Solar-like oscillations in KIC11395018 and KIC11234888 from 8 months of Kepler data

Mathur, S.; Handberg, R.; Campante, T. L.; Garcia, R. A.; Appourchaux, T.; Bedding, T. R.; Mosser, B.; Chaplin, W. J.; Ballot, J.; Benomar, O.; Bonanno, A.; Corsaro, E.; Gaulme, P.; Hekker, S.; Regulo, C.; Salabert, D.; Verner, G.; White, T. R.; Brandao, I. M.; Creevey, O. L.; Dogan, G.; Elsworth, Y.; Huber, D.; Hale, S. J.; Houdek, G.; Karoff, C.; Metcalfe, T. S.; Molenda-Zakowicz, J.; Monteiro, M. J. P. F. G.; Thompson, M. J.; Christensen-Dalsgaard, J.; Gilliland, R. L.; Kawaler, S. D.; Kjeldsen, H.; Quintana, E. V.; Sanderfer, D. T.; Seader, S. E.

Full text: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011arXiv1103.4085M

We analyze the photometric short-cadence data obtained with the Kepler Mission during the first eight months of observations of two solar-type stars of spectral types G and F: KIC 11395018 and KIC 11234888 respectively, the latter having a lower signal-to-noise ratio compared to the former. We estimate global parameters of the acoustic (p) modes such as the average large and small frequency separations, the frequency of the maximum of the p-mode envelope and the average linewidth of the acoustic modes. We were able to identify and to measure 22 p-mode frequencies for the first star and 16 for the second one even though the signal-to-noise ratios of these stars are rather low. We also derive some information about the stellar rotation periods from the analyses of the low-frequency parts of the power spectral densities. A model-independent estimation of the mean density, mass and radius are obtained using the scaling laws. We emphasize the importance of continued observations for the stars with low signal-to-noise ratio for an improved characterization of the oscillation modes. Our results offer a preview of what will be possible for many stars with the long data sets obtained during the remainder of the mission.

Predicting the detectability of oscillations in solar-type stars observed by Kepler

Chaplin, W. J.; Kjeldsen, H.; Bedding, T. R.; Christensen-Dalsgaard, J.; Gilliland, R. L.; Kawaler, S. D.; Appourchaux, T.; Elsworth, Y.; Garcia, R. A.; Houdek, G.; Karoff, C.; Metcalfe, T. S.; Molenda-Zakowicz, J.; Monteiro, M. J. P. F. G.; Thompson, M. J.; Verner, G. A.; Batalha, N.; Borucki, W. J.; Brown, T. M.; Bryson, S. T.; Christiansen, J. L.; Clarke, B. D.; Jenkins, J. M.; Klaus, T. C.; Koch, D.; An, D.; Ballot, J.; Basu, S.; Benomar, O.; Bonanno, A.; Broomhall, A. -M.; Campante, T. L.; Corsaro, E.; Creevey, O. L.; Esch, L.; Gai, N.; Gaulme, P.; Hale, S. J.; Handberg, R.; Hekker, S.; Huber, D.; Mathur, S.; Mosser, B.; New, R.; Pinsonneault, M. H.; Pricopi, D.; Quirion, P. -O.; Regulo, C.; Roxburgh, I. W.; Salabert, D.; Stello, D.; Suran, M. D.

Full text: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011arXiv1103.0702C

Asteroseismology of solar-type stars has an important part to play in the exoplanet program of the NASA Kepler Mission. Precise and accurate inferences on the stellar properties that are made possible by the seismic data allow very tight constraints to be placed on the exoplanetary systems. Here, we outline how to make an estimate of the detectability of solar-like oscillations in any given Kepler target, using rough estimates of the temperature and radius, and the Kepler apparent magnitude.

