Imaging & Spectroscopy

UV Spectral Characterization of Low-Mass Stars With AstroSat UVIT for Exoplanet Applications: The Case Study of HIP 23309

By Keith Cowing
Status Report
astro-ph.EP
June 29, 2023
Filed under , , , , , , , ,
UV Spectral Characterization of Low-Mass Stars With AstroSat UVIT for Exoplanet Applications: The Case Study of HIP 23309
Comparison between HST and AstroSat-measured SEDs of HIP 23309 in the FUV (1300-1700 A). Top plot shows data in linear y-scale with error bars; bottom plot is identical to top plot except with log y-scale and omission of error bars for easier viewing. The cyan and black data correspond to the unbinned HST and UVIT data, respectively. The blue points correspond to HST data degraded to the approximate quality of the AstroSat data, to enable a closer comparison. The green points correspond to the AstroSat data binned down by a factor of 5, to improve SNR and enable better visual comparison. We assumed Gaussian uncorrelated noise when rebinning the AstroSat data. — astro-ph.EP

Characterizing rocky exoplanet atmospheres is a key goal of exoplanet science, but interpreting such observations will require understanding the stellar UV irradiation incident on the planet from its host star.

Stellar UV mediates atmospheric escape, photochemistry, and planetary habitability, and observations of rocky exoplanets can only be understood in the context of the UV SED of their host stars. Particularly important are SEDs from observationally favorable but poorly understood low-mass M-dwarf stars, which are the only plausible targets for rocky planet atmospheric characterization for the next 1-2 decades.

In this work, we explore the utility of AstroSat UVIT for the characterization of the UV SEDs of low-mass stars. We present observations of the nearby M0 star HIP 23309 in the FUV and NUV gratings of UVIT. Our FUV spectra are consistent with contemporaneous HST data and our NUV spectra are stable between orbits, suggesting UVIT is a viable tool for the characterization of the SEDs of low-mass stars.

We apply our measured spectra to simulations of photochemistry and habitability for a hypothetical rocky planet orbiting HIP 23309 and elucidate the utility and limitations of UVIT in deriving UV SEDs of M-dwarf exoplanet hosts. Our work validates UVIT as a tool to complement HST in the characterization of exoplanet host stars and carries implications for its successor missions like INSIST.

Sukrit Ranjan, Prasanta K. Nayak, J. Sebastian Pineda, Mayank Narang

Comments: Accepted to AJ
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM); Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
Cite as: arXiv:2306.16470 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2306.16470v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Sukrit Ranjan
[v1] Wed, 28 Jun 2023 18:01:11 UTC (1,031 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.16470
Astrobiology

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