Overview analysis of the stellar activity of a sample of stars selected for the search for extrasolar planets

Interest in the field of extrasolar planets is growing rapidly as current instrumentation allows to discover more and more Earth-like planets and study their characteristics. In order to best characterize an extrasolar planet, it is necessary to have a good knowledge of the physical parameters of the stars around which they orbit. In this particular case, stellar activity is a fundamentally important parameter for several reasons: it makes it possible to study the evolutionary phase of stars, alters the characterisation of planets and has a major impact on the circumstellar environment in which planets move.

The proposed traineeship consists in characterising the activity of a sample of stars pre-selected for the search of new extrasolar planets. The trainee will analyse archival spectroscopic and photometric data collected both at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) and at the Serra La Nave Observatory, with the aim of outlining an overall picture of the activity level of the selected stars.

The trainee will have access at several software tools already prepared for the required analysis, both in terms of data management and statistical study of the sample. The work done during the internship can be integrated into a thesis (Bachelor, Master) if the intern wants to continue working on the proposed project.