The spectral impact of magnetic activity on disk-integrated HARPS-N solar observations: exploring new activity indicators
A. P. G. Thompson, C. A. Watson, R. D. Haywood, J. C. Costes, E. de Mooij, A. Collier Cameron, X. Dumusque, D. F. Phillips, S. H. Saar, A. Mortier, T. W. Milbou… 展开作者
A. P. G. Thompson, C. A. Watson, R. D. Haywood, J. C. Costes, E. de Mooij, A. Collier Cameron, X. Dumusque, D. F. Phillips, S. H. Saar, A. Mortier, T. W. Milbourne, S. Aigrain, H. M. Cegla, D. Charbonneau, R. Cosentino, A. Ghedina, D. W. Latham, M. López-Morales, G. Micela, E. Molinari, E. Poretti, A. Sozzetti, S. Thompson, R. Walsworth
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13 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stellar activity is the major roadblock on the path to finding true Earth-analogue planets with the Doppler technique. Thus, identifying new indicators that better trace magnetic activity (i.e. faculae and spots) is crucial to aid in disentangling these signals from that of a planet's Doppler wobble. In this work, we investigate activity related features as seen in disk-integrated spectra from the HARPS-N solar telescope. We divide high-activity spectral echelle orders by low-activity master templates (as defined using both log R'HK and images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, SDO), creating "relative spectra". With resolved images of the surface of the Sun (via SDO), the faculae and spot filling factors can be calculated, giving a measure of activity independent of, and in addition to, log R'HK. We find pseudo-emission (and pseudo-absorption) features in the relative spectra that are similar to those reported in our previous work on alpha Cen B. In alpha Cen B, the features are shown to correlate better to changes in faculae filling factor than spot filling factor. In this work we more confidently identify changes in faculae coverage of the visible hemisphere of the Sun as the source of features produced in the relative spectra. Finally, we produce trailed spectra to observe the RV component of the features, which show that the features move in a redward direction as one would expect when tracking active regions rotating on the surface of a star.
The HARPS/HARPS-N Data Reduction Software (DRS) relies on the cross-correlation between the observed spectra and a suitable stellar mask to compute a cross-correlation function (CCF) to be used both for the radial velocity (RV) computation and as an indicator of stellar lines asymmetry, induced for example by the stellar activity. Unfortunately the M2 mask currently used by the HARPS/HARPS-N DRS for M-type stars results in heavily distorted CCFs. We created several new stellar masks in order to decrease the errors in the RVs and to improve the reliability of the activity indicators as the bise…
Stellar activity is the ultimate source of radial-velocity (RV) noise in the search for Earth-mass planets orbiting late-type main-sequence stars. We analyse the performance of four different indicators and the chromospheric index $\log R'_{\rm HK}$ in detecting RV variations induced by stellar activity in 15 slowly rotating ($v\sin i \leq 5$ km/s), weakly active ($\log R'_{\rm HK} \leq -4.95$) solar-like stars observed with the high-resolution spectrograph HARPS-N. We consider indicators of the asymmetry of the cross-correlation function (CCF) between the stellar spectrum and the binary weigh…
We created a large database of physical parameters and variability indicators by fully reducing and analysing the large number of spectra taken to complement the asteroseismic observations of the CoRoT satellite. 7103 spectra of 261 stars obtained with the ESO echelle spectrograph HARPS have been stored in the VO-compliant database Spectroscopic Indicators in a SeisMic Archive (SISMA), along with the CoRoT photometric data of the 72 CoRoT asteroseismic targets. The remaining stars belong to the same variable classes of the CoRoT targets and were observed to better characterize the properties o…
We aim to investigate the presence of signatures of magnetic cycles and rotation on a sample of 71 early M-dwarfs from the HADES RV programme using high-resolution time-series spectroscopy of the Ca II H & K and Halpha chromospheric activity indicators, the radial velocity series, the parameters of the cross correlation function and the V-band photometry. We used mainly HARPS-N spectra, acquired over four years, and add HARPS spectra from the public ESO database and ASAS photometry light-curves as support data, extending the baseline of the observations of some stars up to 12 years. We provide…
The current and upcoming high precision photometric surveys such as TESS, CHEOPS, and PLATO will provide the community with thousands of new exoplanet candidates. As a consequence, the presence of such a correlation is crucial in selecting the targets with the lowest RV jitter for efficient RV follow-up of exoplanetary candidates. Studies of this type are also crucial to design optimized observational strategies to mitigate RV jitter when searching for Earth-mass exoplanets. Our goal is to assess the correlation between high-precision photometric variability measurements and high-precision RV …
We used four known chromospheric activity indicators to measure long-term activity variations in a sample of 23 M-dwarf stars from the HARPS planet search program. We compared the indices using weighted Pearson correlation coefficients and found that in general (i) the correlation between $S_{CaII}$ and \ion{Na}{i} is very strong and does not depend on the activity level of the stars, (ii) the correlation between our $S_{CaII}$ and H$α$ seems to depend on the activity level of the stars, and (iii) there is no strong correlation between $S_{CaII}$ and \ion{He}{i} for these type of stars.
