Oscillations in the Sun with SONG: Setting the scale for asteroseismic investigations

Abstract

Context. We present the first high-cadence multiwavelength radial-velocity observations of the Sun-as-a-star, carried out during 57 consecutive days using the stellar échelle spectrograph at the Hertzsprung SONG Telescope operating at the Teide Observatory. Aims. Our aim was to produce a high-quality data set and reference values for the global helioseismic parameters νmax, ⊙ and Δν⊙ of the solar p-modes using the SONG instrument. The obtained data set or the inferred values should then be used when the scaling relations are applied to other stars showing solar-like oscillations observed with SONG or similar instruments. Methods. We used different approaches to analyse the power spectrum of the time series to determine νmax, ⊙: simple Gaussian fitting and heavy smoothing of the power spectrum. We determined Δν⊙ using the method of autocorrelation of the power spectrum. The amplitude per radial mode was determined using the method described in Kjeldsen et al. (2008, ApJ, 682, 1370). Results. We found the following values for the solar oscillations using the SONG spectrograph: νmax, ⊙ = 3141 ± 12 μHz, Δν⊙ = 134.98 ± 0.04 μHz, and an average amplitude of the strongest radial modes of 16.6 ± 0.4 cm s−1. These values are consistent with previous measurements with other techniques.