Context. The ratio of pulsation to radial velocity (the projection factor) is currently limiting the accuracy of the Baade-Wesselink method, and in particular of its interferometric version recently applied to several nearby Cepheids. Aims. This work aims at establishing a link between the line asymmetry evolution over the Cepheids' pulsation cycles and their projection factor, with the final objective to improve the accuracy of the Baade-Wesselink method for distance determinations. Methods. We present HARPS high spectral resolution observations (R = 120 000) of nine galactic Cepheids: R Tra, S Cru, Y Sgr, β Dor, ζ Gem, Y Oph, RZ Vel, Car and RS Pup, having a good period sampling (P = 3.39d to P = 41.52d). We fit spectral line profiles by an asymmetric bi-Gaussian to derive radial velocity, Full-Width at Half-Maximum in the line (FWHM) and line asymmetry for all stars. We then extract correlations curves between radial velocity and asymmetry. A geometric model providing synthetic spectral lines, including limb-darkening, a constant FWHM (hereafter σ C ) and the rotation velocity is used to interpret these correlations curves. Results. For all stars, comparison between observations and modelling is satisfactory, and we were able to determine the projected rotation velocities and σ C for all stars. We also find a correlation between the rotation velocity (V rot sin i) and the period of the star: V rot sin i = (−11.5 ± 0.9) log (P) + (19.8 ± 1.0) [km s−1 ]. Moreover, we observe a systematic shift in observational asymmetry curves (noted γ O ), related to the period of the star, which is not explained by our static model: γ O = (−10.7 ± 0.1) log (P) + (9.7 ± 0.2) [in %]. For long-period Cepheids, in which velocity gradients, compression or shock waves seem to be large compared to short-or mediumperiod Cepheids we observe indeed a greater systematic shift in asymmetry curves. Conclusions. This new way of studying line asymmetry seems to be very promising for a better understanding of Cepheids atmosphere and to determine, for each star, a dynamic projection factor.

Context. The projection factor is a key quantity for the interferometric Baade-Wesselink (hereafter IBW) and surface-brightness (hereafter SB) methods of determining the distance of Cepheids. Indeed, it allows a consistent combination of angular and linear diameters of the star. Aims. We aim to determine consistent projection factors that include the dynamical structure of the Cepheids' atmosphere.Methods. Hydrodynamical models of δ Cep and Car have been used to validate a spectroscopic method of determining the projection factor. This method, based on the amplitude of the radial velocity curve, is applied to eight stars observed with the HARPS spectrometer. The projection factor is divided into three sub-concepts : (1) a geometrical effect, (2) the velocity gradient within the atmosphere, and (3) the relative motion of the "optical" pulsating photosphere compared to the corresponding mass elements (hereafter f o−g ). Both, (1) and (3) are deduced from geometrical and hydrodynamical models, respectively, while (2) is derived directly from observations.Results. The Fe i 4896.439 Å line is found to be the best one to use in the context of IBW and SB methods. A coherent and consistent period-projection factor relation (hereafter Pp relation) is derived for this specific spectral line: p = [−0.064 ± 0.020] log P + [1.376 ± 0.023]. This procedure is then extended to derive dynamic projection factors for any spectral line of any Cepheid. Conclusions. This Pp relation is an important tool for removing bias in the calibration of the period-luminosity relation of Cepheids. Moreover, it reveals a new physical quantity f o−g to investigate in the near future.

Aims. In this work, we describe the pipeline for the fast supervised classification of light curves observed by the CoRoT exoplanet CCDs. We present the classification results obtained for the first four measured fields, which represent a one-year in-orbit operation. Methods. The basis of the adopted supervised classification methodology has been described in detail in a previous paper, as is its application to the OGLE database. Here, we present the modifications of the algorithms and of the training set to optimize the performance when applied to the CoRoT data. Results. Classification results are presented for the observed fields IRa01, SRc01, LRc01, and LRa01 of the CoRoT mission. Statistics on the number of variables and the number of objects per class are given and typical light curves of high-probability candidates are shown. We also report on new stellar variability types discovered in the CoRoT data. The full classification results are publicly available.

Abstract. The young stellar object MWC 297 is an embedded B1.5Ve star exhibiting strong hydrogen emission lines and a strong near-infrared continuum excess. This object has been observed with the VLT interferometer equipped with the AMBER instrument during its first commissioning run. VLTI/AMBER is currently the only near infrared interferometer which can observe spectrally dispersed visibilities. MWC 297 has been spatially resolved in the continuum with a visibility of 0.50 +0.08 −0.10 as well as in the Brγ emission line where the visibility decrease to a lower value of 0.33 ± 0.06. This change in the visibility with the wavelength can be interpreted by the presence of an optically thick disk responsible for the visibility in the continuum and of a stellar wind traced by the Brγ emission line and whose apparent size is 40% larger. We validate this interpretation by building a model of the stellar environment that combines a geometrically thin, optically thick accretion disk model consisting of gas and dust, and a latitude-dependent stellar wind outflowing above the disk surface. The continuum emission and visibilities obtained from this model are fully consistent with the interferometric AMBER data. They agree also with existing optical, near-infrared spectra and other broad-band near-infrared interferometric visibilities. We also reproduce the shape of the visibilities in the Brγ line as well as the profile of this line obtained at an higher spectral resolution with the VLT/ISAAC spectrograph, and those of the Hα and Hβ lines. The disk and wind models yield a consistent inclination of the system of approximately 20• . A picture emerges in which MWC 297 is surrounded by an equatorial flat disk that is possibly still accreting and an outflowing wind which has a much higher velocity in the polar region than at the equator. The VLTI/AMBER unique capability to measure spectral visibilities therefore allows us for the first time to compare the apparent geometry of a wind with the disk structure in a young stellar system.

