Bolometric corrections of stellar oscillation mode amplitudes as observed by the PLATO mission. I. Planck-spectrum estimates

TL;DR

This paper develops bolometric correction functions for stellar oscillation amplitudes observed by the PLATO mission, enabling accurate comparisons with theoretical models and other missions, based on Planck-spectrum estimates.

Contribution

It introduces new bolometric correction functions for PLATO's cameras using Planck-spectrum estimates, facilitating cross-mission amplitude comparisons and improving target selection.

Findings

PLATO's normal cameras' amplitudes are ~6.7% lower than Kepler's.

PLATO's normal cameras' amplitudes are ~12.5% higher than TESS's.

Blue PLATO fast camera amplitudes are ~25% higher than TESS's.

Abstract

We derive bolometric correction functions for oscillation mode amplitudes observed by the different cameras of the ESA PLATO mission. Such corrections between bolometric (full light) and mission instrument-specific amplitudes enable comparisons to theoretical expectations and amplitude conversion between different photometric missions, which is essential for proper detectability yields and target selection. Bolometric correction functions were calculated assuming a Planck function approximation for the stellar spectral flux distribution. The calculations follow the procedures applied in earlier analyses for the NASA Kepler and TESS missions. We derived power-law and polynomial parametrisations of the bolometric corrections with $T_{\rm eff}$. We find that on average, oscillation mode amplitudes from PLATO's normal cameras (N-CAMs) are expected to be ~6.7% lower compared to Kepler, and ~12.5% higher compared to TESS. A significant average amplitude ratio of ~25% is expected for amplitudes measured using the blue PLATO fast camera (F-CAM) compared to TESS. We find that observations of bright solar-like oscillators, especially with PLATO's F-CAMs, would provide an important test of the predicted corrections.