Quiet Please: Detrending Radial Velocity Variations from Stellar Activity with a Physically Motivated Spot Model

TL;DR

This paper introduces the Rotation-Convection (RC) model, a novel method for detrending stellar activity signals in radial velocity data using minimal spectral information, improving exoplanet detection accuracy.

Contribution

The RC model provides a physically motivated, efficient way to separate stellar activity signals from radial velocity data without requiring high-cadence observations.

Findings

RC model reduces activity amplitude below 1 m/s on NEID data.

It effectively detrends activity signals across different datasets and instruments.

The model accurately recovers and separates rotation and convection components.

Abstract

For solar-type stars, spots and their associated magnetic regions induce radial velocity perturbations through the Doppler rotation signal and the suppression of convective blueshift -- collectively known as rotation-modulation. We developed the Rotation-Convection (RC) model: a method of detrending and characterizing rotation-modulation, using only cross-correlation functions or 1-dimensional spectra, without the need for continuous high cadence measurements. The RC method uses a simple model for the anomalous radial velocity induced by an active region and has two inputs: stellar flux (or a flux proxy) and the relative radial velocity between strongly and weakly absorbed wavelengths (analogous to the bisector-inverse slope). On NEID solar data (three month baseline), the RC model lowers the amplitude of rotationally-modulated stellar activity to below the meter-per-second level. For the standard star HD 26965, the RC model detrends the activity signal to the meter-per-second level for HARPS, EXPRES, and NEID observations, even though the temporal density and timespan of the observations differs by an order of magnitude between the three datasets. In addition to detrending, the RC model also characterizes the rotation-modulation signal. From comparison with the Solar Dynamics Observatory, we confirmed that the model accurately recovers and separates the rotation and convection radial velocity components. We also mapped the amplitude of the rotation and convection perturbations as a function of height within the stellar atmosphere. Probing stellar atmospheres with our revised spot model will fuel future innovations in stellar activity mitigation, enabling robust exoplanet detection.