Understanding Astrophysical Noise from Stellar Surface Magneto-Convection

TL;DR

This paper develops Sun-as-a-star models based on 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations to understand and mitigate stellar surface magneto-convection noise in high-precision radial velocity measurements, aiding exoplanet detection.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Sun-as-a-star modeling approach using MHD simulations to analyze the impact of magneto-convection on RV signals, informing future high-precision spectroscopic studies.

Findings

Line characteristics correlate with RV shifts

Model helps disentangle convective noise from stellar signals

Supports future exoplanet search efforts

Abstract

To obtain cm/s precision, stellar surface magneto-convection must be disentangled from observed radial velocities (RVs). In order to understand and remove the convective signature, we create Sun-as-a-star model observations based on a 3D magnetohydrodynamic solar simulation. From these Sun-as-a-star model observations, we find several line characteristics are correlated with the induced RV shifts. The aim of this campaign is to feed directly into future high precision RV studies, such as the search for habitable, rocky worlds, with forthcoming spectrographs such as ESPRESSO.