The RoPES project with HARPS and HARPS-N II. A third planet in the multi-planet system HD 176986
Light Bridges S.L.（Light Bridges 有限公司）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias（加那利天体物理学研究所）；Universidad de La Laguna（拉古纳大学）；Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas（西班牙高等科学研究委员会）；Università di Padova（帕多瓦大学）；Observatoire de Genève（日内瓦天文台）
An activity indicator, which can provide a robust quantitative mapping between the stellar activity and the physical properties of its atmosphere, is important in exploring the physics of activity across spectral types. But the common activity indicators show large variability in their values which makes defining a robust quantitative scale difficult. Millimetre (mm) wavelengths probe the different atmospheric layers within the stellar chromosphere providing a tomographic view of the atmospheric dynamics. The project aims to define a robust mm-based activity indicator for the cool main-sequenc…
We present the current status of and new results from our search for exoplanets in a sample of solar-mass, evolved stars observed with the HARPS-N and the 3.6-m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), and the High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS) and the 9.2-m Hobby Eberly Telescope (HET). The aim of this project is to detect and characterise planetary-mass companions to solar-mass stars in a sample of 122 targets at various stages of evolution from the main sequence (MS) to the red giant branch (RGB), mostly sub-gaints and giants, selected from the Pennsylvania-Toruń Planet Search (PTPS) sample, and…
Aims. Other stars are known to have magnetic cycles similar to that of the Sun. The relationship between these activity variations and the observed radial-velocity is still not satisfactorily understood. In this first paper our aim is to assess the long-term activity variations in the low end of the main sequence, having in mind a planetary search perspective. Methods. We used a sample of 30 M0-M5.5 stars from the HARPS M-dwarf planet search program with a median timespan of observations of 5.2 years. We computed chromospheric activity indicators based on the Ca II H and K, Hα, He I D3, and Na…
One of the best ways to improve our understanding of the stellar activity-induced signal in radial velocity (RV) measurements is through simultaneous high-precision photometric and RV observations. This is of prime importance to mitigate the RV signal induced by stellar activity and therefore unveil the presence of low-mass exoplanets. The K2 Campaign 7 and 8 field-of-views were located in the southern hemisphere, and provided a unique opportunity to gather unprecedented simultaneous high precision photometric observation with K2 and high-precision RV measurements with the HARPS spectrograph t…
We present a comprehensive analysis of 10 years of HARPS radial velocities of the K2V dwarf star HD 13808, which has previously been reported to host two unconfirmed planet candidates. We use the state-of-the-art nested sampling algorithm PolyChord to compare a wide variety of stellar activity models, including simple models exploiting linear correlations between RVs and stellar activity indicators, harmonic models for the activity signals, and a more sophisticated Gaussian process regression model. We show that the use of overly-simplistic stellar activity models that are not well-motivated p…
Aims. We aim to extend the relationship between X-ray luminosity (Lx) and rotation period (Prot) found for main-sequence FGK stars and test whether it also holds for early-M dwarfs, especially in the non-saturated regime (Lx α P_{rot}^{-2}) which corresponds to slow rotators. Methods. We use the luminosity coronal activity indicator (Lx) of a sample of 78 early-M dwarfs with masses in the range from 0.3 to 0.75 Msun from the HArps-N red Dwarf Exoplanet Survey (HADES) radial velocity (RV) programme collected from ROSAT and XMM-Newton. The determination of the rotation periods (P_{rot}) was done…
