to the core of an evolved star from 320 days of observations with the Kepler satellite. The period spacings of these mixed modes are directly dependent on the density gradient between the core region and the convective envelope.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Beck, P. G.; Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Bedding, T. R.; Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Mosser, B.; Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique, CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Université Denis Diderot, Observatoire de Paris, 92195 Meudon, France
Stello, D.; Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Garcia, R.
Kallinger, T.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
Hekker, S.; University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK ; Astronomical Institute, University of Amsterdam, Post Office Box 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam, Netherlands
Elsworth, Y.; University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Frandsen, S.; Astronomical Institute, University of Amsterdam, Post Office Box 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam, Netherlands
Carrier, F.; Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
De Ridder, J.; Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Aerts, C.; Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium ; Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics, and Particle Physics, Department of Astrophysics, Radboud University, NL-6500 GL Nijmegen, Netherlands
White, T. R.; Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Huber, D.; Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Dupret, Marc-Antoine ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Astrophysique stellaire théorique et astérosismologie
Montalban Iglesias, Josefa ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Astrophysique stellaire théorique et astérosismologie
Miglio, Andrea ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Astrophysique stellaire théorique et astérosismologie
Noels-Grötsch, Arlette ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO)
Chaplin, W. J.; University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Kjeldsen, H.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Christensen-Dalsgaard, J.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Gilliland, R. L.; Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Brown, T. M.; Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope, Goleta, CA 93117, USA
Kawaler, S. D.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Mathur, S.; High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307, USA
Jenkins, J. M.; SETI Institute/National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center, M/S 244-30, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
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J. Montalbán, A. Miglio, A. Noels, R. Scuflaire, P. Ventura, Astrophys. J. 721, L182 (2010).
W. J. Borucki et al., Science 327, 977 (2010); 10.1126/science.1185402.
Materials and methods are available as supporting material on Science Online.
We acknowledge the work of the team behind Kepler. Funding for the Kepler mission is provided by NASA's Science Mission Directorate. We received funding from the European Community's 7th Framework Programme, European Research Council grant no. 227224 (PROSPERITY). All authors thank their national funding agencies.
