ROOSTER: a machine-learning analysis tool for Kepler stellar rotation periods

TL;DR

This paper introduces ROOSTER, a machine learning tool using random forests to automatically determine stellar rotation periods from Kepler data, achieving high accuracy and efficiency in large stellar samples.

Contribution

The work develops a novel automated pipeline combining multiple analysis methods and machine learning classifiers to reliably extract stellar rotation periods from large photometric datasets.

Findings

94.2% classification accuracy for rotation presence

95.3% period agreement within 10% for stars with known periods

99.5% correct periods after visual inspection

Abstract

In order to understand stellar evolution, it is crucial to efficiently determine stellar surface rotation periods. An efficient tool to automatically determine reliable rotation periods is needed when dealing with large samples of stellar photometric datasets. The objective of this work is to develop such a tool. Random forest learning abilities are exploited to automate the extraction of rotation periods in Kepler light curves. Rotation periods and complementary parameters are obtained from three different methods: a wavelet analysis, the autocorrelation function of the light curve, and the composite spectrum. We train three different classifiers: one to detect if rotational modulations are present in the light curve, one to flag close binary or classical pulsators candidates that can bias our rotation period determination, and finally one classifier to provide the final rotation period. We test our machine learning pipeline on 23,431 stars of the Kepler K and M dwarf reference rotation catalog of Santos et al. (2019) for which 60% of the stars have been visually inspected. For the sample of 21,707 stars where all the input parameters are provided to the algorithm, 94.2% of them are correctly classified (as rotating or not). Among the stars that have a rotation period in the reference catalog, the machine learning provides a period that agrees within 10% of the reference value for 95.3% of the stars. Moreover, the yield of correct rotation periods is raised to 99.5% after visually inspecting 25.2% of the stars. Over the two main analysis steps, rotation classification and period selection, the pipeline yields a global agreement with the reference values of 92.1% and 96.9% before and after visual inspection. Random forest classifiers are efficient tools to determine reliable rotation periods in large samples of stars. [abridged]