Rotation period distribution of CoRoT and Kepler Sun-like stars

Aims. We study the distribution of the photometric rotation period (Prot), which is a direct measurement of the surface rotation at active latitudes, for three subsamples of Sun-like stars: one from CoRoT data and two from Kepler data. For this purpose, we identify the main populations of these samp...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Leão, Izan de Castro, Pasquini, L., Lopes, C. E. Ferreira, Neves, V., Valcarce, A. A. R., Oliveira, L. L. A. de, Silva, D. Freire da, Freitas, D. B. de, Martins, Bruno Leonardo Canto, Janot-Pacheco, E., Baglin, A., Medeiros, José Renan de
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UFRN
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.ufrn.br:123456789/29081
Acceso en línea:https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/123456789/29081
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201526085
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Stars - rotation
Stars - evolution
Stars - solar-type
Sun - rotation
Descripción
Sumario:Aims. We study the distribution of the photometric rotation period (Prot), which is a direct measurement of the surface rotation at active latitudes, for three subsamples of Sun-like stars: one from CoRoT data and two from Kepler data. For this purpose, we identify the main populations of these samples and interpret their main biases specifically for a comparison with the solar Prot. Methods. Prot and variability amplitude (A) measurements were obtained from public CoRoT and Kepler catalogs, which were combined with public data of physical parameters. Because these samples are subject to selection effects, we computed synthetic samples with simulated biases to compare with observations, particularly around the location of the Sun in the Hertzsprung-Russel (HR) diagram. Publicly available theoretical grids and empirical relations were used to combine physical parameters with Prot and A. Biases were simulated by performing cutoffs on the physical and rotational parameters in the same way as in each observed sample. A crucial cutoff is related with the detectability of the rotational modulation, which strongly depends on A. Results. The synthetic samples explain the observed Prot distributions of Sun-like stars as having two main populations: one of young objects (group I, with ages younger than ~1 Gyr) and another of main-sequence and evolved stars (group II, with ages older than ~1 Gyr). The proportions of groups I and II in relation to the total number of stars range within 64–84% and 16–36%, respectively. Hence, young objects abound in the distributions, producing the effect of observing a high number of short periods around the location of the Sun in the HR diagram. Differences in the Prot distributions between the CoRoT and Kepler Sun-like samples may be associated with different Galactic populations. Overall, the synthetic distribution around the solar period agrees with observations, which suggests that the solar rotation is normal with respect to Sun-like stars within the accuracy of current data.