Barycentric Corrections for Precise Radial Velocity Measurements of Sunlight

TL;DR

This paper develops precise formulas and a Python tool for barycentric corrections of sunlight Doppler velocities, revealing planetary influences over 30 years and discussing detection methods for Venus.

Contribution

It introduces new formulae and a Python package for barycentric corrections of sunlight Doppler velocities, specifically addressing the Sun's motion relative to Solar System objects.

Findings

Sunlight Doppler velocities are dominated by Jupiter's motion.

Other planetary signals, including Venus, are not detectable in Fourier space.

Detecting Venus requires reflection observations or detailed modeling.

Abstract

We provide formulae for the calculation of precise Doppler velocities of sunlight, in both the case of direct observations of the Sun and in reflection from the surfaces of solar system objects such as the Moon or asteroids. We discuss the meaning of a "barycentric correction" of measurements of these Doppler velocities, which is a different procedure from the analogous correction for starlight, and provide a formula for reducing such measurements to the component of the Sun's motion in the direction of the Earth or other Solar System object. We have implemented this procedure in the public barycorrpy Python package, and use it to explore the properties of the barycentric-corrected Doppler velocity of sunlight over 30 years. When measured directly, we show it is dominated by the non-periodic motion due to Jupiter, and that the signals of the other planets, including Venus, are not discernible in Fourier space. We show that "detecting" Venus in the Doppler velocities of sunlight will require either observing sunlight in reflection from an asteroid, or modeling the their individual contributions to the motion of the Sun in counterfactual kinematic or dynamical simulations of the Solar System with and without them.