No Arabic abstract
Aims:To support the computation and evolutionary interpretation of periods associated with the rotational modulation, oscillations, and variability of stars located in the CoRoT fields, we are conducting a spectroscopic survey for stars located in the fields already observed by the satellite. These observations allow us to compute physical and chemical parameters for our stellar sample. Method: Using spectroscopic observations obtained with UVES/VLT and Hydra/Blanco, and based on standard analysis techniques, we computed physical and chemical parameters ($T_{rm{eff}}$, $log ,(g)$, $rm{[Fe/H]}$, $v_{rm{mic}}$, $v_{rm{rad}}$, $v sin ,(i)$, and $A(rm{Li})$) for a large sample of CoRoT targets. Results: We provide physical and chemical parameters for a sample comprised of 138 CoRoT targets. Our analysis shows the stars in our sample are located in different evolutionary stages, ranging from the main sequence to the red giant branch, and range in spectral type from F to K. The physical and chemical properties for the stellar sample are in agreement with typical values reported for FGK stars. However, we report three stars presenting abnormal lithium behavior in the CoRoT fields. These parameters allow us to properly characterize the intrinsic properties of the stars in these fields. Our results reveal important differences in the distributions of metallicity, $T_{rm eff}$, and evolutionary status for stars belonging to different CoRoT fields, in agreement with results obtained independently from ground-based photometric surveys. Conclusions: Our spectroscopic catalog, by providing much-needed spectroscopic information for a large sample of CoRoT targets, will be of key importance for the successful accomplishment of several different programs related to the CoRoT mission, thus it will help further boost the scientific return associated with this space mission.
The study of stellar parameters of planet-hosting stars, such as metallicity and chemical abundances, help us to understand the theory of planet formation and stellar evolution. Here, we present a catalogue of accurate stellar atmospheric parameters and iron abundances for a sample of 257 K and G field evolved stars that are being surveyed for planets using precise radial--velocity measurements as part of the CORALIE programme to search for planets around giants. The analysis was done using a set of high--resolution and high--signal-to-noise Ultraviolet and Visible Echelle Spectrograph spectra. The stellar parameters were derived using Fe I and II ionization and excitation equilibrium methods. To take into account possible effects related to the choice of the lines on the derived parameters, we used three different iron line-list sets in our analysis, and the results differ among themselves by a small factor for most of stars. {For those stars with previous literature parameter estimates, we found very good agreement with our own values.} In the present catalogue we are providing new precise spectroscopic measurements of effective temperature, surface gravity, microturbulence, and metallicity for 190 stars for which it has not been found or published in previous articles.
In this work we quantify the effect of an unresolved companion star on the derived stellar parameters of the primary star if a blended spectrum is fit assuming the star is single. Fitting tools that determine stellar parameters from spectra typically fit for a single star, but we know that up to half of all exoplanet host stars may have one or more companion stars. We use high-resolution spectra of planet host stars in the Kepler field from the California-Kepler Survey to create simulated binaries; we select 8 stellar pairs and vary the contribution of the secondary star, then determine stellar parameters with SpecMatch-Emp and compare them to the parameters derived for the primary star alone. We find that in most cases the effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, and stellar radius derived from the composite spectrum are within 2-3 $sigma$ of the values determined from the unblended spectrum, but the deviations depend on the properties of the two stars. Relatively bright companion stars that are similar to the primary star have the largest effect on the derived parameters; in these cases the stellar radii can be overestimated by up to 60%. We find that metallicities are generally underestimated, with values up to 8 times smaller than the typical uncertainty in [Fe/H]. Our study shows that follow-up observations are necessary to detect or set limits on stellar companions of planetary host stars so that stellar (and planet) parameters are as accurate as possible.
Time-series photometry of the CoRoT field SRc02 was obtained by the Berlin Exoplanet Search Telescope II (BEST II) in 2009. The main aim was the ground based follow-up of the CoRoT field in order to detect variable stars with better spatial resolution than what can be achieved with the CoRoT space telescope. A total of 1,846 variable stars were detected, of which only 30 have been previously known. For nine eclipsing binaries the stellar parameters were determined by modeling their light curve.
Until a few years ago, the amplitude variation in the photometric data had been limitedly explored mainly because of time resolution and photometric sensitivity limitations. This investigation is now possible thanks to the Kepler and CoRoT databases which provided a unique set of data for studying of the nature of stellar variability cycles. The present study characterizes the amplitude variation in a sample of main--sequence stars with light curves collected using CoRoT exo--field CCDs. We analyze potential stellar activity cycles by studying the variability amplitude over small boxes. The cycle periods and amplitudes were computed based on the Lomb-Scargle periodogram, harmonic fits, and visual inspection. As a first application of our approach we have considered the photometric data for 16 CoRoT FGK main sequence stars, revisited during the IRa01, LRa01 and LRa06 CoRoT runs. The 16 CoRoT stars appear to follow the empirical relations between activity cycle periods ($P_{cyc}$) and the rotation period ($P_{rot}$) found by previous works. In addition to the so-called A (active) and I (inactive) sequences previously identified, there is a possible third sequence, here named S (short-cycles) sequence. However, recovery fractions estimated from simulations suggest that only a half of our sample has confident cycle measurements. Therefore, more study is needed to verify our results and Kepler data shall be notably useful for such a study. Overall, our procedure provides a key tool for exploring the CoRoT and Kepler databases to identify and characterize stellar cycle variability.
The relative distribution of abundances of refractory, intermediate, and volatile elements in stars with planets can be an important tool for investigating the internal migration of a giant planet. This migration can lead to the accretion of planetesimals and the selective enrichment of the star with these elements. We report on a spectroscopic determination of the atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances of the parent stars in transiting planets CoRoT-2b and CoRoT-4b. Adding data for CoRoT-3 and CoRoT-5 from the literature, we find a flat distribution of the relative abundances as a function of their condensation temperatures. For CoRoT-2, the relatively high lithium abundance and intensity of its Li I resonance line permit us to propose an age of 120 Myr, making this stars one of the youngest stars with planets to date. We introduce a new methodology to investigate a relation between the abundances of these stars and the internal migration of their planets. By simulating the internal migration of a planet in a disk formed only by planetesimals, we are able to separate the stellar fractions of refractory (R), intermediate (I), and volatile (V) rich planetesimals accreting onto the central star. Intermediate and volatile element fractions enriching the star are similar and much larger than those of pure refractory ones. We also show that these results are highly dependent on the model adopted for the disk distribution regions in terms of R, I, and V elements and other parameters considered. We note however, that this self-enrichment mechanism is only efficient during the first 20-30 Myr or later in the lifetime of the disk when the surface convection layers of the central star for the first time attain its minimum size configuration.