The Optical Photometric Variability of Herbig Ae/Be Stars from TESS

We have carried out a photometric time domain study of 188 intermediate-mass young stars observed in Full Frame Image mode with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) satellite over the first 3.3 yr of its mission. The majority of these targets are classified as Herbig Ae/Be stars (HAeBes). All were monitored at optical wavelengths for at least one 27 day TESS sector, with many having multiple sectors of data. From a custom aperture photometry pipeline, we produced light curves and analyzed the variability therein, as a function of stellar and circumstellar properties. Based on visual and statistical analysis, we find that ∼95% of HAeBes are variable on timescales of 10 minutes to one month, with the most common light-curve morphology being stochastic. Approximately 15% of the set display quasiperiodic variability. In comparison to sets of low-mass T Tauri stars monitored with optical space telescopes, the Herbig Ae/Be stars display a much lower incidence of “dipper” behaviors (quasiperiodic or aperiodic fading events), as well as periodic modulations. As posited by previous work, we conclude that magnetic starspots are rare on HAeBes, and that the inner circumstellar dust rims of these objects lie at substantially larger radii than for low-mass young stars. Beyond these differences, the accretion dynamics of young stars less than ∼7 M ⊙ appear to be largely consistent based on their time domain properties from data streams of up to three months’ duration. We do, however, find tentative evidence for a change in variability amplitude above this mass boundary, particularly for quasiperiodic behavior.