SEMINARIO Giovedì 7 Dicembre 2023, ore 15.30 – A viewpoint on modeling stellar atmospheres and their impact on planets

Abstract

Stars are not smooth and their atmospheres are covered with a complex and stochastic pattern associated with convective heat transport (i.e. granulation). Convection manifests in the surface layers as a particular pattern of downflowing cooler plasma and bright areas where hot plasma rises. Convection is a difficult process to understand, because it is non-local and three-dimensional, and it involves nonlinear interactions over many disparate length scales.

In this context, the use of numerical three-dimensional (3D) radiative hydrodynamical (RHD) simulations of stellar convection is crucial for quantitative analysis of the impact in stellar parameter determination, radial velocity, chemical abundances determinations, photometric colors, and planet characterization. I will present why the detailed and multidimensional modeling of stellar convection in their atmospheres is important in the context of exoplanetary science.

Referente locale: Mario Damasso