Spectropolarimetric characterisation of exoplanet host stars in preparation of the Ariel mission

Magnetic environment of HD 63433

¹ Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
e-mail: bellotti@strw.leidenuniv.nl
² Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, IRAP/UMR 5277, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
³ Science Division, Directorate of Science, European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA/ESTEC), Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
⁴ Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, 34095 Montpellier, France
⁵ University of Vienna, Department of Astrophysics, Türkenschanzstrasse 17, 1180 Vienna, Austria
⁶ INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy
⁷ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy

Received: 12 February 2024
Accepted: 15 May 2024

Abstract

Context. The accurate characterisation of the stellar magnetism of planetary host stars has been gaining momentum, especially in the context of transmission spectroscopy investigations of exoplanets. Indeed, the magnetic field regulates the amount of energetic radiation and stellar wind impinging on planets, as well as the presence of inhomogeneities on the stellar surface that hinder the precise extraction of the planetary atmospheric absorption signal.

Aims. We initiated a spectropolarimetric campaign to unveil the magnetic field properties of known exoplanet hosting stars included in the current list of potential Ariel targets. In this work, we focus on HD 63433, a young solar-like star hosting two sub-Neptunes and an Earth-sized planet. These exoplanets orbit within 0.15 au from the host star and have likely experienced different atmospheric evolutionary paths.

Methods. We analysed optical spectropolarimetric data collected with ESPaDOnS, HARPSpol, and Neo-Narval to compute the magnetic activity indices ($log{R}_{\text{HK}}^{\prime }$, Hα, and Ca II infrared triplet), measure the longitudinal magnetic field, and reconstruct the large-scale magnetic topology via Zeeman-Doppler imaging (ZDI). The magnetic field map was then employed to simulate the space environment in which the exoplanets orbit.

Results. The reconstructed stellar magnetic field has an average strength of 24 G and it features a complex topology with a dominant toroidal component, in agreement with other stars of a similar spectral type and age. Our simulations of the stellar environment locate 10% of the innermost planetary orbit inside the Alfvén surface and, thus, brief magnetic connections between the planet and the star can occur. The outer planets are outside the Alfvén surface and a bow shock between the stellar wind and the planetary magnetosphere could potentially form.