The HERMES Solar Atlas and the spectroscopic analysis of the seismic solar analogue KIC3241581

TL;DR

This study constructs a high-quality solar spectral atlas using the HERMES spectrograph, investigates the solar analogue KIC3241581 through spectroscopy and asteroseismology, and finds it to be a metal-rich, solar-like star in a binary system with solar activity levels.

Contribution

The paper presents the first high-resolution solar spectral atlas from the HERMES spectrograph and applies combined spectroscopic and asteroseismic analysis to characterize the solar analogue KIC3241581.

Findings

Constructed three solar spectral atlases from asteroid and planetary observations.

Confirmed KIC3241581 as a solar analogue with detailed stellar parameters.

Discovered KIC3241581 is a long-period binary with solar-like activity.

Abstract

Solar-analog stars provide an excellent opportunity to study the Sun's evolution, i.e. the changes with time in stellar structure, activity, or rotation for solar-like stars. The unparalleled photometric data from the NASA space telescope Kepler allows us to study and characterise solar-like stars through asteroseismology. We aim to spectroscopically investigate the fundamental parameter and chromospheric activity of solar analogues and twins, based on observations obtained with the HERMES spectrograph and combine them with asteroseismology. Therefore, we need to build a solar atlas for the spectrograph, to provide accurate calibrations of the spectroscopically determined abundances of solar and late type stars observed with this instrument and thus perform differential spectral comparisons. We acquire high-resolution and high signal-to-noise spectroscopy to construct three solar reference spectra by observing the reflected light of Vesta and Victoria asteroids and Europa (100<S/N<450) with the \Hermes spectrograph. We then observe the Kepler solar analog KIC3241581 (S/N~170). We constructed three solar spectrum atlases from 385 to 900 nm obtained with the Hermes spectrograph from observations of two bright asteroids and Europa. A comparison between our solar spectra atlas to the Kurucz and HARPS solar spectrum shows an excellent agreement. KIC3241581 was found to be a long-periodic binary system. The fundamental parameter for the stellar primary component are Teff=5689+/-11K, logg=4.385+/-0.005, [Fe/H]=+0.22+/-0.01, being in agreement with the published global seismic values confirming its status of solar analogue. KIC 3241581 is a metal rich solar analogue with a solar-like activity level in a binary system of unknown period. The chromospheric activity level is compatible to the solar magnetic activity.