Bolometric corrections of stellar oscillation amplitudes as observed by the Kepler, CoRoT, and TESS missions

Abstract

A better understanding of the amplitudes of stellar oscillation modes and surface granulation is essential for improving theories of mode physics and the properties of the outer convection zone of solar-like stars. A proper prediction of these amplitudes is also essential for appraising the detectability of solar-like oscillations for asteroseismic analysis. Comparisons with models, or between different photometric missions, are enabled by applying a bolometric correction, which converts mission-specific amplitudes to their corresponding bolometric (full light) values. We derive the bolometric correction factor for amplitudes of radial oscillation modes and surface granulation as observed by the Kepler, CoRoT, and TESS missions. The calculations are done assuming a stellar spectrum given by a black-body as well as by synthetic spectral flux densities from 1D model atmospheres. We derive a power-law and polynomial relations for the bolometric correction as a function of temperature from the black-body approximation and evaluate the deviations from adopting a more realistic spectrum. Across the full temperature range from 4000 - 7500 K, the amplitudes from TESS are in the black-body approximation predicted to be a factor ~0.83 - 0.84 times those observed by Kepler. We find that using more realistic flux spectra over the black-body approximation can change the bolometric correction by as much as ~30% at the lowest temperatures, but with a change typically within ~5 - 10% around a $T_{\rm eff}$ of 5500 - 6000 K. We find that after $T_{\rm eff}$, the bolometric correction most strongly depends on [M/H], which could have an impact on reported metallicity dependencies of amplitudes reported in the literature.