Revisiting the correlation between stellar activity and planetary surface gravity

Abstract

Aims: We re-evaluate the correlation between planetary surface gravity and stellar host activity as measured by the index log($R_{HK}^{\prime }$). This correlation, previously identified by Hartman (2010), is now analyzed in light of an extended measurements dataset, roughly 3 times larger than the original one. Methods: We calculated the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between the two quantities and its associated p-value. The correlation coefficient was calculated for both the full dataset and the star-planet pairs that follow the conditions proposed by Hartman (2010). In order to do so, we considered effective temperatures both as collected from the literature and from the SWEET-Cat catalog, which provides a more homogeneous and accurate effective temperature determination. Results: The analysis delivers significant correlation coefficients, but with a lower value than those obtained by Hartman (2010). Yet, the two datasets are compatible, and we show that a correlation coefficient as large as previously published can arise naturally from a small-number statistics analysis of the current dataset. The correlation is recovered for star-planet pairs selected using the different conditions proposed by Hartman (2010). Remarkably, the usage of SWEET-Cat temperatures leads to larger correlation coefficient values. We highlight and discuss the role of the correlation betwen different parameters such as effective temperature and activity index. Several additional effects on top of those discussed previously were considered, but none fully explains the detected correlation. In light of the complex issue discussed here, we encourage the different follow-up teams to publish their activity index values in the form of log($R_{HK}^{\prime }$) index so that a comparison across stars and instruments can be pursued.

11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (68)

• Improved Age Estimation for Solar-Type Dwarfs Using Activity-Rotation Diagnostics
• Planet Occurrence within 0.25 AU of Solar-type Stars from Kepler
• Characteristics of planetary candidates observed by Kepler, II: Analysis of the first four months of data
• Defining and cataloging exoplanets: The exoplanet.eu database
• The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XXXI. The M-dwarf sample
• The Occurrence Rate of Small Planets around Small Stars
• Spectroscopic parameters for 451 stars in the HARPS GTO planet search program. Stellar [Fe/H] and the frequency of exo-Neptunes
• Masses, Radii, and Orbits of Small Kepler Planets: The Transition from Gaseous to Rocky Planets
• Spin-orbit angle measurements for six southern transiting planets; New insights into the dynamical origins of hot Jupiters
• The Exoplanet Orbit Database
• HAT-P-16b: A 4 Mj Planet Transiting A Bright Star On An Eccentric Orbit
• Detection of a NEPTUNE-mass planet in the ${\rho }^1$ Cancri system using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope
• Evaporation of the planet HD189733b observed in HI Lyman-alpha
• SWEET-Cat: A catalogue of parameters for Stars With ExoplanETs I. New atmospheric parameters and masses for 48 stars with planets
• A Correlation Between Stellar Activity and Hot Jupiter Emission Spectra
• The On/Off Nature of Star-Planet Interactions
• Kepler-62: A five-planet system with planets of 1.4 and 1.6 Earth radii in the Habitable Zone
• Planets around evolved intermediate-mass stars. I. Two substellar companions in the open clusters NGC 2423 and NGC 4349
• An Earth-sized planet with an Earth-like density
• On the Anomalous Radii of the Transiting Extrasolar Planets
• The Kepler-10 planetary system revisited by HARPS-N: A hot rocky world and a solid Neptune-mass planet
• HAT-P-32b and HAT-P-33b: Two Highly Inflated Hot Jupiters Transiting High-Jitter Stars
• Deriving precise parameters for cool solar-type stars. Optimizing the iron line list
• How stellar activity affects the size estimates of extrasolar planets
• Three sub-Jupiter-mass planets: WASP-69b & WASP-84b transit active K dwarfs and WASP-70Ab transits the evolved primary of a G4+K3 binary
• Effect of stellar spots on high-precision transit light-curve
• The Kepler-19 System: A Transiting 2.2 R_Earth Planet and a Second Planet Detected via Transit Timing Variations
• WASP-41b: A transiting hot Jupiter planet orbiting a magnetically-active G8V star
• HAT-P-26b: A Low-Density Neptune-Mass Planet Transiting a K Star
• The GAPS programme with HARPS-N at TNG. I: Observations of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect and characterisation of the transiting system Qatar-1
• WASP-42 b and WASP-49 b: two new transiting sub-Jupiters
• HAT-P-39b--HAT-P-41b: Three Highly Inflated Transiting Hot Jupiters
• WASP-52b, WASP-58b, WASP-59b, and WASP-60b: four new transiting close-in giant planets
• A method for the direct determination of the surface gravities of transiting extrasolar planets
• Photometric Variability in Kepler Target Stars. III. Comparison with the Sun on Different Timescales
• Comparing HARPS and Kepler surveys: The alignment of multiple-planet systems
• Planetary detection limits taking into account stellar noise. II. Effect of stellar spot groups on radial-velocities
• The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XXXV. The interesting case of HD41248: stellar activity, no planets?
• Kepler-20: A Sun-like Star with Three Sub-Neptune Exoplanets and Two Earth-size Candidates
• Indications for an influence of Hot Jupiters on the rotation and activity of their host stars
• Kepler-68: Three Planets, One With a Density Between That of Earth and Ice Giants
• The NASA-UC Eta-Earth Program: III. A Super-Earth orbiting HD 97658 and a Neptune-mass planet orbiting Gl 785
• HAT-P-34b -- HAT-P-37b: Four Transiting Planets More Massive Than Jupiter Orbiting Moderately Bright Stars
• Line-profile variations in radial-velocity measurements: Two alternative indicators for planetary searches
• HAT-P-17b,c: A Transiting, Eccentric, Hot Saturn and a Long-period, Cold Jupiter
• Secondary Eclipse Photometry of WASP-4b with Warm Spitzer
• The CORALIE survey for southern extrasolar planets XVII. New and updated long period and massive planets
• HAT-P-27b: A hot Jupiter transiting a G star on a 3 day orbit
• Spin-Orbit Alignment for the Circumbinary Planet Host Kepler-16A
• HAT-P-44b, HAT-P-45b, and HAT-P-46b: Three Transiting Hot Jupiters in Possible Multi-Planet Systems
• HAT-P-38b: A Saturn-Mass Planet Transiting a Late G Star
• HAT-P-15b: A 10.9-day Extrasolar Planet Transiting a Solar-type Star
• HAT-P-28b and HAT-P-29b: Two Sub-Jupiter Mass Transiting Planets
• A High Stellar Obliquity in the WASP-7 Exoplanetary System
• Physical properties and transmission spectrum of the WASP-80 planetary system from multi-colour photometry
• WASP-23b: a transiting hot Jupiter around a K dwarf and its Rossiter-McLaughlin effect
• A Correlation Between Stellar Activity and the Surface Gravity of Hot Jupiters
• Rossiter-McLaughlin Effect Measurements for WASP-16, WASP-25 and WASP-31
• WASP-50b: a hot Jupiter transiting a moderately active solar-type star
• HAT-P-25b: a Hot-Jupiter Transiting a Moderately Faint G Star
• WASP-117b: a 10-day-period Saturn in an eccentric and misaligned orbit
• Warm Spitzer and Palomar Near-IR Secondary Eclipse Photometry of Two Hot Jupiters: WASP-48b and HAT-P-23b
• A search for star-planet interactions in the upsilon Andromedae system at X-ray and optical wavelengths
• HAT-P-31b,c: A Transiting, Eccentric, Hot Jupiter and a Long-Period, Massive Third-Body
• Exoplanet hosts reveal lithium depletion: Results from a homogeneous statistical analysis
• Spin-orbit measurements and refined parameters for the exoplanet systems WASP-22 and WASP-26
• Orbital migration induced by anisotropic evaporation. Can hot Jupiters form hot Neptunes ?
• HST observations of the limb polarization of Titan

