Plato benchmark stars I. The initial benchmark sample
Abstract
The ESA PLATO mission aims to detect and characterise Earth-size exoplanets orbiting bright, late-type stars using high-precision photometry and asteroseismology. Precise stellar parameters of host stars are essential for exoplanet characterisation and model benchmarking. This work defines the PLATO benchmark stars (PBS) catalogue, a comprehensive sample of well-characterised stars designed to support all mission phases. We compiled data from eclipsing and spectroscopic binaries, interferometry, asteroseismology, and large spectroscopic and photometric surveys. Fundamental and atmospheric stellar properties (mass, radius, luminosity, age, effective temperature, surface gravity, density, and limb darkening) were assigned quality levels (B1, B2, B3) reflecting their degree of model dependence. Homogenized ancillary parameters (including Gaia DR3 bias-corrected parallaxes, metallicities, bolometric fluxes, extinction, rotation periods, and X-ray fluxes for M dwarfs) are also provided. The PBS catalogue contains 1090 FGKM main-sequence and subgiant stars, divided into three quality tiers based on model-independent (B1) parameters: gold (15 stars with B1 mass, radius, and luminosity), silver (195 with B1 mass and radius), and bronze (416 with at least one B1 property). The remaining stars feature well-characterised model-dependent (B2) or empirical (B3) properties. About 40% of the sample lies within the PLATO fields of view (285 in LOPN1 and 143 in LOPS2). The PBS sample represents the largest catalogue of benchmark stars assembled to date, providing a key resource for validating automated pipelines, testing evolutionary models, and cross-survey calibration. The catalogue is available online at https://astro.ulb.ac.be/pbs and will be updated regularly.
Related
- Interferometric Survey of Stellar Parameters: Towards homogeneous FGK stars parameters and surface-brightness color relation in the context of PLATO space mission
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- Gaia FGK Benchmark Stars: Impact of Spectral Resolution on Stellar Abundances
- Playing CHESS with stars. II. Homogeneous analysis of high-resolution optical spectra for a sample of 135 giants in 14 bulge globular clusters
- Gaia FGK benchmark stars: Selecting infrared lines for abundance determination
BibTeX
@misc{merle2026plato,
title = {{Plato benchmark stars I. The initial benchmark sample}},
author = {T. Merle and P. F. L. Maxted and O. L. Creevey and U. Heiter and D. B. Palakkatharappi and K. G. Hełminiak and C. C. Aguilera Gómez and M. Bazot and S. Cassisi and N. Ebrahimkutty and R. E. Giribaldi and P. Jofré and F. Kiefer and M. N. Lund and N. Miller and T. Morel and D. Mourard and N. Nardetto and J. -D. do Nascimento, Jr. and T. Olander and G. N. Pawar and A. Rebassa-Mansergas and R. Raddi and B. Rojas-Ayala and J. Southworth},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.02956},
eprint = {2610.02956},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.02956},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Plato benchmark stars I. The initial benchmark sample
AU - T. Merle
AU - P. F. L. Maxted
AU - O. L. Creevey
AU - U. Heiter
AU - D. B. Palakkatharappi
AU - K. G. Hełminiak
AU - C. C. Aguilera Gómez
AU - M. Bazot
AU - S. Cassisi
AU - N. Ebrahimkutty
AU - R. E. Giribaldi
AU - P. Jofré
AU - F. Kiefer
AU - M. N. Lund
AU - N. Miller
AU - T. Morel
AU - D. Mourard
AU - N. Nardetto
AU - J. -D. do Nascimento, Jr.
AU - T. Olander
AU - G. N. Pawar
AU - A. Rebassa-Mansergas
AU - R. Raddi
AU - B. Rojas-Ayala
AU - J. Southworth
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.02956
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.02956
AB - The ESA PLATO mission aims to detect and characterise Earth-size exoplanets orbiting bright, late-type stars using high-precision photometry and asteroseismology. Precise stellar parameters of host stars are essential for exoplanet characterisation and model benchmarking. This work defines the PLATO benchmark stars (PBS) catalogue, a comprehensive sample of well-characterised stars designed to support all mission phases. We compiled data from eclipsing and spectroscopic binaries, interferometry, asteroseismology, and large spectroscopic and photometric surveys. Fundamental and atmospheric stellar properties (mass, radius, luminosity, age, effective temperature, surface gravity, density, and limb darkening) were assigned quality levels (B1, B2, B3) reflecting their degree of model dependence. Homogenized ancillary parameters (including Gaia DR3 bias-corrected parallaxes, metallicities, bolometric fluxes, extinction, rotation periods, and X-ray fluxes for M dwarfs) are also provided. The PBS catalogue contains 1090 FGKM main-sequence and subgiant stars, divided into three quality tiers based on model-independent (B1) parameters: gold (15 stars with B1 mass, radius, and luminosity), silver (195 with B1 mass and radius), and bronze (416 with at least one B1 property). The remaining stars feature well-characterised model-dependent (B2) or empirical (B3) properties. About 40% of the sample lies within the PLATO fields of view (285 in LOPN1 and 143 in LOPS2). The PBS sample represents the largest catalogue of benchmark stars assembled to date, providing a key resource for validating automated pipelines, testing evolutionary models, and cross-survey calibration. The catalogue is available online at https://astro.ulb.ac.be/pbs and will be updated regularly.
ER -