7,153 research outputs found
Magnetic topology and surface differential rotation on the K1 subgiant of the RS CVn system HR 1099
We present here spectropolarimetric observations of the RS CVn system HR 1099
(V711 Tau) secured from 1998 February to 2002 January with the
spectropolarimeter MuSiCoS at the Telescope Bernard Lyot (Observatoire du Pic
du Midi, France). We apply Zeeman-Doppler Imaging and reconstruct brightness
and magnetic surface topologies of the K1 primary subgiant of the system, at
five different epochs. We confirm the presence of large, axisymmetric regions
where the magnetic field is mainly azimuthal, providing further support to the
hypothesis that dynamo processes may be distributed throughout the whole
convective zone in this star. We study the short-term evolution of surface
structures from a comparison of our images with observations secured at
close-by epochs by Donati et al. (2003) at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. We
conclude that the small-scale brightness and magnetic patterns undergo major
changes within a timescale of 4 to 6 weeks, while the largest structures remain
stable over several years. We report the detection of a weak surface
differential rotation (both from brightness and magnetic tracers) indicating
that the equator rotates faster than the pole with a difference in rotation
rate between the pole and the equator about 4 times smaller than that of the
Sun. This result suggests that tidal forces also impact the global dynamic
equilibrium of convective zones in cool active stars.Comment: accepted by MNRA
Magnetic fields and differential rotation on the pre-main sequence I: The early-G star HD 141943 - brightness and magnetic topologies
Spectroscopic and spectropolarimetric observations of the pre-main sequence
early-G star HD 141943 were obtained at four observing epochs (in 2006, 2007,
2009 and 2010). The observations were undertaken at the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian
Telescope using the UCLES echelle spectrograph and the SEMPOL
spectropolarimeter visitor instrument. Brightness and surface magnetic field
topologies were reconstructed for the star using the technique of least-squares
deconvolution to increase the signal-to-noise of the data.
The reconstructed brightness maps show that HD 141943 had a weak polar spot
and a significant amount of low latitude features, with little change in the
latitude distribution of the spots over the 4 years of observations. The
surface magnetic field was reconstructed at three of the epochs from a high
order (l <= 30) spherical harmonic expansion of the spectropolarimetric
observations. The reconstructed magnetic topologies show that in 2007 and 2010
the surface magnetic field was reasonably balanced between poloidal and
toroidal components. However we find tentative evidence of a change in the
poloidal/toroidal ratio in 2009 with the poloidal component becoming more
dominant. At all epochs the radial magnetic field is predominantly
non-axisymmetric while the azimuthal field is predominantly axisymmetric with a
ring of positive azimuthal field around the pole similar to that seen on other
active stars.Comment: 18 pages, 17 figures, accepted by MNRA
Magnetic field, differential rotation and activity of the hot-Jupiter hosting star HD 179949
HD 179949 is an F8V star, orbited by a giant planet at ~8 R* every 3.092514
days. The system was reported to undergo episodes of stellar activity
enhancement modulated by the orbital period, interpreted as caused by
Star-Planet Interactions (SPIs). One possible cause of SPIs is the large-scale
magnetic field of the host star in which the close-in giant planet orbits.
