Characterization of Stellar Jitter Using 3D Realistic Modeling of Solar-Type Stars

Recent progress in the ab-initio modeling of solar magnetoconvection makes it possible to simulate the surface dynamics of solar-type stars with a high degree of realism. These simulations can be used to characterize stellar photospheric disturbances which contaminate the radial velocity signal and limit our capabilities to detect Earth-mass exoplanets. We use the 3D radiative MHD “StellarBox” code to obtain realistic stellar (magneto)convection models and characterize photospheric noise. The initial conditions for the numerical simulations are generated using the MESA stellar evolution code. The computational domain covers the upper layers of the convection zone and the lower atmosphere. We present numerical models of solar-type planet-host stars, disk-integrated synthetic observations, and observables such as line profiles, Doppler shift, etc. Synthesis of observations performed for a list of FeI lines using the radiative transfer “Spinor” code. We present the stellar jitter modeling results for selected target stars, discuss the origin of the noise and compare with high-resolution HARPS observations.