Butterfly diagram of a Sun-like star observed using asteroseismology

Abstract

Stellar magnetic fields are poorly understood but are known to be important for stellar evolution and exoplanet habitability. They drive stellar activity, which is the main observational constraint on theoretical models for magnetic field generation and evolution. Starspots are the main manifestation of the magnetic fields at the stellar surface. In this study we measure the variation of their latitude with time, called a butterfly diagram in the solar case, for the solar analogue HD 173701 (KIC 8006161). To that effect, we use Kepler data, to combine starspot rotation rates at different epochs and the asteroseismically determined latitudinal variation of the stellar rotation rates. We observe a clear variation of the latitude of the starspots. It is the first time such a diagram is constructed using asteroseismic data.

8 pages, 4 figures, accepted in A&A Letters

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• Solar structure and evolution
• Recovery of TESS Stellar Rotation Periods Using Deep Learning
• Starspot activity of HD 199178. Doppler images from 1994--2017
• Asteroseismic constraints on active latitudes of solar-type stars: HD173701 has active bands at higher latitudes than the Sun
• Closeby Habitable Exoplanet Survey (CHES). I. Astrometric Noise and Planetary Detection Efficiency due to Stellar Spots and Faculae
• Sounding stellar cycles with Kepler - III. Comparative analysis of chromospheric, photometric and asteroseismic variability
• Inverse analysis of asteroseismic data: a review
• Flaring Latitudes in Ensembles of Low Mass Stars
• Localizing flares to understand stellar magnetic fields and space weather in exo-systems