A search for period changes of eight short-period Type II Cepheids

In this study, we investigate the period changes of eight short-period Type II Cepheids of the BL Her subtype, i.e. with periods in the 1-4 d range. The O - C diagrams for these stars are constructed using all suitable observational data from ground and space surveys. This spans a time interval of over one century and includes digitized photographic plates as well as photometry from the literature. The O - C diagrams show parabolic evolutionary trends, which indicate the presence of both increasing and decreasing periods for these eight short-period stars. These period changes are in good agreement with the recent theoretical evolutionary framework and stellar evolution models for BL Her stars. The pulsation stability test proposed by Lombard and Koen also suggests that the changes in the periods are real.