Classical Cepheids (DCEPs) are the most important primary indicators of the extragalactic distance scale. Establishing the dependence on metallicity of their period--luminosity and period--Wesenheit ($PLZ$/$PWZ$) relations has deep consequences on the calibration of secondary distance indicators that lead to the final estimate of the Hubble constant (H$_0$). We collected high-resolution spectroscopy for 47 DCEPs plus 1 BL Her variables with HARPS-N@TNG and derived accurate atmospheric parameters, radial velocities and metal abundances. We measured spectral lines for 29 species and characterize…
We present a detailed and uniform study of oxygen abundance from two different oxygen lines at 6158$Å$ and 6300$Å$ in a large sample of solar-type stars. The results are used to check the behaviour of these spectral lines as oxygen abundance indicators and to study the evolution of oxygen in thick and thin disk populations of the Galaxy. Equivalent width measurements were carried out for the [OI]~6158$Å$ and OI~6300$Å$ lines. LTE abundances were obtained from these two lines in 610 and 535 stars, respectively. We were able to measure oxygen abundance from both indicators in 447 stars, enabling…
In 1992 we began a precision radial velocity (RV) survey for planets around solar-like stars with the Coude Echelle Spectrograph and the Long Camera (CES LC) at the 1.4 m telescope in La Silla (Chile). We have continued the survey with the upgraded CES Very Long Camera (VLC) and HARPS, both at the 3.6 m telescope, until 2007. The observations for 31 stars cover a time span of up to 15 years and the RV precision permit a search for Jupiter analogues. We perform a joint analysis for variability, trends, periodicities, and Keplerian orbits and compute detection limits. Moreover, the HARPS RVs are…
To date, only 18 exoplanets with radial velocity (RV) semi-amplitudes $<2$ m/s have had their masses directly constrained. The biggest obstacle to RV detection of such exoplanets is variability intrinsic to stars themselves, e.g. nuisance signals arising from surface magnetic activity such as rotating spots and plages, which can drown out or even mimic planetary RV signals. We use Kepler-37 - known to host three transiting planets, one of which, Kepler-37d, should be on the cusp of RV detectability with modern spectrographs - as a case study in disentangling planetary and stellar activity sign…
Understanding stellar activity in M dwarfs is fundamental to improving our knowledge of the physics of stellar atmospheres and for planet search programmes. High levels of stellar activity (also with flare events) can cause additional variations in the stellar emission that contaminate the signal induced by a planet and that need to be corrected. The study of activity indicators in active stars can improve our capability of modelling this signal. Our aim is to understand the behaviour of stellar chromospheres of M stars, studying the more sensitive chromospheric activity indicators, characteri…
Context: The CARMENES survey is a high-precision radial velocity (RV) programme that aims to detect Earth-like planets orbiting low-mass stars. Aims: We develop least-squares fitting algorithms to derive the RVs and additional spectral diagnostics implemented in the SpEctrum Radial Velocity Analyser (SERVAL), a publicly available python code. Methods: We measured the RVs using high signal-to-noise templates created by coadding all available spectra of each star.We define the chromatic index as the RV gradient as a function of wavelength with the RVs measured in the echelle orders. Additionally…
(Abridged) Most stellar activity cycles similar to that found in the Sun have been detected by using the chromospheric Ca II H&K lines as stellar activity proxies. However, it is unclear if such activity cycles could be identified using other optical lines. Aims. To detect activity cycles in solar-analog stars and determine if these can be identified through other optical lines, such as Fe II and Balmer lines. We study the solar-analog star HD 45184. Methods. We analyse the activity signatures of HD 45184 by using 291 HARPS spectra obtained between 2003 and 2014. In order to search for line-co…
