The VELOCE Modulation Zoo I. Spectroscopic detection of non-radial modes in the first-overtone Cepheids BG Crucis, QZ Normae, V0391 Normae, and V0411 Lacertae

Abstract

The photometric observations from the recent decade revolutionized our view on classical pulsators. Low-amplitude signals have been detected photometrically in addition to the dominant high-amplitude radial mode pulsations in many RR Lyrae stars and classical Cepheids. First overtone (1O) pulsators with an additional low-amplitude signal at a period ratio of around 0.61 with the main mode, the so-called 0.61 stars, form the most populous group among these stars. The nature of this signal has been attributed to non-radial pulsations. Another mysterious group are stars, where the additional signal forms a period ratio of around 0.68 - the 0.68 stars. The origin of the signal remains unknown. Here, we search for similar phenomena in spectroscopic observations of 1O classical Cepheids collected as part of the VELOCE project. We performed frequency analysis of several parameters derived from cross-correlation functions (CCFs), including radial velocity, FWHM, bisector inverse span, and CCF depth. Using standard prewhitening, we searched for additional low-amplitude signals. We identify the location of these stars in various sequences of the Petersen diagram. We detect additional signals in four 1O classical Cepheids: BG Cru, QZ Nor, V391 Nor, and V411 Lac. We classified BG Cru, QZ Nor, and V391 Nor as 0.61 stars based on period ratios. V411 Lac, however, exhibits a ratio of 0.68 between the two modes, and the additional signal has a longer period. This kind of multiperiodicity remains unexplained. VELOCE CCFs yield the first spectroscopic detections of non-radial pulsation modes in classical Cepheids. This opens an asteroseismic window for pursuing a more detailed understanding of these important stars. While the 0.61 signal of BG Cru, QZ Nor, V391 Nor is understood to originate due to non-radial modes of moderate degrees, the 0.68 signal of V411 Lac still lacks a physical explanation.