Variability of Known Exoplanet Host Stars Observed by TESS

Abstract

Both direct and indirect methods of exoplanet detection rely upon detailed knowledge of the potential host stars. Such stellar characterization allows for accurate extraction of planetary properties, as well as contributing to our overall understanding of exoplanetary system architecture. In this analysis, we examine the photometry of 264 known exoplanet host stars (harboring 337 planetary companions) that were observed during the TESS Prime Mission. We identify periodic signatures in the light curves of these stars and make possible connections to stellar pulsations and their rotation periods, and compare the stellar variability to the published planetary orbital periods. From these comparisons, we quantify the effects of stellar variability on exoplanet detection, confirming that exoplanets detection is biased toward lower variability stars, but larger exoplanets dominate the population of exoplanets around variable stars. Exoplanet detection methods represented among these systems are distinct between stellar spectral types across the main sequence, though notable outliers exist. In addition, biases present in both the sourced data from TESS and the host star selection process, which strongly influences the representation of both stellar and planetary characteristics in the final populations. We also determine whether the host star's photometric variability affects or mimics the behavior or properties of the system's planets. These results are discussed in the context of how the behavior of the host star is responsible for how we observe exoplanet characteristics, most notably their radii and atmospheric properties, and how the activity may alter our measurements or impact the evolution of planetary properties.

arXiv comment13 pages, 6 figures, resubmitted to AAS Journals after positive referee report

References in corpus (78)

