Probing stellar rotation in the Pleiades with gravity-mode pulsators

¹ Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
² Centre for Astrophysics, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
³ Department of Astrophysics, IMAPP, Radboud University Nijmegen, PO Box 9010, 6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands
⁴ Max Planck Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany

^★ Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Received: 25 September 2025
Accepted: 5 December 2025

Abstract

Context. Due to their proximity, the Pleiades are an important benchmark open cluster. Despite its status, asteroseismic analyses of its members are rare. In particular, the gravity-mode (g-mode) pulsators, which allow near-core stellar properties to be inferred, have not been analysed yet.

Aims. We aim to identify and analyse the population of g-mode pulsators in the Pleiades. Our focus lies on the internal rotation as measured from asteroseismology to obtain a well-defined sample of stellar rotation on the early main sequence.

Methods. Based on full-frame images from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), we constructed light curves for intermediate-mass Pleiades members and searched for g-mode pulsators among them. For pulsators exhibiting period spacing patterns, we determined their near-core rotation rate and buoyancy periods. For all other g-mode pulsators, we estimated the near-core rotation rate based on the dominant mode frequency to obtain a comprehensive rotation rate distribution.

Results. Among our 105 target stars, we find 28 g-mode pulsators distributed across the entire upper main sequence, 19 of which are hybrid pulsators, but only three stars exhibit period spacing patterns in the current TESS data. The near-core rotation rates in A- and early F-type members are distributed between 1 and 3 d⁻¹ without any clear mass-dependence. This distribution is much broader than the one in the similar open cluster NGC 2516. A comparison of the buoyancy periods shows that the Pleiades and NGC 2516 are of a similar asteroseismic age.

Conclusions. With the large population of g-mode and hybrid pulsators, the Pleiades constitute a valuable asteroseismic benchmark cluster, reaffirming its important role in stellar astrophysics.