A small survey of the magnetic fields of planet-host stars

Abstract

Using spectropolarimetry, we investigate the large-scale magnetic topologies of stars hosting close-in exoplanets. A small survey of 10 stars has been done with the twin instruments Télescope Bernard Lyot /NARVAL and Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope/ESPaDOnS between 2006 and 2011. Each target consists of circular polarization observations covering 7–22 d. For each of the seven targets in which a magnetic field was detected, we reconstructed the magnetic field topology using Zeeman–Doppler imaging. Otherwise, a detection limit has been estimated. Three new epochs of observations of τ Boo are presented, which confirm magnetic polarity reversal. We estimate that the cycle period is 2 yr, but recall that a shorter period of 240 d cannot still be ruled out. The result of our survey is compared to the global picture of stellar magnetic field properties in the mass–rotation diagram. The comparison shows that these giant planet-host stars tend to have similar magnetic field topologies to stars without detected hot Jupiters. This needs to be confirmed with a larger sample of stars.