The impact of faculae on the radius determination of exoplanets: The case of the M-star GJ1214

TL;DR

This study investigates how faculae, bright surface features on stars, affect the accuracy of exoplanet radius measurements, focusing on the M-star GJ1214, and introduces a new method to quantify faculae distribution.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel application of eclipse mapping to analyze faculae distribution on GJ1214 and introduces the inhomogeneity factor IHF to quantify surface feature distribution.

Findings

GJ1214 has a low IHF value of 7.7%, indicating near-homogeneous faculae distribution.

Faculae distribution has implications for precise exoplanet radius measurements.

Results are relevant for upcoming space missions like PLATO and ARIEL.

Abstract

Precise measurements of exoplanets radii are of key importance for our understanding of the origin and nature of these objects. Measurement of the planet radii using the transit method have reached a precision that the effects of stellar surface features have to be taken into account. While the effects from spots have already been studied in detail, our knowledge of the effects caused by faculae is still limited. This is particularly the case for M-stars. Faculae can pose a problem if they are inhomogeneously distributed on the stellar surface. Using the eclipse mapping method, we study the distribution of the faculae on the surface of GJ1214 using the CaIIH&K lines as tracers. In order to assess the homogeneity of the distribution in a quantitative way, we introduce the inhomogeneity factor IHF. IHF is 0% if the distribution is homogeneous, positive, if the plage regions are preferentially located along the path of the planet, and negative, if they are preferentially located outside the path of the planet. For GJ1214, we derive a rather small value of IHF=7.7-7.7+12.0%. We discuss the relevance of this result in the context of the PLATO and ARIEL missions.