In this paper we present spectropolarimetric observations of HD 179949 during
two observing campaigns (2009 September and 2007 June). We detect a weak
large-scale magnetic field of a few Gauss at the surface of the star. The field
configuration is mainly poloidal at both observing epochs. The star is found to
rotate differentially, with a surface rotation shear of dOmega=0.216\pm0.061
rad/d, corresponding to equatorial and polar rotation periods of 7.62\pm0.07
and 10.3\pm0.8 d respectively. The coronal field estimated by extrapolating the
surface maps resembles a dipole tilted at ~70 degrees. We also find that the
chromospheric activity of HD 179949 is mainly modulated by the rotation of the
star, with two clear maxima per rotation period as expected from a highly
tilted magnetosphere. In September 2009, we find that the activity of HD 179949
shows hints of low amplitude fluctuations with a period close to the beat
period of the system.Comment: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of The Royal Astronomical
Societ
Magnetic cycles of the planet-hosting star Tau Bootis: II. a second magnetic polarity reversal
In this paper, we present new spectropolarimetric observations of the
planet-hosting star Tau Bootis, using ESPaDOnS and Narval spectropolarimeters
at Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) and Telescope Bernard Lyot (TBL),
respectively. We detected the magnetic field of the star at three epochs in
2008. It is a weak magnetic field of only a few Gauss, oscillating between a
predominant toroidal component in January and a dominant poloidal component in
June and July. A magnetic polarity reversal was observed relative to the
magnetic topology in June 2007. This is the second such reversal observed in
two years on this star, suggesting that Tau Boo has a magnetic cycle of about 2
years. This is the first detection of a magnetic cycle for a star other than
the Sun. The role of the close-in massive planet in the short activity cycle of
the star is questioned.
Tau Boo has strong differential rotation, a common trend for stars with
shallow convective envelope. At latitude 40 deg., the surface layer of the star
rotates in 3.31 d, equal to the orbital period. Synchronization suggests that
the tidal effects induced by the planet may be strong enough to force at least
the thin convective envelope into corotation. Tau Boo shows variability in the
Ca H & K and Halpha throughout the night and on a night to night time scale. We
do not detect enhancement in the activity of the star that may be related to
the conjunction of the planet. Further data is needed to conclude about the
activity enhancement due to the planet.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables Accepted to MNRA
On the environment surrounding close-in exoplanets
Exoplanets in extremely close-in orbits are immersed in a local
interplanetary medium (i.e., the stellar wind) much denser than the local
conditions encountered around the solar system planets. The environment
surrounding these exoplanets also differs in terms of dynamics (slower stellar
winds, but higher Keplerian velocities) and ambient magnetic fields (likely
higher for host stars more active than the Sun). Here, we quantitatively
investigate the nature of the interplanetary media surrounding the hot Jupiters
HD46375b, HD73256b, HD102195b, HD130322b, HD179949b. We simulate the
three-dimensional winds of their host stars, in which we directly incorporate
their observed surface magnetic fields. With that, we derive mass-loss rates
(1.9 to 8.0 /yr) and the wind properties at the
position of the hot-Jupiters' orbits (temperature, velocity, magnetic field
intensity and pressure). We show that these exoplanets' orbits are
super-magnetosonic, indicating that bow shocks are formed surrounding these
planets. Assuming planetary magnetic fields similar to Jupiter's, we estimate
planetary magnetospheric sizes of 4.1 to 5.6 planetary radii. We also derive
the exoplanetary radio emission released in the dissipation of the stellar wind
energy. We find radio fluxes ranging from 0.02 to 0.13 mJy, which are
challenging to be observed with present-day technology, but could be detectable
with future higher sensitivity arrays (e.g., SKA). Radio emission from systems
having closer hot-Jupiters, such as from tau Boo b or HD189733b, or from nearby
planetary systems orbiting young stars, are likely to have higher radio fluxes,
presenting better prospects for detecting exoplanetary radio emission.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, accepted to MNRA
A polarity reversal in the large-scale magnetic field of the rapidly rotating Sun HD 190771
Aims. We investigate the long-term evolution of the large-scale photospheric
magnetic field geometry of the solar-type star HD 190771. With fundamental
parameters very close to those of the Sun except for a shorter rotation period
of 8.8 d, HD 190771 provides us with a first insight into the specific impact
of the rotation rate in the dynamo generation of magnetic fields in 1
stars.
Methods. We use circularly polarized, high-resolution spectra obtained with
the NARVAL spectropolarimeter (Observatoire du Pic du Midi, France) and compute
cross-correlation line profiles with high signal-to-noise ratio to detect
polarized Zeeman signatures. From three phase-resolved data sets collected
during the summers of 2007, 2008, and 2009, we model the large-scale
photospheric magnetic field of the star by means of Zeeman-Doppler imaging and
follow its temporal evolution.
