143 research outputs found
2MASS 1315-2649: A High Proper Motion L Dwarf with Strong H-alpha Emission
In Hall (2002) I reported that 2MASSI J1315309-264951 is an L dwarf with
strong H-alpha emission. Two spectroscopic epochs appeared to show that the
H-alpha was variable, decreasing from 121 Angstroms to 25 Angstroms EW, which I
interpreted as a flare during the first observation. Gizis (2002) independently
discovered this object, and his intermediate spectroscopic epoch shows H-alpha
with 97 Angstroms EW. A new fourth epoch of spectroscopy again shows a very
large H-alpha EW (124 Angstroms), confirming this object to be a persistent,
strong H-alpha emitter. Whether the H-alpha is steady (like 2MASS 1237+6526) or
from continuous strong flaring (like PC0025+0447) remains unclear. Imaging
confirms that 2MASS 1315-2649 has a high proper motion (0.71"/year),
corresponding to a transverse velocity of ~76 km/s at its distance of ~23 pc.
Thus 2MASS 1315-2649 is consistent with being >~2 Gyr old and therefore
relatively massive. If that is so, the correlation of H-alph activity with mass
found by Gizis et al. (2000) would seem to support the continuous strong
flaring scenario, though it does not rule out a brown dwarf binary accretion
scenario.Comment: 2 pages, ApJL accepte
Principal component analysis-based inversion of effective temperatures for late-type stars
We show how the range of application of the principal component
analysis-based inversion method of Paletou et al. (2015) can be extended to
late-type stars data. Besides being an extension of its original application
domain, for FGK stars, we also used synthetic spectra for our learning
database. We discuss our results on effective temperatures against previous
evaluations made available from Vizier and Simbad services at CDS.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Brown Dwarfs in the Pleiades Cluster Confirmed by the Lithium Test
We present 10 m Keck spectra of the two Pleiades brown dwarfs Teide 1 and
Calar 3 showing a clear detection of the 670.8 nm Li resonance line. In Teide
1, we have also obtained evidence for the presence of the subordinate line at
812.6 nm. A high Li abundance (log N(Li) >= 2.5), consistent with little if any
depletion, is inferred from the observed lines. Since Pleiades brown dwarfs are
unable to burn Li the significant preservation of this fragile element confirms
the substellar nature of our two objects. Regardless of their age, their low
luminosities and Li content place Teide 1 and Calar 3 comfortably in the
genuine brown dwarf realm. Given the probable age of the Pleiades cluster,
their masses are estimated at 55 +- 15 Jupiter masses.Comment: 14 pages gzipped and uuencoded. Figures are included. Also available
at http://www.iac.es/. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
A burst from the direction of UZ Fornacis with XMM-Newton
The XMM-Newton pointing towards the magnetic cataclysmic variable UZ For
finds the source to be a factor > 10^3 fainter than previous EXOSAT and ROSAT
observations. The source was not detected for the majority of a 22 ksec
exposure with the EPIC cameras, suggesting that the accretion rate either
decreased, or stopped altogether. However a 1.1 ksec burst was detected from UZ
For during the observation. Spectral fits favour optically thin, kT = 4.4 keV
thermal emission. Detection of the burst by the on-board Optical Monitor
indicates that this was most probably an accretion event. The 0.1-10 keV
luminosity of 2.1 x 10^30 erg/s is typical for accretion shock emission from
high state polars and would result from the potential energy release of ~ 10^16
g of gas. There is no significant soft excess due to reprocessing in the white
dwarf atmosphere.Comment: 7 pages, 2 postscript figures, ApJL, in pres
X-rays in the Orion Nebula Cluster: Constraints on the origins of magnetic activity in pre-main sequence stars
A recent Chandra/ACIS observation of the Orion Nebula Cluster detected 1075
sources (Feigelson et al. 2002), providing a uniquely large and well-defined
sample to study the dependence of magnetic activity on bulk properties for
stars descending the Hayashi tracks. The following results are obtained: (1)
X-ray luminosities L_t in the 0.5-8 keV band are strongly correlated with
bolometric luminosity with = -3.8 for stars with masses 0.7<M<2
Mo, an order of magnitude below the main sequence saturation level; (2) the
X-ray emission drops rapidly below this level in some or all stars with 2<M<3
Mo; (3) the presence or absence of infrared circumstellar disks has no apparent
relation to X-ray levels; and (4) X-ray luminosities exhibit a slight rise as
rotational periods increase from 0.4 to 20 days. This last finding stands in
dramatic contrast to the strong anticorrelation between X-rays and period seen
in main sequence stars.
