Starspot-induced radial velocity jitter during a stellar cycle

Heidi Helena Korhonen, Jan Marie Andersen, Silva Järvinen

Abstract

Late-type stars exhibit cool regions on their surface, the stellar equivalent of sunspots. These dark starspots can also mimic the radial velocity variations caused by orbiting planets, making it at times difficult to distinguish between planets and activity signatures. The amount of spots on the Sun and other cool stars changes cyclically during an activity cycle, which has length varying from about a year to longer than the solar 11 years. In this work we investigate the influence of varying amount of starspots on the sparsely sampled radial velocity observations - which are the norm in the radial velocity studies searching for exoplanets on wide orbits. We study two simulated cases: one with a random spot configuration, and one where the spot occurrence is concentrated. In addition we use Doppler images of young solar analogue V889 Her as a high activity case.

Original languageEnglish
JournalProceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Volume8
Issue numberS293
Pages (from-to)382-384
Number of pages3
ISSN1743-9213
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012
Event293th Symposium of the International Astronomical Union: formation, detection, and characterization of extrasolar habitable planets - Beijing, China
Duration: 27 Aug 201231 Aug 2012
Conference number: 293

Conference

Conference293th Symposium of the International Astronomical Union
Number293
Country/TerritoryChina
CityBeijing
Period27/08/201231/08/2012

Keywords

  • atmospheres
  • planetary systems
  • rotation
  • spots
  • stars: activity

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