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We present a flow-based generative approach to emulate grids of stellar evolutionary models. By interpreting the input parameters and output properties of these models as multidimensional probability distributions, we train conditional normalizing flows to learn and predict the complex relationships between grid inputs and outputs in the form of conditional joint distributions. Leveraging the expressive power and versatility of these flows, we showcase their ability to emulate a variety of evolutionary tracks and isochrones across a continuous range of input parameters. In addition, we describe a simple Bayesian approach for estimating stellar parameters using these flows and demonstrate its application to asteroseismic data sets of red giants observed by the Kepler mission. By applying this approach to red giants in open clusters NGC 6791 and NGC 6819, we illustrate how large age uncertainties can arise when fitting only to global asteroseismic and spectroscopic parameters without prior information on initial helium abundances and mixing length parameter values. We also conduct inference using the flow at a large scale by determining revised estimates of masses and radii for 15,388 field red giants. These estimates show improved agreement with results from existing grid-based modeling, reveal distinct population-level features in the red clump, and suggest that the masses of Kepler red giants previously determined using the corrected asteroseismic scaling relations have been overestimated by 5%–10%.

We present measurements of the dipole mode asymptotic period spacing (ΔΠ1), the coupling factor between the p- and g-modes (q), the g-mode phase offset (ϵ g ), and the mixed-mode frequency rotational splitting (δ ν rot) for 1074 low-luminosity red giants from the Kepler mission. Using oscillation mode frequencies extracted from each star, we apply Bayesian optimization to estimate ΔΠ1 from the power spectrum of the stretched-period spectrum and to perform the subsequent forward modeling of the mixed-mode frequencies. With our measurements, we show that the mode coupling factor q shows significant anticorrelation with both the stellar mass and metallicity, and can reveal highly metal-poor stars. We present the evolution of ϵ g up the lower giant branch up to before the luminosity bump, and find no significant trends in ϵ g or δ ν rot with the stellar mass and metallicity in our sample. Additionally, we identify six new red giants showing anomalous distortions in their g-mode pattern. Our data products, code, and results are provided in a public repository.

In the third APOKASC catalog, we present data for the complete sample of 15,808 evolved stars with APOGEE spectroscopic parameters and Kepler asteroseismology. We used 10 independent asteroseismic analysis techniques and anchor our system on fundamental radii derived from Gaia L and spectroscopic Teff. We provide evolutionary state, asteroseismic surface gravity, mass, radius, age, and the data used to derive them for 12,418 stars. This includes 10,036 exceptionally precise measurements, with median fractional uncertainties in νmax , Δν, mass, radius, and age of 0.6%, 0.6%, 3.8%, 1.8%, and 11.1%, respectively. We provide more limited data for 1624 additional stars that either have lower-quality data or are outside of our primary calibration domain. Using lower red giant branch (RGB) stars, we find a median age for the chemical thick disk of 9.14 ± 0.05(ran) ± 0.9(sys) Gyr with an age dispersion of 1.1 Gyr, consistent with our error model. We calibrate our red clump (RC) mass loss to derive an age consistent with the lower RGB and provide asymptotic GB and RGB ages for luminous stars. We also find a sharp upper-age boundary in the chemical thin disk. We find that scaling relations are precise and accurate on the lower RGB and RC, but they become more model dependent for more luminous giants and break down at the tip of the RGB. We recommend the use of multiple methods, calibration to a fundamental scale, and the use of stellar models to interpret frequency spacings.

We present HD-TESS, a catalog of 1709 bright (V ∼ 3–10) red giants from the Henry Draper (HD) Catalog with asteroseismic measurements based on photometry from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Using light curves spanning at least 6 months across a single TESS observing cycle, we provide measurements of global asteroseismic parameters ( νmax and Δν) and the evolutionary state for each star in the catalog. We adopt literature values of atmospheric stellar parameters to estimate the masses and radii of the giants in our catalog using asteroseismic scaling relations, and observe that HD-TESS giants on average have larger masses compared to Kepler red giants. Additionally, we present the discovery of oscillations in 99 red giants in astrometric binary systems, including those with subdwarf or white dwarf companions. Finally, we benchmark radii from asteroseismic scaling relations against those measured using long-baseline interferometry for 18 red giants and find that correction factors to the scaling relations improve the agreement between asteroseismic and interferometric radii to approximately 3%.

We present a catalog of fundamental stellar properties for ∼7500 evolved stars, including stellar radii and masses, determined from the combination of spectroscopic observations from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment, part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV, and asteroseismology from K2. The resulting APO-K2 catalog provides spectroscopically derived temperatures and metallicities, asteroseismic global parameters, evolutionary states, and asteroseismically derived masses and radii. Additionally, we include kinematic information from Gaia. We investigate the multidimensional space of abundance, stellar mass, and velocity with an eye toward applications in Galactic archaeology. The APO-K2 sample has a large population of low-metallicity stars (∼288 with [M/H] ≤ −1), and their asteroseismic masses are larger than astrophysical estimates. We argue that this may reflect offsets in the adopted fundamental temperature scale for metal-poor stars rather than metallicity-dependent issues with interpreting asteroseismic data. We characterize the kinematic properties of the population as a function of α enhancement and position in the disk and identify those stars in the sample that are candidate components of the Gaia-Enceladus merger. Importantly, we characterize the selection function for the APO-K2 sample as a function of metallicity, radius, mass, νmax , color, and magnitude referencing Galactic simulations and target selection criteria to enable robust statistical inferences with the catalog.