Preparation of Kepler lightcurves for asteroseismic analyses

Garcia, R. A.; Hekker, S.; Stello, D.; Gutierrez-Soto, J.; Handberg, R.; Huber, D.; Karoff, C.; Uytterhoeven, K.; Appourchaux, T.; Chaplin, W. J.; Elsworth, Y.; Mathur, S.; Ballot, J.; Christensen-Dalsgaard, J.; Gilliland, R. L.; Houdek, G.; Jenkins, J. M.; Kjeldsen, H.; McCauliff, S.; Metcalfe, T.; Middour, C. K.; Molenda-Zakowicz, J.; Monteiro, M. J. P. F. G.; Smith, J. C.; Thompson, M. J.

Full text: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011arXiv1103.0382G

The Kepler mission is providing photometric data of exquisite quality for the asteroseismic study of different classes of pulsating stars. These analyses place particular demands on the pre-processing of the data, over a range of timescales from minutes to months. Here, we describe processing procedures developed by the Kepler Asteroseismic Science Consortium (KASC) to prepare light curves that are optimized for the asteroseismic study of solar-like oscillating stars in which outliers, jumps and drifts are corrected.

Bayesian peak-bagging of solar-like oscillators using MCMC: A comprehensive guide

R. Handberg & T. L. Campante.

Full text: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011arXiv1101.0084H

Context: Asteroseismology has entered a new era with the advent of the NASA Kepler mission. Long and continuous photometric observations of unprecedented quality are now available which have stimulated the development of a number of suites of innovative analysis tools.
Aims: The power spectra of solar-like oscillations are an inexhaustible source of information on stellar structure and evolution. Robust methods are hence needed in order to infer both individual oscillation mode parameters and parameters describing non-resonant features, thus making a seismic interpretation possible.
Methods: We present a comprehensive guide to the implementation of a Bayesian peak-bagging tool that employs a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). Besides making it possible to incorporate relevant prior information through Bayes' theorem, this tool also allows one to obtain the marginal probability density function for each of the fitted parameters. We apply this tool to a couple of recent asteroseismic data sets, namely, to CoRoT observations of HD 49933 and to ground-based observations made during a campaign devoted to Procyon.
Results: The developed method performs remarkably well at constraining not only in the traditional case of extracting oscillation frequencies, but also when pushing the limit where traditional methods have difficulties. Moreover it provides an rigorous way of comparing competing models, such as the ridge identifications, against the asteroseismic data.

A Precise Asteroseismic Age and Radius for the Evolved Sun-like Star KIC 11026764

Metcalfe, T. S.; Monteiro, M. J. P. F. G.; Thompson, M. J.; Molenda-Żakowicz, J.; Appourchaux, T.; Chaplin, W. J.; Doğan, G.; Eggenberger, P.; Bedding, T. R.; Bruntt, H.; Creevey, O. L.; Quirion, P.-O.; Stello, D.; Bonanno, A.; Silva Aguirre, V.; Basu, S.; Esch, L.; Gai, N.; Di Mauro, M. P.; Kosovichev, A. G.; Kitiashvili, I. N.; Suárez, J. C.; Moya, A.; Piau, L.; García, R. A.; Marques, J. P.; Frasca, A.; Biazzo, K.; Sousa, S. G.; Dreizler, S.; Bazot, M.; Karoff, C.; Frandsen, S.; Wilson, P. A.; Brown, T. M.; Christensen-Dalsgaard, J.; Gilliland, R. L.; Kjeldsen, H.; Campante, T. L.; Fletcher, S. T.; Handberg, R.; Régulo, C.; Salabert, D.; Schou, J.; Verner, G. A.; Ballot, J.; Broomhall, A.-M.; Elsworth, Y.; Hekker, S.; Huber, D.; Mathur, S.; New, R.; Roxburgh, I. W.; Sato, K. H.; White, T. R.; Borucki, W. J.; Koch, D. G.; Jenkins, J. M.

