Magnetic variability in the young solar analog KIC 10644253: Observations from the Kepler satellite and the HERMES spectrograph

TL;DR

This study reports the discovery of magnetic activity variability in the young solar analog KIC 10644253 through Kepler photometry and HERMES spectroscopy, revealing solar-like magnetic cycles and internal activity mechanisms.

Contribution

First detection of magnetic activity modulation in a young solar analog using combined Kepler and spectroscopic data, linking surface activity with internal stellar processes.

Findings

Detected ~1.5-year magnetic activity cycle in KIC 10644253.

Confirmed star's youth and high activity level via spectroscopy.

Observed frequency shifts consistent with solar-like magnetic mechanisms.

Abstract

The continuous photometric observations collected by the Kepler satellite over 4 years provide a whelm of data with an unequalled quantity and quality for the study of stellar evolution of more than 200000 stars. Moreover, the length of the dataset provide a unique source of information to detect magnetic activity and associated temporal variability in the acoustic oscillations. In this regards, the Kepler mission was awaited with great expectation. The search for the signature of magnetic activity variability in solar-like pulsations still remained unfruitful more than 2 years after the end of the nominal mission. Here, however, we report the discovery of temporal variability in the low-degree acoustic frequencies of the young (1 Gyr-old) solar analog KIC 10644253 with a modulation of about 1.5 years with significant temporal variations along the duration of the Kepler observations. The variations are in agreement with the derived photometric activity. The frequency shifts extracted for KIC 10644253 are shown to result from the same physical mechanisms involved in the inner sub-surface layers as in the Sun. In parallel, a detailed spectroscopic analysis of KIC 10644253 is performed based on complementary ground-based, high-resolution observations collected by the HERMES instrument mounted on the MERCATOR telescope. Its lithium abundance and chromospheric activity S-index confirm that KIC 10644253 is a young and more active star than the Sun.