β Cephei pulsators in eclipsing binaries observed with TESS

The combined strength of asteroseismology and empirical stellar basic parameter determinations for in-depth asteroseismic analysis of massive pulsators in eclipsing binaries shows great potential for treating the challenging and mysterious discrepancies between observations and models of stellar structure and evolution of massive stars. This paper compiles a comprehensive list of massive pulsators in eclipsing binary systems observed with TESS. The TESS light curves and Discrete Fourier Transforms (DFT) of a sample of 8055 stars of spectral type B0–B3 were examined for eclipses and stellar pulsations and the ephemerides of the resulting sub-sample of massive pulsators in eclipsing binaries were computed. This sub-sample was also cross-matched with existing catalogues of massive pulsators. Until now, fewer than 30 β Cep pulsators in eclipsing binaries have been reported in the literature. Here we announce a total of 78 pulsators of the β Cephei type in eclipsing binaries, 59 of which are new discoveries. Forty-three are recognized as definite and 35 are candidate pulsators. Our sample of pulsating massive stars in eclipsing binaries allows for future asteroseismic modelling to better understand the internal mixing profile and to resolve the mass discrepancy in massive stars. We have already started follow-up of some of the most interesting candidates.