Full text: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010ApJ...723.1583M

The primary science goal of the Kepler Mission is to provide a census of exoplanets in the solar neighborhood, including the identification and characterization of habitable Earth-like planets. The asteroseismic capabilities of the mission are being used to determine precise radii and ages for the target stars from their solar-like oscillations. Chaplin et al. published observations of three bright G-type stars, which were monitored during the first 33.5 days of science operations. One of these stars, the subgiant KIC 11026764, exhibits a characteristic pattern of oscillation frequencies suggesting that it has evolved significantly. We have derived asteroseismic estimates of the properties of KIC 11026764 from Kepler photometry combined with ground-based spectroscopic data. We present the results of detailed modeling for this star, employing a variety of independent codes and analyses that attempt to match the asteroseismic and spectroscopic constraints simultaneously. We determine both the radius and the age of KIC 11026764 with a precision near 1%, and an accuracy near 2% for the radius and 15% for the age. Continued observations of this star promise to reveal additional oscillation frequencies that will further improve the determination of its fundamental properties.

The Kepler Asteroseismic Investigation: Scientific goals and the first results

H. Kjeldsen, J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, R. Handberg, T. M. Brown, R. L. Gilliland, W. J. Borucki, D. Koch

Full text: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010arXiv1007.1816K

Asteroseismology is able to conduct studies on the interiors of solar-type stars from the analysis of stellar acoustic spectra. However, such an analysis process often has to rely upon subjective choices made throughout. A recurring problem is to determine whether a signal in the acoustic spectrum originates from a radial or a dipolar oscillation mode. In order to overcome this problem, we present a procedure for modelling and fitting the autocovariance of the power spectrum which can be used to obtain global seismic parameters of solar-type stars, doing so in an automated fashion without the need to make subjective choices. From the set of retrievable global seismic parameters we emphasize the mean small frequency separation and, depending on the intrinsic characteristics of the power spectrum, the mean rotational frequency splitting. Since this procedure is automated, it can serve as a useful tool in the analysis of the more than one thousand solar-type stars expected to be observed as part of the Kepler Asteroseismic Investigation (KAI). We apply the aforementioned procedure to simulations of the Sun. Assuming different apparent magnitudes, we address the issues of how accurately and how precisely we can retrieve the several global seismic parameters were the Sun to be observed as part of the KAI.

Modelling the Autocovariance of the Power Spectrum of a Solar-Type Oscillator

T. L. Campante, C. Karoff, W. J. Chaplin, Y. P. Elsworth, R. Handberg, S. Hekker.

Full text: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010arXiv1006.0925C

Kepler is a NASA mission designed to detect exoplanets and characterize the properties of exoplanetary systems. Kepler also includes an asteroseismic programme which is being conducted through the Kepler Asteroseismic Science Consortium (KASC), whose 400 members are organized into 13 working groups by type of variable star. So far data have been available from the first 7 month of the mission containing a total of 2937 targets observed at a 1-min. cadence for periods between 10 days and 7 months. The goals of the asteroseismic part of the Kepler project is to perform detailed studies of stellar interiors. The first results of the asteroseismic analysis are orders of magnitude better than seen before, and this bodes well for how the future analysis of Kepler data for many types of stars will impact our general understanding of stellar structure and evolution.

Asteroseismology of Solar-type Stars with Kepler I: Data Analysis

Karoff, C.; Chaplin, W. J.; Appourchaux, T.; Elsworth, Y.; Garcia, R. A.; Houdek, G.; Metcalfe, T. S.; Molenda-Zakowicz, J.; Monteiro, M. J. P. F. G.; Thompson, M. J.; Christensen-Dalsgaard, J.; Gilliland, R. L.; Kjeldsen, H.; Basu, S.; Bedding, T. R.; Campante, T. L.; Eggenberger, P.; Fletcher, S. T.; Gaulme, P.; Handberg, R.; Hekker, S.; Martic, M.; Mathur, S.; Mosser, B.; Regulo, C.; Roxburgh, I. W.; Salabert, D.; Stello, D.; Verner, G. A; Belkacem, K.; Biazzo, K.; Cunha, M. S.; Gruberbauer, M.; Guzik, J. A.; Kupka, F.; Leroy, B.; Ludwig, H. -G.; Mathis, S.; Noels, A.; Noyes, R. W.; Roca Cortes, T.; Roth, M.; Sato, K. H.; Schmitt, J.; Suran, M. D.; Trampedach, R.; Uytterhoeven, K.; Ventura, R.; Wilson, P. A.

