Publication: The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs: benchmarking the impact of activity in high-precision radial velocity measurements
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2022-07-08
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Abstract
Context. Current exoplanet surveys using the radial velocity (RV) technique are targeting M dwarfs because any habitable zone terrestrial-mass planets will induce a high RV and orbit on shorter periods than for more massive stars. One of the main caveats is that M dwarfs show a wide range of activity levels from inactive to very active, which can induce an asymmetry in the line profiles and, consequently, a spurious RV measurement.
Aims. We aim to benchmark the impact of stellar activity on high-precision RV measurements using regular-cadence CARMENES visible and near-infrared observations of the active M3.5 dwarf EV Lac.
Methods. We used the newly developed technique of low-resolution Doppler imaging to determine the centre-of-light, or spot-induced RV component, for eight observational epochs.
Results. We confirm a statistically significant and strong correlation between the independently measured centre-of-light and the chromatic index, which is a measure of the amplitude variation with wavelength of the RVs. We also find circular “closed-loop” relations of several activity indices with RV for a subset of data that covers only several rotation periods. We also investigate the implications of large phase gaps in the periodograms of activity indicators. Finally, by removing the spot-induced RV component we improve the planet-mass sensitivity by a factor of at least three.
Conclusions. We conclude that for active M stars, a regular-cadence observing strategy is the most efficient way to identify and eliminate sources of correlated noise.
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© S. V. Jeffers et al. 2022. Artículo firmado por 20 autores. We thank the referee for their very constructive comments that helped to improve the paper. S.V.J. acknowledges the support of the German Science Foundation (DFG) priority program SPP 1992 “Exploring the Diversity of Extrasolar Planets” (JE 701/5-1). CARMENES is an instrument for the Centro Astronómico Hispano-Alemán de Calar Alto (CAHA, Almería, Spain). CARMENES was funded by the German Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), the Spanish Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the European Union through FEDER/ERF FICTS-2011-02 funds, and the members of the CARMENES Consortium (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Landessternwarte Königstuhl, Institut de Ciències de l’Espai, Institut für Astrophysik Göttingen, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Hamburger Sternwarte, Centro de Astrobiología and Centro Astronómico Hispano-Alemán), with additional contributions by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, the German Science Foundation through the Major Research Instrumentation Programme and DFG Research Unit FOR2544 “Blue Planets around Red Stars”, the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, the states of BadenWürttemberg and Niedersachsen, and by the Junta de Andalucía. Based on data from the CARMENES data archive at CAB (INTA-CSIC). We acknowledge financial support from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación of the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades and the ERDF through projects PID2019-109522GB-C5[1:4]/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, PID2019- 107061GB-C64, PGC2018-098153-B-C33, AYA2016-79425-C3-1/2/3-P, BES2017-080769, and the Centre of Excellence “Severo Ochoa” and “María de Maeztu” awards to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (CEX2019-000920- S, SEV-2015-0548-16-3), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017- 0709), and Centro de Astrobiología (MDM-2017-0737), and the Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA programme. This paper includes data collected by the TESS mission. Funding for the TESS mission is provided by the NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.