Magnetic variability in the young solar analog KIC 10644253: observations from the Kepler satellite and the HERMES spectrograph

Abstract

The continuous photometric observations collected by the Kepler satellite over 4 yr provide a wealth of data with an unequalled quantity and quality for the study of stellar evolution of more than 200 000 stars. Moreover, the length of the dataset provides a unique source of information for detecting magnetic activity and associated temporal variability in the acoustic oscillations. In this regards, the Kepler mission was awaited with great expectations. The search for the signature of magnetic activity variability in solar-like pulsations still remained unfruitful more than 2 yr after the end of the nominal mission. Here, however, we report the discovery of temporal variability in the low-degree acoustic frequencies of the young (1 Gyr-old) solar analog KIC 10644253 with a modulation of about 1.5 yr with significant temporal variations for the duration of the Kepler observations. The variations agree with the derived photometric activity. The frequency shifts extracted for KIC 10644253 are shown to result from the same physical mechanisms involved in the inner subsurface layers as in the Sun. In parallel, a detailed spectroscopic analysis of KIC 10644253 is performed based on complementary ground-based, high-resolution observations collected by the HERMES instrument mounted on the Mercator telescope. Its lithium abundance and chromospheric activity S index confirm that KIC 10644253 is a young and more active star than the Sun