Parameters of Starspots on the Surface of the Red Dwarf V647 Her

Abstract

Based on the available photometric data for the star V647 Her, including those obtained from photographic archives, we considered the yearly-mean brightness variability over the time interval 1939–2022. The dense data series obtained in 2019 and 2022 at CrAO as well as the sample for 2004 from the SuperWASP catalog showed changes in light curves and in color indices of the star with a period of 20.69 days. Changes in the V–I color index indicate the presence of cool spots on its surface. The parameters of starspots were calculated within the zonal model for each year and it was found that the temperature of the spots is 500–600 K lower than the temperature of the quiet photosphere with T_eff = 3300 K, the spots occupy from 8 to 30% of the entire surface of the star in different years. The spottedness of the star’s photosphere is an indicator of its activity, and according to the interval between the epochs of minimum spottedness, we derived a characteristic time between the minima in activity of V647 Her of about 60 years, and the duration of the maximum of activity of about 5 years.