The absence of a strong X-ray/rotation relationship in PMS stars, and
particularly the high X-ray values seen in some very slowly rotating stars, is
a clear indication that the mechanisms of magnetic field generation differ from
those operating in main sequence stars. The most promising possibility is a
turbulent dynamo distributed throughout the deep convection zone, but other
models such as alpha-Omega dynamo with `supersaturation' or relic core fields
are not immediately excluded. The drop in magnetic activity in
intermediate-mass stars may reflect the presence of a significant radiative
core. The evidence does not support X-ray production in large-scale star-disk
magnetic fields.Comment: 51 pages, 8 figures. To appear in the Astrophysical Journa
The Density of Coronal Plasma in Active Stellar Coronae
We have analyzed high-resolution X-ray spectra of a sample of 22 active stars
observed with the High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer on {\em
Chandra} in order to investigate their coronal plasma density. Densities where
investigated using the lines of the He-like ions O VII, Mg XI, and Si XIII.
While Si XIII lines in all stars of the sample are compatible with the
low-density limit, Mg XI lines betray the presence of high plasma densities ( cm) for most of the sources with higher X-ray luminosity ( erg/s); stars with higher and tend to have higher
densities at high temperatures. Ratios of O VII lines yield much lower
densities of a few cm, indicating that the ``hot'' and
``cool'' plasma resides in physically different structures. Our findings imply
remarkably compact coronal structures, especially for the hotter plasma
emitting the Mg XI lines characterized by coronal surface filling factor,
, ranging from to , while we find
values from a few up to for the cooler plasma emitting the O
VII lines. We find that approaches unity at the same stellar surface
X-ray flux level as solar active regions, suggesting that these stars become
completely covered by active regions. At the same surface flux level,
is seen to increase more sharply with increasing surface flux. These
results appear to support earlier suggestions that hot K plasma in
active coronae arises from flaring activity, and that this flaring activity
increases markedly once the stellar surface becomes covered with active
regions.Comment: 53 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical
Journal. A version of the paper with higher quality figures is available from
http://www.astropa.unipa.it/Library/preprint.htm
AD Leonis: Radial Velocity Signal of Stellar Rotation or Spin–Orbit Resonance?
AD Leonis is a nearby magnetically active M dwarf. We find Doppler variability with a period of 2.23 days, as well as photometric signals: (1) a short-period signal, which is similar to the radial velocity signal, albeit with considerable variability; and (2) a long-term activity cycle of 4070 ± 120 days. We examine the short-term photometric signal in the available All-Sky Automated Survey and Microvariability and Oscillations of STars (MOST) photometry and find that the signal is not consistently present and varies considerably as a function of time. This signal undergoes a phase change of roughly 0.8 rad when considering the first and second halves of the MOST data set, which are separated in median time by 3.38 days. In contrast, the Doppler signal is stable in the combined High-Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher and High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer radial velocities for over 4700 days and does not appear to vary in time in amplitude, phase, period, or as a function of extracted wavelength. We consider a variety of starspot scenarios and find it challenging to simultaneously explain the rapidly varying photometric signal and the stable radial velocity signal as being caused by starspots corotating on the stellar surface. This suggests that the origin of the Doppler periodicity might be the gravitational tug of a planet orbiting the star in spin–orbit resonance. For such a scenario and no spin–orbit misalignment, the measured v sin i indicates an inclination angle of 15°̣5 ± 2°̣5 and a planetary companion mass of 0.237 ± 0.047 M Jup
Late-Type Near-Contact Eclipsing Binary [HH97] FS Aur-79
The secondary photometric standard star #79 for the FS Aur field (Henden &
Honeycutt 1997) designated as [HH97] FS Aur-79 (GSC 1874 399) is a short period
(0.2508 days) eclipsing binary whose light curve is a combination of the
Lyr and BY Dra type variables. High signal-to-noise multi-color
photometry were obtained using the USNO 1-m telescope. These light curves show
asymmetry at quadrature phases (O'Connell effect), which can be modeled with
the presence of star spots. A low resolution spectrum obtained with the 3.5-m
WIYN telescope at orbital phase 0.76 is consistent with a spectral type of dK7e
and dM3e. A radial velocity curve for the primary star was constructed using
twenty-four high resolution spectra from the 9.2 m HET. Spectra show H-alpha
and H-beta in emission confirming chromospheric activity and possibly the
presence of circumstellar material. Binary star models that simultaneously fit
the U, B, V, R and RV curves are those with a primary star of mass 0.59+-0.02
Msun, temperature 4100+-25 K, mean radius of 0.67 Rsun, just filling its Roche
lobe and a secondary star of mass 0.31+-0.09 Msun, temperature 3425+-25 K, mean
radius of 0.48 Rsun, just within its Roche lobe. An inclination angle of 83+-2
degrees with a center of mass separation of 1.62 Rsun is also derived. Star
spots, expected for a rotation period of less than a day, had to be included in
the modeling to fit the O'Connell effect
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