A Study of Differential Rotation on II Pegasi via Photometric Starspot Imaging

TL;DR

This study uses photometric starspot imaging to analyze differential rotation on II Pegasi, revealing solar-like latitudinal rotation differences and estimating the differential rotation coefficient through long-term light curve inversion.

Contribution

It introduces a non-linear inversion method to produce starspot surface images without assuming spot shapes or numbers, applied over a multi-decade dataset.

Findings

Evidence of solar-like differential rotation on II Pegasi.

Estimated differential rotation coefficient consistent with previous studies.

Long-term starspot evolution observed over several months.

Abstract

We present the results of a study of differential rotation on the K2 IV primary of the RS CVn binary II Pegasi (HD 224085) performed by inverting light curves to produce images of the dark starspots on its surface. The data were obtained in the standard Johnson B and V filter passbands via the Tennessee State University T3 0.4-m Automated Photometric Telescope from JD 2447115.8086 to 2454136.6221 (1987 November 16 to 2007 February 5). The observations were subdivided into 68 data sets consisting of pairs of B and V light curves, which were then inverted using a constrained non-linear inversion algorithm that makes no a priori assumptions regarding the number of spots or their shapes. The resulting surface images were then assigned to 21 groups corresponding to time intervals over which we could observe the evolution of a given group of spots (except for three groups consisting of single data sets). Of these 21 groups, six showed convincing evidence of differential rotation over time intervals of several months. For the others, the spot configuration was such that differential rotation was neither exhibited nor contraindicated. The differential rotation we infer is in the same sense as that on the Sun: lower latitudes have shorter rotation periods. From plots of the range in longitude spanned by the spotted regions vs. time, we obtain estimates of the differential rotation coefficient k defined in earlier work by Henry et al., and show that our results for its value are consistent with the value obtained therein.