Results. The comparison of the magnetic maps shows that a polarity reversal
of the axisymmetric component of the large-scale magnetic field occurred
between 2007 and 2008, this evolution being observed in both the poloidal and
toroidal magnetic components. Between 2008 and 2009, another type of global
evolution occured, characterized by a sharp decrease of the fraction of
magnetic energy stored in the toroidal component. These changes were not
accompanied by significant evolution in the total photospheric magnetic energy.
Using our spectra to perform radial velocity measurements, we also detect a
very low-mass stellar companion to HD 190771.Comment: Accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics (Letter to the Editor
The relation between stellar magnetic field geometry and chromospheric activity cycles – II The rapid 120-day magnetic cycle of <i>τ</i> Bootis
One of the aims of the BCool programme is to search for cycles in other stars and to understand how similar they are to the Sun. In this paper, we aim to monitor the evolution of τ Boo’s large-scale magnetic field using high-cadence observations covering its chromospheric activity maximum. For the first time, we detect a polarity switch that is in phase with τ Boo’s 120-day chromospheric activity maximum and its inferred X-ray activity cycle maximum. This means that τ Boo has a very fast magnetic cycle of only 240 days. At activity maximum τ Boo’s large-scale field geometry is very similar to the Sun at activity maximum: it is complex and there is a weak dipolar component. In contrast, we also see the emergence of a strong toroidal component which has not been observed on the Sun, and a potentially overlapping butterfly pattern where the next cycle begins before the previous one has finished
Rotationally Modulated X-ray Emission from T Tauri Stars
We have modelled the rotational modulation of X-ray emission from T Tauri
stars assuming that they have isothermal, magnetically confined coronae. By
extrapolating surface magnetograms we find that T Tauri coronae are compact and
clumpy, such that rotational modulation arises from X-ray emitting regions
being eclipsed as the star rotates. Emitting regions are close to the stellar
surface and inhomogeneously distributed about the star. However some regions of
the stellar surface, which contain wind bearing open field lines, are dark in
X-rays. From simulated X-ray light curves, obtained using stellar parameters
from the Chandra Orion Ultradeep Project, we calculate X-ray periods and make
comparisons with optically determined rotation periods. We find that X-ray
periods are typically equal to, or are half of, the optical periods. Further,
we find that X-ray periods are dependent upon the stellar inclination, but that
the ratio of X-ray to optical period is independent of stellar mass and radius.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
M-dwarf stellar winds: the effects of realistic magnetic geometry on rotational evolution and planets
We perform three-dimensional numerical simulations of stellar winds of
early-M dwarf stars. Our simulations incorporate observationally reconstructed
large-scale surface magnetic maps, suggesting that the complexity of the
magnetic field can play an important role in the angular momentum evolution of
the star, possibly explaining the large distribution of periods in field dM
stars, as reported in recent works. In spite of the diversity of the magnetic
field topologies among the stars in our sample, we find that stellar wind
flowing near the (rotational) equatorial plane carries most of the stellar
angular momentum, but there is no preferred colatitude contributing to mass
loss, as the mass flux is maximum at different colatitudes for different stars.
We find that more non-axisymmetric magnetic fields result in more asymmetric
mass fluxes and wind total pressures (defined as the sum of
thermal, magnetic and ram pressures). Because planetary magnetospheric sizes
are set by pressure equilibrium between the planet's magnetic field and , variations of up to a factor of in (as found in the
case of a planet orbiting at several stellar radii away from the star) lead to
variations in magnetospheric radii of about 20 percent along the planetary
orbital path. In analogy to the flux of cosmic rays that impact the Earth,
which is inversely modulated with the non-axisymmetric component of the total
open solar magnetic flux, we conclude that planets orbiting M dwarf stars like
DT~Vir, DS~Leo and GJ~182, which have significant non-axisymmetric field
components, should be the more efficiently shielded from galactic cosmic rays,
even if the planets lack a protective thick atmosphere/large magnetosphere of
their own.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, to appear in MNRA
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