Constructing a one-solar-mass evolutionary sequence using asteroseismic data from \textit{Kepler}

TL;DR

This paper uses Kepler asteroseismic data to establish an evolutionary sequence for 1-solar-mass stars based solely on seismic parameters, enabling model-independent stellar evolution studies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to construct an evolutionary sequence of solar-mass stars using only seismic observables, without relying on stellar models.

Findings

Seismic parameters $igtriangle u$ and $ u_{max}$ effectively identify stellar evolutionary stages.

The method shows excellent agreement with spectroscopic data.

Potential for differential analysis and identifying stellar twins.

Abstract

Asteroseismology of solar-type stars has entered a new era of large surveys with the success of the NASA \textit{Kepler} mission, which is providing exquisite data on oscillations of stars across the Hertzprung-Russell (HR) diagram. From the time-series photometry, the two seismic parameters that can be most readily extracted are the large frequency separation ($\Delta\nu$) and the frequency of maximum oscillation power ($\nu_\mathrm{max}$). After the survey phase, these quantities are available for hundreds of solar-type stars. By scaling from solar values, we use these two asteroseismic observables to identify for the first time an evolutionary sequence of 1-M$_\odot$ field stars, without the need for further information from stellar models. Comparison of our determinations with the few available spectroscopic results shows an excellent level of agreement. We discuss the potential of the method for differential analysis throughout the main-sequence evolution, and the possibility of detecting twins of very well-known stars.