Time Series FUSE HIRS Observations of Ly-β Emission From ɛ Eridani
Abstract
We present unique time-series spectra of the young solar-type, planet-bearing star ɛ Eridani in the Lyman-ß region. These data were taken with the HIRS aperture of FUSE, which leads to a reduction in the effect of both airglow and "detector walk" on the line profile. Our time series observations show the line to be variable on the scale of days to weeks. The short timescale of these fluctuations indicates they are likely due to changes in the active stellar chromosphere of ɛ Eridani, rather than its giant planet, which has an orbital period of 6.9 years. We briefly consider other possible sources of variability that could be associated with the planetary system, such as comets, and conclude these are unlikely to contribute to the short term variability seen in our data.Observations obtained through proposal C165 to the FUSE Guest Investigator program; Research based on observations made with the NASA-CNES-CSA Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer. FUSE is operated for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University under NASA contract NAS5-32985.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #208
- Pub Date:
- June 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006AAS...208.0605H