Due to their wide wavelength coverage across the millimetre to centimetre (mm - cm) range and their increased sensitivity, modern interferometric arrays facilitate observations of the thermal and non-thermal emission from different stellar atmospheric layers. We study the spectral energy distribution ($S_{obs}(ν)$) of main sequence stars using archival mm - cm data with the aim to study their atmospheric stratification as a function of stellar type. The main-sequence stars with significant detection in mm bands were identified in the ALMA Science Archive. These data were complemented with spec…
Identifying Exoplanets with Deep Learning VI. Enhancing neural network mitigation of stellar activity RV signals with additional metrics
Imperial College London（帝国理工学院）；Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）；University of Birmingham（伯明翰大学）；Technical University of Denmark（丹麦技术大学）；University of St Andrews（圣安德鲁斯大学）；Fundación Galileo Galilei—INAF（伽利略基金会-INAF）；Observatoire de Genève, Université de Genève（日内瓦天文台，日内瓦大学）
(Abridged) We perform a detailed study of the main optical activity indicators (Ca II H & K, Balmer lines, Na I D$_{\rm 1}$ D$_{\rm 2}$, and He I D$_{\rm 3}$) measured for the Sun using the data provided by the HARPS-N solar-telescope feed at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo. The value of the solar rotation period is found in all the activity indicators, with the only exception being H$δ$. The derived values vary from 26.29 days (H$γ$ line) to 31.23 days (He I). From an analysis of sliding periodograms we find that in most of the activity indicators the spectral power is split into several "ba…
The Fe I 4377 Å Line as a Solar Faculae Indicator: Insights from Spectral Ratio Analysis
Queen’s University Belfast（贝尔法斯特女王大学）；Imperial College London（伦敦帝国理工学院）；University of Graz（格拉茨大学）；Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)（波茨坦阿波罗尼乌斯天体物理研究所）；Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung（马克斯·普朗克太阳系统研究所）；University of Birmingham（伯明翰大学）；Flatiron Institute（平顿研究所）；University of St Andrews（圣安德鲁斯大学）；University of Geneva（日内瓦大学）
该研究利用光谱比分析（SRA）结合HARPS-N观测，发现Fe I 4377埃线可可靠指示太阳耀斑，其填充因子与SDO测量值吻合，有助于减轻恒星活动对系外行星径向速度测量的影响。
Stellar photospheric activity is known to limit the detection and characterisation of extra-solar planets. In particular, the study of Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars requires data analysis methods that can accurately model the stellar activity phenomena affecting radial velocity (RV) measurements. Gaussian Process Regression Networks (GPRNs) offer a principled approach to the analysis of simultaneous time-series, combining the structural properties of Bayesian neural networks with the non-parametric flexibility of Gaussian Processes. Using HARPS-N solar spectroscopic observations enc…
Theories on the origin of magnetic fields in massive stars remain poorly developed, because the properties of their magnetic field as function of stellar parameters could not yet be investigated. To investigate whether magnetic fields in massive stars are ubiquitous or appear only in stars with a specific spectral classification, certain ages, or in a special environment, we acquired 67 new spectropolarimetric observations for 30 massive stars. Among the observed sample, roughly one third of the stars are probable members of clusters at different ages, whereas the remaining stars are field sta…
We gathered high resolution spectra for an ensemble of 55 bright active and inactive stars using the ARC 3.5 m Telescope Echelle Spectrograph at Apache Point Observatory ($R\approx$31,500). We measured spectroscopic effective temperatures, surface gravities and metallicities for most stars in the sample with SME and MOOG. Our stellar property results are consistent with the photometric effective temperatures from the Gaia DR2 pipeline. We also measured their chromospheric $S$ and $\log R^\prime_\mathrm{HK}$ indices to classify the stars as active or inactive and study the connection between ch…
