Rotation of solar‐like stars in the immediate solar neighborhood

• Published in: Astronomische Nachrichten Vol. 341; no. 5; pp. 497 - 507
• Main Authors: Schmitt, Jürgen H. M. M., Mittag, Marco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA 01.06.2020; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: G stars; Missions; robotic spectroscopy; rotation periods; Solar neighborhood; Space telescopes; Spectroscopic telescopes; stellar activity; Stellar rotation
• DOI: 10.1002/asna.202013790
• ISSN: 0004-6337

Although photometric space‐based missions such as CoRoT or Kepler have yielded rotation measurements of many thousands of late‐type stars during the last decade, the rotational properties of the bulk of the G star population remain undetected by these missions. From the Sun (when viewed as a star), we know that rotation measurements in the ultraviolet are the most promising, or more general, measurements in wavelength regions very sensitive to plage areas on the stars. Therefore, the “classical” S‐index, that is, the strength of the Ca II H&K line core emission, is still the most viable activity and rotation indicator, and with robotic spectroscopy telescopes, such monitoring measurements can be carried out efficiently and economically. We define a complete volume‐limited sample of solar stars in the immediate solar environment and present period measurements in Ca II H&K, both from archival Mount Wilson data and new data obtained with our robotic TIGRE facility.