Predictions of astrometric jitter for Sun-like stars. I. The model and its application to the Sun as seen from the ecliptic

TL;DR

This paper models the solar photocentre displacement caused by magnetic activity over 16 years, assessing its magnitude and dependence on observation wavelength, with implications for exoplanet detection via astrometry.

Contribution

It extends the SATIRE-S model to quantify solar astrometric jitter and evaluates its detectability, providing a tool for studying magnetic activity effects on astrometric measurements.

Findings

Peak photocentre displacement reaches 0.5 mas at 10 pc in Gaia G filter.

Displacement is too small for Gaia detection but larger in more active stars.

Model can be combined with magnetic flux simulations for broader activity range.

Abstract

The advent of Gaia, capable of measuring stellar wobbles caused by orbiting planets, raised an interest to the astrometric detection of exoplanets. Another source of such wobbles (often also called jitter) is stellar magnetic activity. A quantitative assessment of the stellar astrometric jitter is important for a more reliable astrometric detection and characterisation of exoplanets. We calculate the displacement of the solar photocentre due to the magnetic activity for an almost 16-year period (February 2, 1999 - August 1, 2014). We also investigate how the displacement depends on the spectral passband chosen for observations, including the wavelength range to be covered by the upcoming Small-JASMINE mission of JAXA. This is done by extending the SATIRE-S model for solar irradiance variability to calculating the displacement of the solar photocentre caused by the magnetic features on the surface of the Sun. We found that the peak to peak amplitude of the solar photocentre displacement would reach 0.5 mas if the Sun were located 10 pc away from the observer and observed in the Gaia G filter. This is by far too small to be detected by the Gaia mission. However, the Sun is a relatively inactive star so that one can expect significantly larger signals for younger, and, consequently, more active stars. The model developed in this study can be combined with the simulations of emergence and surface transport of magnetic flux which have recently became available to model the astrometric jitter over the broad range of magnetic activities.