Full text: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010arXiv1005.0507K

We report on the first asteroseismic analysis of solar-type stars observed by Kepler. Observations of three G-type stars, made at one-minute cadence during the first 33.5d of science operations, reveal high signal-to-noise solar-like oscillation spectra in all three stars: About 20 modes of oscillation can clearly be distinguished in each star. We discuss the appearance of the oscillation spectra, including the presence of a possible signature of faculae, and the presence of mixed modes in one of the three stars.

The asteroseismic potential of Kepler: first results for solar-type stars

W. J. Chaplin, T. Appourchaux, Y. Elsworth, R. A. Garcia, G. Houdek, C. Karoff, T. S. Metcalfe, J. Molenda-Zakowicz, M. J. P. F. G. Monteiro, M. J. Thompson, T. M. Brown, J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, R. L. Gilliland, H. Kjeldsen, W. J. Borucki, D. Koch, J. M. Jenkins, J. Ballot, S. Basu, M. Bazot, T. R. Bedding, O. Benomar, A. Bonanno, I. M. Brandao, H. Bruntt, T. L. Campante, O. L. Creevey, M. P. Di Mauro, G. Dogan, S. Dreizler, P. Eggenberger, L. Esch, S. T. Fletcher, S. Frandsen, N. Gai, P. Gaulme, R. Handberg, S. Hekker, R. Howe, D. Huber, S. G. Korzennik, J. C. Lebrun, S. Leccia, M. Martic, S. Mathur, B. Mosser, R. New, P.-O. Quirion, C. Regulo, I. W. Roxburgh, D. Salabert, J. Schou, S. G. Sousa, D. Stello, G. A. Verner, T. Arentoft, C. Barban, K. Belkacem, S. Benatti, K. Biazzo, P. Boumier, P. A. Bradley, A.-M. Broomhall, D. L. Buzasi, R. U. Claudi, M. S. Cunha, F. D'Antona, S. Deheuvels, A. Derekas, A. Garcia Hernandez, M. S. Giampapa, M. J. Goupil, M. Gruberbauer, J. A. Guzik, S. J. Hale, M. J. Ireland, L. L. Kiss, I. N. Kitiashvili, K. Kolenberg, H. Korhonen, A. G. Kosovichev, F. Kupka, Y. Lebreton, B. Leroy, H.-G. Ludwig, S. Mathis, E. Michel, A. Miglio, J. Montalban, A. Moya, A. Noels, R. W. Noyes, P. L. Palle, L. Piau, H. L. Preston, T. Roca Cortes, M. Roth, K. H. Sato, J. Schmitt, A. M. Serenelli, V. Silva Aguirre, I. R. Stevens, J. C. Suarez, M. D. Suran, R. Trampedach, S. Turck-Chieze, K. Uytterhoeven, R. Ventura

Full text: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010ApJ...713L.169C

We present preliminary asteroseismic results from Kepler on three G-type stars. The observations, made at one-minute cadence during the first 33.5d of science operations, reveal high signal-to-noise solar-like oscillation spectra in all three stars: About 20 modes of oscillation may be clearly distinguished in each star. We discuss the appearance of the oscillation spectra, use the frequencies and frequency separations to provide first results on the radii, masses and ages of the stars, and comment in the light of these results on prospects for inference on other solar-type stars that Kepler will observe.