Chromospheric Activity of HAT-P-11: An Unusually Active Planet-hosting K Star

Abstract

Kepler photometry of the hot Neptune host star HAT-P-11 suggests that its spot latitude distribution is comparable to the Sun’s near solar maximum. We search for evidence of an activity cycle in the Ca ii H & K chromospheric emission S -index with archival Keck/HIRES spectra and observations from the echelle spectrograph on the Astrophysical Research Consortium 3.5 m Telescope at Apache Point Observatory. The chromospheric emission of HAT-P-11 is consistent with an year activity cycle, which plateaued near maximum during the Kepler mission. In the cycle that we observed, the star seemed to spend more time near active maximum than minimum. We compare the normalized chromospheric emission index of HAT-P-11 with other stars. HAT-P-11 has unusually strong chromospheric emission compared to planet-hosting stars of similar effective temperature and rotation period, perhaps due to tides raised by its planet.