The role of host star variability in the detectability of planetary phase curves

Understand

Phase curves, or the change in observed illumination of the planet as it orbits around its host star, help us to characterize their atmospheres.

• However, the variability of the host star can make their detection challenging: the presence of starspots, faculae, flares and rotational effects introduce brightness variations that can hide other flux variations related to the presence of an exoplanet: ellipsoidal variation, Doppler boosting and a combination of reflected light and thermal emission from the planet.
• Here we present a study to quantify the effect of stellar variability on the detectability of phase curves in the optical.
• On a first stage, we simulate ideal data, with different white noise levels, and with cadences and total duration matching a quarter of the \textit{Kepler} mission.