Open AccessFitting sinusoids to observations of rotating spotted stars
Author(s) -
Koen Chris
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11425.x
Subject(s) - physics , amplitude , stars , light curve , starspot , constant (computer programming) , phase (matter) , astrophysics , statistical physics , optics , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language
It is assumed that K blocks (e.g. seasons) of observations are available, and the parameters characterizing a fixed‐frequency sinusoidal variability (mean light level, amplitude, phase) are constant within each of the blocks. The paper is concerned with estimation when any combination of these parameters varies between blocks of observations. This allows observations subject to changes in mean light level, spot sizes and/or spot locations to be modelled. Objective choices between competing models, and the calculation of the standard errors of model parameters, are also dealt with. Illustrative applications to simulated and real data are given.