IA/U.Porto Seminar - Automated measurement of the gravity mode period-spacing in red giant star spectra - 4 outubro 2016

The release of the very long photometric time-series observed by the CoRoT and Kepler satellites has brought extremely precise star spectra. 

The analysis of these data of unprecedented quality allowed the characterisation of the stellar interior of solar-type pulsators. Among them, red giant stars exhibit a complex mode pattern which can bring precise constraints on the star core structure. With more than 15000 red giant Kepler light curves and the future incoming missions, there is a major need of automated tools in order to extract the star global seismic parameters from their spectra. Here, we present an automated method to measure the period-spacing between consecutive gravity modes in the red giant spectra. This parameter unveils the size of the red giant radiative cores and allow us to precisely determine the evolutionary states of these objects. After a brief introduction on red giant seismology, the method will be presented ; the talk will then focus on the application of the method to the Kepler spectra and the constraints it can bring to stellar evolution.

Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto (Auditorium)

Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto