Solar-like oscillations and magnetic activity of the slow rotator EK Eri

TL;DR

This study investigates the interaction between stellar oscillations and magnetic activity in the slow rotator EK Eri, revealing suppressed oscillation amplitudes likely due to magnetic fields, and refines stellar parameters through extensive data analysis.

Contribution

It provides the first detection of oscillations in EK Eri and explores magnetic suppression effects, offering new insights into magneto-asteroseismology of active stars.

Findings

Detected oscillations with nu_max = 320+/-32 muHz

Oscillation amplitude is about three times lower than expected

Rotation period is twice the photometric period, P_rot = 617.6 days

Abstract

We aim to understand the interplay between non-radial oscillations and stellar magnetic activity and test the feasibility of doing asteroseismology of magnetically active stars. We analyze 30 years of photometric time-series data, 3 years of HARPS radial velocity monitoring, and 3 nights of high-cadence HARPS asteroseismic data. We construct a high-S/N HARPS spectrum that we use to determine atmospheric parameters and chemical composition. Spectra observed at different rotation phases are analyzed to search for signs of temperature or abundance variations. An upper limit on the projected rotational velocity is derived from very high-resolution CES spectra. We detect oscillations in EK Eri with a frequency of the maximum power of nu_max = 320+/-32 muHz, and we derive a peak amplitude per radial mode of ~0.15 m/s, which is a factor of ~3 lower than expected. We suggest that the magnetic field may act to suppress low-degree modes. Individual frequencies can not be extracted from the available data. We derive accurate atmospheric parameters, refining our previous analysis. We confirm that the main light variation is due to cool spots, but that other contributions may need to be taken into account. We suggest that the rotation period is twice the photometric period, i.e., P_rot = 2 P_phot = 617.6 d. We conclude from our derived parameters that v sin i < 0.40 km/s. We also link the time series of direct magnetic field measurements available in the literature to our newly derived photometric ephemeris.