Navegando por Autor "Lanza, A. F."

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Magnetic activity in the photosphere of CoRoT-Exo-2a: Active longitudes and short-term spot cycle in a young Sun-like star
(Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2008) Lanza, A. F.; Pagano, I.; Leto, G.; Messina, S.; Aigrain, S.; Alonso, R.; Auvergne, M.; Baglin, A.; Barge, P.; Bonomo, A. S.; Boumier, P.; Cameron, A. Collier; Comparato, M.; Cutispoto, G.; Medeiros, José Renan de; Foing, B.; Kaiser, A.; Moutou, C.; Parihar, P. S.; Silva-Valio, A.; Weiss, W. W.
Context. The space experiment CoRoT has recently detected transits by a hot Jupiter across the disc of an active G7V star (CoRoTExo-2a) that can be considered as a good proxy for the Sun at an age of approximately 0.5 Gyr. Aims. We present a spot modelling of the optical variability of the star during 142 days of uninterrupted observations performed by CoRoT with unprecedented photometric precision. Methods. We apply spot modelling approaches previously tested in the case of the Sun by modelling total solar irradiance variations, a good proxy for the optical flux variations of the Sun as a star. The best results in terms of mapping of the surface brightness inhomogeneities are obtained by means of maximum entropy regularized models. To model the light curve of CoRoT-Exo-2a, we take into account the photometric effects of both cool spots and solar-like faculae, adopting solar analogy. Results. Two active longitudes initially on opposite hemispheres are found on the photosphere of CoRoT-Exo-2a with a rotation period of 4.522 ± 0.024 days. Their separation changes by ≈80◦ during the time span of the observations. From this variation, a relative amplitude of the surface differential rotation lower than ∼1 percent is estimated. Individual spots form within the active longitudes and show an angular velocity ∼1 percent lower than that of the longitude pattern. The total spotted area shows a cyclic oscillation with a period of 28.9 ± 4.3 days, which is close to 10 times the synodic period of the planet as seen by the rotating active longitudes. We discuss the effects of solar-like faculae on our models, finding indications of a facular contribution to the optical flux variations of CoRoT-Exo-2a being significantly smaller than in the present Sun. Conclusions. The implications of such results for the internal rotation of CoRoT-Exo-2a are discussed, based on solar analogy. A possible magnetic star-planet interaction is suggested by the cyclic variation of the spotted area. Alternatively, the 28.9-d cycle may be related to Rossby-type waves propagating in the subphotospheric layers of the star.
Measuring stellar differential rotation with high-precision space-borne photometry
(EDP Sciences, 2014) Lanza, A. F.; Chagas, M. L. das; Medeiros, José Renan de
Context. Stellar differential rotation is important for understanding hydromagnetic stellar dynamos, instabilities, and transport processes in stellar interiors, as well as for a better treatment of tides in close binary and star-planet systems. Aims. We introduce a method of measuring a lower limit to the amplitude of surface differential rotation from high-precision, evenly sampled photometric time series, such as those obtained by space-borne telescopes. It is designed to be applied to main-sequence late-type stars whose optical flux modulation is dominated by starspots. Methods. An autocorrelation of the time series was used to select stars that allow an accurate determination of starspot rotation periods. A simple two-spot model was applied together with a Bayesian information criterion to preliminarily select intervals of the time series showing evidence of differential rotation with starspots of almost constant area. Finally, the significance of the differential rotation detection and a measurement of its amplitude and uncertainty were obtained by an a posteriori Bayesian analysis based on a Monte Carlo Markov chain approach. We applied our method to the Sun and eight other stars for which previous spot modelling had been performed to compare our results with previous ones. Results. We find that autocorrelation is a simple method for selecting stars with a coherent rotational signal that is a prerequisite for successfully measuring differential rotation through spot modelling. For a proper Monte Carlo Markov chain analysis, it is necessary to take the strong correlations among different parameters that exist in spot modelling into account. For the planet-hosting star Kepler-30, we derive a lower limit to the relative amplitude of the differential rotation of ΔP/P = 0.0523±0.0016. We confirm that the Sun as a star in the optical passband is not suitable for measuring differential rotation owing to the rapid evolution of its photospheric active regions. In general, our method performs well in comparison to more sophisticated and time-consuming approaches.
New Suns in the Cosmos II: differential rotation in Kepler Sun-like stars
(Royal Astronomical Society, 2016) Chagas, M. L. das; Bravo, J. P.; Costa, A. D.; Lopes, C. E. Ferreira; Sobrinho, R. Silva; Paz-Chinchón, F.; Leão, I. C.; Valio, A.; Freitas, D. B. de; Martins, B. L. Canto; Lanza, A. F.; Medeiros, José Renan de
The present study reports the discovery of Sun-like stars, namely main-sequence stars with Teff, log g and rotation periods Prot similar to solar values, presenting evidence of surface differential rotation (DR). An autocorrelation of the time series was used to select stars presenting photometric signal stability from a sample of 881 stars with light curves collected by the Kepler space-borne telescope, in which we have identified 17 stars with stable signals. A simple two-spot model together with a Bayesian information criterion were applied to these stars in the search for indications of DR; in addition, for all 17 stars, it was possible to compute the spot rotation period P, the mean values of the individual spot rotation periods and their respective colatitudes, and the relative amplitude of the DR.
Photospheric activity and rotation of the planet-hosting star CoRoT-4a
(Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2009-10) Lanza, A. F.; Aigrain, S.; Messina, S.; Leto, G.; Pagano, I.; Auvergne, M.; Baglin, A.; Barge, P.; Bonomo, A. S.; Cameron, A. Collier; Cutispoto, G.; Deleuil, M.; Medeiros, José Renan de; Foing, B.; Moutou, C.
Aims. The space experiment CoRoT has recently detected a transiting hot Jupiter in orbit around a moderately active F-type mainsequence star (CoRoT-4a). This planetary system is of particular interest because it has an orbital period of 9.202 days, the second longest one among the transiting planets known to date. We study the surface rotation and the activity of the host star during an uninterrupted sequence of optical observations of 58 days. Methods. Our approach is based on a maximum entropy spot modelling technique extensively tested by modelling the variation in the total solar irradiance. It has been successfully applied to model the light curve of another active star with a transiting planet observed by CoRoT, i.e., CoRoT-2a. It assumes that stellar active regions consist of cool spots and bright faculae, analogous to sunspots and solar photospheric faculae, whose visibility is modulated by stellar rotation. Results. The modelling of the light curve of CoRoT-4a reveals three main active longitudes with lifetimes between ∼30 and ∼60 days that rotate quasi-synchronously with the orbital motion of the planet. The different rotation rates of the active longitudes are interpreted in terms of surface differential rotation, and a lower limit of 0.057 ± 0.015 is derived for its relative amplitude. The enhancement of activity observed close to the subplanetary longitude suggests a magnetic star-planet interaction, although the short duration of the time series prevents us from drawing definite conclusions. Conclusions. The present work confirms the quasi-synchronicity between stellar rotation and planetary orbital motion in the CoRoT4 system and provides a lower limit for the surface differential rotation of the star. This information can be important in trying to understand the formation and evolution of this highly interesting planetary system. Moreover, there is an indication of a possible star-planet magnetic interaction that needs to be confirmed by future studies.

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Navegando por Autor "Lanza, A. F."