Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2011-12-07
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
6 pages, 1 figure, 1 table
Scientific paper
A variation of gravitational redshift, arising from stellar radius fluctuations, will introduce astrophysical noise into radial velocity measurements by shifting the centroid of the observed spectral lines. Shifting the centroid does not necessarily introduce line asymmetries. This is fundamentally different from other types of stellar jitter so far identified, which do result from line asymmetries. Furthermore, only a very small change in stellar radius, ~0.01%, is necessary to generate a gravitational redshift variation large enough to mask or mimic an Earth-twin. We explore possible mechanisms for stellar radius fluctuations in low-mass stars. Convective inhibition due to varying magnetic field strengths and the Wilson depression of starspots are both found to induce substantial gravitational redshift variations. Finally, we investigate a possible method for monitoring/correcting this newly identified potential source of jitter and comment on its impact for future exoplanet searches.
Bonfils Xavier
Cegla Heather M.
Littlefair Stuart
Marsh Thomas R.
Mathioudakis Michail
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