• SciPy 1.0--Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python
• Array Programming with NumPy
• Astropy: A Community Python Package for Astronomy
• The Astropy Project: Building an inclusive, open-science project and status of the v2.0 core package
• The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
• Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction
• The K2 Mission: Characterization and Early results
• The California-Kepler Survey. III. A Gap in the Radius Distribution of Small Planets
• The Revised TESS Input Catalog and Candidate Target List
• The Occurrence and Architecture of Exoplanetary Systems
• Evolution of the Solar Activity over Time and Effects on Planetary Atmospheres: I. High-energy Irradiances (1-1700 A)
• Kepler planets: a tale of evaporation
• The evaporation valley in the Kepler planets
• Discovery of a planetary-mass companion within the gap of the transition disk around PDS 70
• Habitable Zones Around Main-Sequence Stars: Dependence on Planetary Mass
• Two accreting protoplanets around the young star PDS 70
• The Effect of a Strong Stellar Flare on the Atmospheric Chemistry of an Earth-like Planet Orbiting an M dwarf
• A Gaussian process framework for modelling stellar activity signals in radial velocity data
• The TESS Objects of Interest Catalog from the TESS Prime Mission
• Transits of Earth-Like Planets
• A simple method to estimate radial velocity variations due to stellar activity using photometry
• Line-profile tomography of exoplanet transits -- II. A gas-giant planet transiting a rapidly-rotating A5 star
• Understanding The Effects Of Stellar Multiplicity On The Derived Planet Radii From Transit Surveys: Implications for Kepler, K2, and TESS
• A giant planet undergoing extreme ultraviolet irradiation by its hot massive-star host
• Stellar Parameters and Elemental Abundances of Late-G Giants
• Search for exoplanets with the radial-velocity technique: quantitative diagnostics of stellar activity
• Expected Detection and False Alarm Rates for Transiting Jovian Planets
• TESS Discovery of a Transiting Super-Earth in the $\pi$ Mensae System
• Rotation Periods, Variability Properties and Ages for Kepler Exoplanet Candidate Host Stars
• Directly Determined Linear Radii and Effective Temperatures of Exoplanet Host Stars
• WASP-8b: a retrograde transiting planet in a multiple system
• Retired A Stars and Their Companions: Eighteen New Jovian Planets
• Testing blend scenarios for extrasolar transiting planet candidates. I. -- OGLE-TR-33: a false positive
• Discovery of a 1.6-year Magnetic Activity Cycle in the Exoplanet Host Star iota Horologii
• Ground-based near-UV observations of 15 transiting exoplanets: Constraints on their atmospheres and no evidence for asymmetrical transits
• Phase curves of WASP-33b and HD 149026b and a New Correlation Between Phase Curve Offset and Irradiation Temperature
• Magnetic Activity Cycles in the Exoplanet Host Star epsilon Eridani
• Filtering solar-like oscillations for exoplanet detection in radial velocity observations
• The astrophysics of visible-light orbital phase curves in the space age
• HATNet Field G205: Follow-Up Observations of 28 Transiting-Planet candidates and Confirmation of the Planet HAT-P-8b
• Radial Velocity Planet Detection Biases at the Stellar Rotational Period
• Transit detection of the long-period volatile-rich super-Earth ${\nu }^2$ Lupi d with $CHEOPS$
• Stellar activity as noise in exoplanet detection II. Application to M dwarfs
• The KELT Follow-Up Network and Transit False Positive Catalog: Pre-vetted False Positives for TESS
• Exploring the atmospheric dynamics of the extreme ultra-hot Jupiter KELT-9b using TESS photometry
• Systematic Phase Curve Study of Known Transiting Systems from Year 1 of the TESS Mission
• Architectures of Planetary Systems and Implications for their Formation
• TESS Hunt for Young and Maturing Exoplanets (THYME) V: A Sub-Neptune Transiting a Young Star in a Newly Discovered 250 Myr Association
• The effects of stellar activity on optical high-resolution exoplanet transmission spectra
• Rejecting Astrophysical False Positives from the TrES Transiting Planet Survey: The Example of GSC 03885-00829
• Visible-light Phase Curves from the Second Year of the TESS Primary Mission
• New low-mass members of the Octans stellar association and an updated 30-40 Myr lithium age
• The EXPRES Stellar Signals Project II. State of the Field in Disentangling Photospheric Velocities
• Forecasting the Impact of Stellar Activity on Transiting Exoplanet Spectra
• The Stellar Activity of TRAPPIST-1 and Consequences for the Planetary Atmospheres
• Estimating Stellar Radial Velocity Variability from Kepler and GALEX: Implications for the Radial Velocity Confirmation of Exoplanets
• The HD 192263 system: planetary orbital period and stellar variability disentangled
• Pulsation analysis and its impact on primary transit modeling in WASP-33
• Refined architecture of the WASP-8 system: a cautionary tale for traditional Rossiter-McLaughlin analysis
• Host Star Properties and Transit Exclusion for the HD 38529 Planetary System
• Stellar Activity and Exclusion of the Outer Planet in the HD 99492 System
• The Impact of Stellar Distances on Habitable Zone Planets
• TESS Reveals a Short-period Sub-Neptune Sibling (HD 86226c) to a Known Long-period Giant Planet
• Transits of Known Planets Orbiting a Naked-Eye Star
• A Volatile-Poor Formation of LHS 3844b based on its Lack of Significant Atmosphere
• Science Extraction from TESS Observations of Known Exoplanet Hosts
• Stellar activity as noise in exoplanet detection I. Methods and application to solar-like stars and activity cycles
• Detectability of Exoplanetary Transits from Radial Velocity Surveys
• TESS Reveals HD 118203 b to be a Transiting Planet
• TESS Asteroseismic Analysis of the Known Exoplanet Host Star HD 222076
• Distinguishing the albedo of exoplanets from stellar activity
• Exclusion of Stellar Companions to Exoplanet Host Stars
• Astrophysical False Positives Encountered in Wide-Field Transit Searches
• An a priori investigation of astrophysical false positives in ground-based transiting planet surveys
• Stellar Variability of the Exoplanet Hosting Star HD 63454
• Variability of Kepler Solar-Like Stars Harboring Small Exoplanets
• Revised Properties and Dynamical History for the HD 17156 System
• Know the Star, Know the Planet. V. Characterization of the Stellar Companion to the Exoplanet Host HD 177830

Cited by in corpus (1)

• A Population Analysis of 20 Exoplanets Observed from the Optical to the Near-infrared Wavelengths with HST: Evidence for Widespread Stellar Contamination