Cited by in corpus (18)

• Advection of potential temperature in the atmosphere of irradiated exoplanets: a robust mechanism to explain radius inflation
• Hierarchical Bayesian calibration of tidal orbit decay rates among hot Jupiters
• The GAPS Programme with HARPS-N@TNG V. A comprehensive analysis of the XO-2 stellar and planetary systems
• The GAPS Programme at TNG. XXXII. The revealing non-detection of metastable HeI in the atmosphere of the hot Jupiter WASP-80b
• On the correlation between stellar chromospheric flux and the surface gravity of close-in planets
• The effect of ISM absorption on stellar activity measurements and its relevance for exoplanet studies
• SALT observations of the Chromospheric Activity of Transiting Planet Hosts: Mass Loss and Star Planet Interactions
• Suppressed Far-UV Stellar Activity and Low Planetary Mass Loss in the WASP-18 System
• A pragmatic Bayesian perspective on correlation analysis: The exoplanetary gravity - stellar activity case
• Far-UV spectroscopy of the planet-hosting star WASP-13: high-energy irradiance, distance, age, planetary mass-loss rate, and circumstellar environment
• Close-by planets and flares in their host stars
• On the ultraviolet anomalies of the WASP-12 and HD 189733 systems: Trojan satellites as a plasma source
• The GAPS Programme with HARPS-N@TNG VI: The Curious Case of TrES-4b
• The homogeneous characterisation of Ariel host stars
• A bimodal correlation between host star chromospheric emission and the surface gravity of hot Jupiters
• Is the activity level of HD 80606 influenced by its eccentric planet?
• WASP-12b: A Mass-Losing Extremely Hot Jupiter
• Angular Momentum and Heat Transport on Tidally Locked Hot Jupiter Planets