Forward modelling of Kepler-band variability due to faculae and spots

TL;DR

This paper models stellar brightness variations caused by faculae and spots on late-type stars using realistic limb-dependent contrasts and a geometrically accurate surface mapping approach, to better understand their impact on exoplanet detection.

Contribution

It introduces a new detailed modelling method for stellar surface features and their effects on lightcurve variability, incorporating realistic limb-dependent contrasts and a comprehensive parameter sensitivity analysis.

Findings

Spot temperature and coverage dominate variability effects.

Faculae influence mean brightness and lightcurve shape but not variability magnitude.

Typical solar-type star variability is around 2 parts-per-thousand with 1% spot coverage.

Abstract

Variability observed in photometric lightcurves of late-type stars (on timescales longer than a day) is a dominant noise source in exoplanet surveys and results predominantly from surface manifestations of stellar magnetic activity, namely faculae and spots. The implementation of faculae in lightcurve models is an open problem, with scaling typically based on spectra equivalent to hot stellar atmospheres or assuming a solar-derived facular contrast. We modelled rotational (single period) lightcurves of active G2, K0, M0 and M2 stars, with Sun-like surface distributions and realistic limb-dependent contrasts for faculae and spots. The sensitivity of lightcurve variability to changes in model parameters such as stellar inclination, feature area coverage, spot temperature, facular region magnetic flux density and active band latitudes is explored. For our lightcurve modelling approach we used actress, a geometrically accurate model for stellar variability. actress generates 2-sphere maps representing stellar surfaces and populates them with user-prescribed spot and facular region distributions. From this, lightcurves can be calculated at any inclination. Quiet star limb darkening and limb-dependent facular contrasts were derived from MURaM 3D magnetoconvection simulations using ATLAS9. 1D stellar atmosphere models were used for the spot contrasts. We applied actress in Monte-Carlo simulations, calculating lightcurve variability amplitudes in the Kepler band. We found that, for a given spectral type and stellar inclination, spot temperature and spot area coverage have the largest effect on variability of all simulation parameters. For a spot coverage of 1%, the typical variability of a solar-type star is around 2 parts-per-thousand. The presence of faculae clearly affects the mean brightness and lightcurve shape, but has relatively little influence on the variability.