Measurements of 500 Sun-like stars show that their properties differ from those predicted by stellar population models.

We investigate the frequency dependence of the power spectral density of low‐degree solar p modes by comparing measurements with the results of a stochastic‐excitation model. In the past it was common practice to use the total power in such investigations. Using the maximum of the power spectral density instead provides a direct comparison with the measured mode heights in the observed power spectrum. This method permits a more careful calibration of the adjustable parameters in the excitation model, a model which we present here, for the first time, in a format that precisely and unambiguously relates the amplitudes of the modes of oscillation to the Reynolds stress in the equilibrium model. We find that errors in the theory of the linear mode damping rates, particularly at low frequency, have a dramatic impact on the predictions of the mode heights in the spectral density, whereas parameter changes in the stochastic excitation model, within a plausible domain of parameter space, have a comparatively small effect.

For distant stars, as observed by the NASA Kepler satellite, parallax information is currently of fairly low quality and is not complete. This limits the precision with which the absolute sizes of the stars and their potential transiting planets can be determined by traditional methods. Asteroseismology will be used to aid the radius determination of stars observed during NASA's Kepler mission. We report on the recent asteroFLAG hare-and-hounds Exercise#2, where a group of 'hares' simulated data of F-K main-sequence stars that a group of 'hounds' sought to analyze, aimed at determining the stellar radii. We investigated stars in the range 9 < V < 15, both with and without parallaxes. We further test different uncertainties in T eff , and compare results with and without using asteroseismic constraints. Based on the asteroseismic large frequency spacing, obtained from simulations of 4-year time series data from the Kepler mission, we demonstrate that the stellar radii can be correctly and precisely determined, when combined with traditional stellar parameters from the Kepler Input Catalogue. The radii found by the various methods used by each independent hound generally agree with the true values of the artificial stars to within 3%, when the large frequency spacing is used. This is 5-10 times better than the results where seismology is not applied. These results give strong confidence that radius estimation can be performed to better than 3% for solar-like stars using automatic pipeline reduction. Even when the stellar distance and luminosity are unknown we can obtain the same level of agreement. Given the uncertainties used for this exercise we find that the input log g and parallax do not help to constrain the radius, and that T eff and metallicity are the only parameters we need in addition to the large frequency spacing. It is the uncertainty in the metallicity that dominates the uncertainty in the radius.

We present new results on the structure of the solar core, obtained with new sets of frequencies of solar low-degree p modes obtained from the BiSON network. We find that different methods used in extracting the different sets of frequencies cause shifts in frequencies, but the shifts are not large enough to affect solar structure results. We find that the BiSON frequencies show that the solar sound speed in the core is slightly larger than that inferred from data from MDI lowdegree modes, and the uncertainties on the inversion results are smaller. Density results also change by a larger amount, and we find that solar models now tend to show smaller differences in density compared to the Sun. The result is seen at all radii, a result of the fact that conservation of mass implies that density differences in one region have to cancel out density differences in others, since our models are constructed to have the same mass as the Sun. The uncertainties on the density results are much smaller too. We attribute the change in results to having more, and lower frequency, low-degree mode frequencies available. These modes provide greater sensitivity to conditions in the core.

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