Abstract. The distance of galactic Cepheids can be derived through the interferometric Baade-Wesselink method. The interferometric measurements lead to angular diameter estimations over the whole pulsation period, while the stellar radius variations can be deduced from the integration of the pulsation velocity. The latter is linked to the observational velocity deduced from line profiles by the so-called projection factor p. The knowledge of p is currently an important limiting factor for this method of distance determination. A self-consistent and time-dependent model of the star δ Cep is computed in order to study the dynamical structure of its atmosphere together with the induced line profile. Different kinds of radial and pulsation velocities are then derived. In particular, we compile a suitable average value for the projection factor related to different observational techniques, such as spectrometry, and spectral-line or wide-band interferometry. We show that the impact on the average projection factor and consequently on the final distance deduced from this method is of the order of 6%. We also study the impact of a constant or variable p-factor on the Cepheid distance determination. We conclude on this last point that if the average value of the projection factor is correct, then the influence of the time dependence is not significant as the error in the final distance is of the order of 0.2%.

Context. Be stars are rapidly rotating stars with a circumstellar decretion disk. They usually undergo pressure and/or gravity pulsation modes excited by the κ-mechanism, i.e. an effect of the opacity of iron-peak elements in the envelope of the star. In the Milky Way, p-modes are observed in stars that are hotter than or equal to the B3 spectral type, while g-modes are observed at the B2 spectral type and cooler. Aims. We observed a B0IVe star, HD 51452, with the high-precision, high-cadence photometric CoRoT satellite and high-resolution, ground-based HARPS and SOPHIE spectrographs to study its pulsations in great detail. We also used the lower resolution spectra available in the BeSS database. Methods. We analyzed the CoRoT and spectroscopic data with several methods: Clean-NG, FreqFind, and a sliding window method. We also analyzed spectral quantities, such as the violet over red (V/R) emission variations, to obtain information about the variation in the circumstellar environment. We calculated a stellar structure model with the ESTER code to test the various interpretation of the results. Results. We detect 189 frequencies of variations in the CoRoT light curve in the range between 0 and 4.5 c d −1 . The main frequencies are also recovered in the spectroscopic data. In particular we find that HD 51452 undergoes gravito-inertial modes that are not in the domain of those excited by the κ-mechanism. We propose that these are stochastic modes excited in the convective zones and that at least some of them are a multiplet of r-modes (i.e. subinertial modes mainly driven by the Coriolis acceleration). Stochastically excited gravito-inertial modes had never been observed in any star, and theory predicted that their very low amplitudes would be undetectable even with CoRoT. We suggest that the amplitudes are enhanced in HD 51452 because of the very rapid stellar rotation. In addition, we find that the amplitude variations of these modes are related to the occurrence of minor outbursts. Conclusions. Thanks to CoRoT data, we have detected a new kind of pulsations in HD 51452, which are stochastically excited gravito-inertial modes, probably due to its very rapid rotation. These modes are probably also present in other rapidly rotating hot Be stars.

Abstract. We present the first results of a 2-year high-resolution spectroscopy campaign of 59 candidate γ Doradus stars which were mainly discovered from the HIPPARCOS astrometric mission. More than 60% of the stars present line profile variations which can be interpreted as due to pulsation related to γ Doradus stars. For all stars we also derived the projected rotation velocity (up to more than 200 km s −1 ). The amplitude ratios 2K/∆m for the main HIPPARCOS frequency are in the range 35−96 km s −1 mag −1 . About 50% of the candidates are possible members of binary systems, with 20 stars being confirmed γ Doradus. At least 6 stars present composite spectra, and in all but one case (for which only one spectrum could be obtained), the narrow component shows line profile variations, pointing towards an uncomfortable situation if this narrow component originates from a shell surrounding the star. This paper is the first of a series concerning mode identification using both photometric and spectroscopic methods for the confirmed γ Doradus stars of the present sample.

We present the results of a spectroscopic multisite campaign for the β Cephei star 12 (DD) Lacertae. Our study is based on more than thousand high‐resolution high S/N spectra gathered with eight different telescopes in a time span of 11 months. In addition, we make use of numerous archival spectroscopic measurements. We confirm 10 independent frequencies recently discovered from photometry, as well as harmonics and combination frequencies. In particular, the slowly pulsating B‐stars (SPB)‐like g‐mode with frequency 0.3428 d−1 reported before is detected in our spectroscopy. We identify the four main modes as (ℓ1, m1) = (1, 1), (ℓ2, m2) = (0, 0), (ℓ3, m3) = (1, 0) and (ℓ4, m4) = (2, 1) for f1= 5.178 964 d−1, f2= 5.334 224 d−1, f3= 5.066 316 d−1 and f4= 5.490 133 d−1, respectively. Our seismic modelling shows that f2 is likely the radial first overtone and that the core overshooting parameter αov is lower than 0.4 local pressure scale heights.