Multiwavelength Mitigation of Stellar Activity in Astrometric Planet Detection

Abstract

Abstract Astrometry has long been a promising technique for exoplanet detection. At the theoretical limits, astrometry would allow for the detection of smaller planets than previously seen by current exoplanet search methods, but stellar activity may make these theoretical limits unreachable. Astrometric jitter of a Sun-like star due to magnetic activity in its photosphere induces apparent variability in the photocenter of order 0.5 mR ⊙. This jitter creates a fundamental astrophysical noise floor preventing detection of lower-mass planets in a single spectral band. By injecting planet orbits into simulated solar data at five different passbands, we investigate mitigation of this fundamental astrometric noise using correlations across passbands. For a true solar analog and a planet at 1 au semimajor axis, the 6σ detection limit set by stellar activity for an ideal telescope at the best single passband is 0.01 Earth masses. We found that pairs of passbands with highly correlated astrometric jitter due to stellar activity, but with less motion in the redder band, enable higher-precision measurements of the common signal from the planet. Using this method improves detectable planet masses at 1 au by up to a factor of 10, corresponding to at best 0.005 Earth masses for a Sun-like star with a perfect telescope. Given these results, we recommend that future astrometry missions consider proceeding with two or more passbands to reduce noise due to stellar activity.