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Exoplaneteers Keep Calling Plots "Allan Variance" Plots When They Aren't

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arxiv 2504.13238 v2 pith:VEIBNZNV submitted 2025-04-17 astro-ph.IM astro-ph.EP

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keywords allanvariancecommunityconfusiondeviationplotplotsseems
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I highlight that there is a substantial number of papers (at least 11 published since 2024) which all refer to a specific type of plot as an "Allan variance" plot, when in fact they seem to be plotting the standard deviation of the residuals versus bin size. The Allan variance quantifies the stability of a time series by calculating the average squared difference between successive time-averaged segments over a specified interval; it is not equivalent to the standard deviation. This misattribution seems particularly prolific in the exoplanet transit spectroscopy community. However, I emphasize that it does not impact the scientific analyses presented in those works. I discuss where this confusion seems to stem from and encourage the community to ensure statistical measures are named correctly to avoid confusion.

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Cited by 2 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. The James Webb Space Telescope NIRSpec-PRISM Transmission Spectrum of the Super-Puff, Kepler-51d

    astro-ph.EP 2025-05 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    JWST's 0.6-5.3 micron spectrum of Kepler-51d is a featureless slope best explained by a low-metallicity H/He atmosphere with high-altitude submicron hazes.

  2. Exoplaneteers Keep Overestimating Sigma Significances

    astro-ph.IM 2025-06 accept novelty 4.0 of 10

    Inverting the Sellke et al. (2001) Bayes factor to sigma relation produces an upper limit, so exoplanet '3 sigma' claims built on this inversion are systematically optimistic.

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