In this paper, the high-precision light curves of the Kepler target KIC 5950759 are analyzed. The Fourier analysis of the long cadence (LC) light curve reveals three independent frequencies. Two of them are main pulsation modes: F0 = 14.221373(21) d −1 and F1 = 18.337249(44) d −1 . The third independent frequency, f m = 0.3193 d −1 , is found in LC data with a signal-to-noise ratio of 6.2. A weak modulation of f m to F0 and F1 modes (triplet structures centered on F0 and F1) are detected both in long and short cadence data. This is the first detection of the modulation effect in a double-mode high-amplitude δ Scuti (HADS) star. The most possible cause of the modulation effect in the light curves is amplitude modulation with the star's rotation frequency of 0.3193 d −1 . The preliminary analysis suggests that KIC 5950759 is in the bottom of the HADS instability strip and likely situated in the main sequence. Spectroscopic observations are necessary to verify the true nature of the modulation terms.

The Kepler-9 system harbors three known transiting planets. The system holds significant interest for several reasons. First, the outer two planets exhibit a period ratio that is close to a 2:1 orbital commensurability, with attendant dynamical consequences. Second, both planets lie in the planetary mass "desert" that is generally associated with the rapid gas agglomeration phase of the core accretion process. Third, there exist attractive prospects for accurately measuring both the sky-projected stellar spin-orbit angles as well as the mutual orbital inclination between the planets in the system. Following the original Kepler detection announcement in 2010, the initially reported orbital ephemerides for Kepler-9 b and c have degraded significantly, due to the limited time base-line of observations on which the discovery of the system rested. Here, we report new ground-based photometric observations and extensive dynamical modeling of the system. These efforts allow us to photometrically recover the transit of Kepler-9 b, and thereby greatly improve the predictions for upcoming transit midtimes. Accurate ephemerides of this system are important in order to confidently schedule follow-up observations of this system, for both in-transit Doppler measurements as well as for atmospheric transmission spectra taken during transit.

We present a study on the pulsations of the high-amplitude δ Scuti star YZ Boo based on photometric observations in Johnson V and R bands with both the Nanshan 1-m telescope of Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO) and the Xinglong 85-cm telescope of National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC). The Fourier analysis of the light curves reveals the fundamental radial mode and its five harmonics, with the fourth and the fifth newly detected. 39 new times of light maximum are determined from the light curves, and combined with those in the literature, we construct the O−C diagram and derive a new ephemeris and the determination of a new value of the updated period 0.104091579(2). Besides, the O − C diagram reveals an increasing period change rate of YZ Boo. Theoretical models are calculated and constrained with the observationally determined parameters of YZ Boo. The mass and age of YZ Boo are hence derived as M = 1.61 ± 0.05 M ⊙ and age = (1.44 ± 0.14) × 10 9 yr, respectively. With both the frequency of the fundamental radial mode and the period change rate, YZ Boo is located at the post-main-sequence stage.