Mapping small-scale starspots on Kepler transiting planet host stars
Abstract
High precision, near-continuous time series photometry of large numbers of transiting planet host stars is now available from the Kepler satellite archive. Using short cadence light curves of transiting planet host stars with sub-millimag photometric precision we are now, for the first time, able to map relative brightness variations due to small-scale starspots on the surfaces of stars other than the Sun. Here, we present a new project whose goal is to derive the detailed time evolution of the starspot distribution on the surface of tens of stars with a range of masses and rotation rates. We have developed an eclipse mapping code which we are using to determine the lifetime of individual starspots and starspot groups by identifying and modeling brightness variations during planetary transits caused by the planet crossing in front of a starspot on the stellar surface. In order to reduce the degeneracy of the light curve inversion problem, we are using precise knowledge of the planet's position and comprehensively modeling the in- and out- of transit data to strengthen the constraints on the positions of the surface spots. Here, we describe our overall project, explain our eclipse mapping technique in detail, and present preliminary results on the transiting planet host star, Kepler-17. Preliminary results on the spot evolution of additional systems (Kepler-17, Kepler-63, HAT-P-11, and GJ1243) are presented in a corresponding presentation by J.R.A. Davenport.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #223
- Pub Date:
- January 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014AAS...22344135H