Stellar Heartbeats: Mapping Activity Cycles of Sun-like Stars in Support of Future Exoplanet Science

Project Description:

Transmission spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres is severely compromised by stellar activity, which can mimic or mask biosignatures in the data. Scheduling observations during periods of minimal host-star activity would mitigate this, but activity cycle periods remain poorly determined for most Sun-like stars. This project will use long-baseline archival photometry from surveys such as ATLAS to extract activity cycles for solar-type stars using time-series techniques like Lomb–Scargle periodograms. The resulting catalogue of cycle periods will support the planning and interpretation of future transmission spectroscopy campaigns targeting Earth-like exoplanets.

Research Area:

Astronomy

Project Level:

Honours

This Project Is Offered At The Following Node(s):

(UCT)

Special Requirements:

Python Programming skills