Prospects for asteroseismology

TL;DR

This paper discusses the rapid growth of asteroseismology driven by new space-based data, emphasizing the need for advanced analysis techniques and improved stellar models, especially for stars with solar-like oscillations.

Contribution

It highlights the challenges and prospects in data interpretation and stellar modeling to fully utilize the expanding asteroseismic data sets.

Findings

Increased data from CoRoT and Kepler enhances asteroseismology.

Development of analysis techniques is crucial for interpreting stellar oscillations.

Improved stellar models are needed to match diagnostic potential.

Abstract

The observational basis for asteroseismology is being dramatically strengthened, through more than two years of data from the CoRoT satellite, the flood of data coming from the Kepler mission and, in the slightly longer term, from dedicated ground-based facilities. Our ability to utilize these data depends on further development of techniques for basic data analysis, as well as on an improved understanding of the relation between the observed frequencies and the underlying properties of the stars. Also, stellar modelling must be further developed, to match the increasing diagnostic potential of the data. Here we discuss some aspects of data interpretation and modelling, focussing on the important case of stars with solar-like oscillations.