δ Scuti variables are found at the intersection of the classical instability strip and the main sequence on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. With space-based photometry providing millions of light curves of A-F type stars, we can now probe the occurrence rate of δ Scuti pulsations in detail. Using the 30 minutes cadence light curves from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite's first 26 sectors, we identify variability in 103,810 stars within 5–24 cycles per day down to a magnitude of T = 11.25. We fit the period–luminosity relation of the fundamental radial mode for δ Scuti stars in the Gaia G band, allowing us to distinguish classical pulsators from contaminants for a subset of 39,367 stars. Out of this subset, over 15,918 are found on or above the expected period–luminosity relation. We derive an empirical red edge to the classical instability strip using Gaia photometry. The center where the pulsator fraction peaks at 50%–70%, combined with the red edge, agrees well with previous work in the Kepler field. While many variable sources are found below the period–luminosity relation, over 85% of sources inside of the classical instability strip derived in this work are consistent with being δ Scuti stars. The remaining 15% of variables within the instability strip are likely hybrid or γ Doradus pulsators. Finally, we discover strong evidence for a correlation between pulsator fraction and spectral line broadening from the Radial Velocity Spectrometer on board the Gaia spacecraft, confirming that rotation has a role in driving pulsations in δ Scuti stars.

Very-metal-poor stars ([Fe/H] < −2) are important laboratories for testing stellar models and reconstructing the formation history of our galaxy. Asteroseismology is a powerful tool to probe stellar interiors and measure ages, but few asteroseismic detections are known in very-metal-poor stars and none have allowed detailed modeling of oscillation frequencies. We report the discovery of a low-luminosity Kepler red giant (KIC 8144907) with high signal-to-noise ratio oscillations, [Fe/H] = −2.66 ± 0.08 and [α/Fe] = 0.38 ± 0.06, making it by far the most metal-poor star to date for which detailed asteroseismic modeling is possible. By combining the oscillation spectrum from Kepler with high-resolution spectroscopy, we measure an asteroseismic mass and age of 0.79 ± 0.02(ran) ± 0.01(sys) M ⊙ and 12.0 ± 0.6(ran) ± 0.4(sys) Gyr, with remarkable agreement across different codes and input physics, demonstrating that stellar models and asteroseismology are reliable for very-metal-poor stars when individual frequencies are used. The results also provide a direct age anchor for the early formation of the Milky Way, implying that substantial star formation did not commence until redshift z ≈ 3 (if the star formed in situ) or that the Milky Way has undergone merger events for at least ≈12 Gyr (if the star was accreted by a dwarf satellite merger such as Gaia-Enceladus).

The Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey (GBTDS) of the Roman Space Telescope will take high-cadence data of the Galactic bulge. We investigate the asteroseismic potential of this survey for red giants. We simulate the detectability of global asteroseismic frequencies, νmax and Δν, by modifying Kepler data to match nominal GBTDS observing strategies, considering different noise models, observing cadences, and detection algorithms. Our baseline case, using conservative assumptions, consistently leads to asteroseismic νmax detection probabilities above 80% for red clump and red giant branch (RGB) stars brighter than the 16th magnitude in Roman’s F146 filter. We then inject these detection probabilities into a Galaxia model of the bulge to estimate asteroseismic yields. For our nominal case, we detect 290,000 stars in total, with 185,000 detections in the bulge. Different assumptions give bulge yields from 135,000 to 349,000 stars. For stars with measured νmax , we find that we can recover Δν in 21%–42% of red clump stars, and 69%–92% of RGB stars. The expected yield and stellar parameter precision we predict for Roman asteroseismology promise to characterize planet-hosting stellar populations and to resolve questions regarding the formation history of the bulge.

Constraining stellar models using asteroseismic and spectroscopic observations is a powerful method for precisely determining the fundamental properties of stars in different kinematic components of our Galaxy. We use spectroscopy and individual oscillation mode frequencies to perform a homogeneous modeling study of eight evolved metal-poor stars enhanced in α-elements. We compare a full treatment of α-enhancement against an ad hoc correction to the total metallicity and show that the stellar properties inferred from asteroseismic modeling using both sets of models agree with each other. Additionally, we find that the uncertainties on stellar parameters derived from both α-enhanced modeling methods are comparable. This is in qualitative disagreement with existing works showing red giant ages constrained by only the global asteroseismic parameters to depend strongly on the opacities and abundances assumed in 1D modeling. We also show that the observed frequency of maximum oscillation power (νmax) is larger than the value predicted from applying the νmax scaling relation to the masses, radii, and temperatures inferred from the detailed modeling. This discrepancy is pronounced at low metallicities, consistent with recent findings indicating a breakdown of the νmax scaling relation for metal-poor stars. Understanding the extent to which the νmax scaling relation fails for low-metallicity solar-like oscillators through detailed modeling will enable more accurate mass and age determinations for hundreds of giant stars in the Galactic halo for which only global asteroseismic parameters are available.

The Helmi streams are remnants of a dwarf galaxy that was accreted by the Milky Way and whose stars now form a distinct kinematic and chemical substructure in the Galactic halo. Precisely age-dating these typically faint stars of extragalactic origin has been notoriously difficult due to the limitations of using only spectroscopic data, interferometry, or coarse asteroseismic measurements. Using observations from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, we report detailed asteroseismic modeling results for two of the brightest red giants within the Helmi streams, HD 175305 and HD 128279. By modeling the individual oscillation mode frequencies and the spectroscopic properties of both stars, we determine their fundamental properties including mass, radius, and age (τ). We report τ = 11.16 ± 0.91 Gyr for HD 175305 and τ = 12.52 ± 1.05 Gyr for HD 128279, consistent with previously inferred star formation histories for the Helmi streams and the differential chemical abundances between the two stars. With precise ages for individual stream members, our results reinforce the hypothesis that the Helmi streams’ progenitor must have existed at least 12 Gyr ago. Our results also highlight that the ages of metal-poor, α-enhanced red giants can be severely underestimated when inferred using global asteroseismic parameters instead of individual mode frequencies.