The Radio Corona of AR Lacertae

We present multifrequency VLA and VLBA observations at 8.4 GHz of the RS CVn system AR Lac, that were performed in autumn 1997 simultaneously with X-ray observations obtained from Rodono` et al. (1999). Our VLBA data indicate a resolved source with dimension close to the system separation, while the study of the flux density curve evidences a small amplitude outside of the eclipse variability. The derived five-frequencies spectra, combined with the size information from VLBA data, are compared with gyrosynchrotron emission from a two component structured source. A comparison with the results of the X-ray observations allow us to exclude the possibility that thermal gyrosynchrotron is responsible for the radio emission, but it is compatible with the hypothesis of co-spatial X-ray and radio emitting sources.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in A&

Chromosphere of K giant stars Geometrical extent and spatial structure detection

We aim to constrain the geometrical extent of the chromosphere of non-binary K giant stars and detect any spatial structures in the chromosphere. We performed observations with the CHARA interferometer and the VEGA beam combiner at optical wavelengths. We observed seven non-binary K giant stars. We measured the ratio of the radii of the photosphere to the chromosphere using the interferometric measurements in the Halpha and the Ca II infrared triplet line cores. For beta Ceti, spectro-interferometric observations are compared to an non-local thermal equilibrium (NLTE) semi-empirical model atmosphere including a chromosphere. The NLTE computations provide line intensities and contribution functions that indicate the relative locations where the line cores are formed and can constrain the size of the limb-darkened disk of the stars with chromospheres. We measured the angular diameter of seven K giant stars and deduced their fundamental parameters: effective temperatures, radii, luminosities, and masses. We determined the geometrical extent of the chromosphere for four giant stars. The chromosphere extents obtained range between 16% to 47% of the stellar radius. The NLTE computations confirm that the Ca II/849 nm line core is deeper in the chromosphere of ? Cet than either of the Ca II/854 nm and Ca II/866 nm line cores. We present a modified version of a semi-empirical model atmosphere derived by fitting the Ca II triplet line cores of this star. In four of our targets, we also detect the signature of a differential signal showing the presence of asymmetries in the chromospheres. Conclusions. It is the first time that geometrical extents and structure in the chromospheres of non-binary K giant stars are determined by interferometry. These observations provide strong constrains on stellar atmosphere models.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figure

The effect of magnetic activity saturation in chromospheric flux-flux relationships

We present a homogeneous study of chromospheric and coronal flux-flux relationships using a sample of 298 late-type dwarf active stars with spectral types F to M. The chromospheric lines were observed simultaneously in each star to avoid spread due to long term variability. Unlike other works, we subtract the basal chromospheric contribution in all the spectral lines studied. For the first time, we quantify the departure of dMe stars from the general relations. We show that dK and dKe stars also deviate from the general trend. Studying the flux-colour diagrams we demonstrate that the stars deviating from the general relations are those with saturated X-ray emission and that those stars also present saturation in the H$\alpha$ line. Using several age spectral indicators, we show that they are younger stars than those following the general relationships. The non-universality of flux-flux relationships found in this work should be taken into account when converting between fluxes in different chromospheric activity indicators.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

Attenuation proxy hidden in surface brightness-colour diagrams. A new strategy for the LSST era

Large future sky surveys, such as the LSST, will provide optical photometry for billions of objects. This paper aims to construct a proxy for the far ultraviolet attenuation (AFUVp) from the optical data alone, enabling the rapid estimation of the star formation rate (SFR) for galaxies that lack UV or IR data. To mimic LSST observations, we use the deep panchromatic optical coverage of the SDSS Photometric Catalogue DR~12, complemented by the estimated physical properties for the SDSS galaxies from the GALEX-SDSS-WISE Legacy Catalog (GSWLC) and inclination information obtained from the SDSS DR7. We restricted our sample to the 0.025-0.1 z-spec range and investigated relations among surface brightness, colours, and dust attenuation in the far UV range for star-forming galaxies obtained from the spectral energy distribution (SED). {Dust attenuation is best correlated with (u-r) colour and the surface brightness in the u band ($\rm \mu_{u}$). We provide a dust attenuation proxy for galaxies on the star-forming main sequence, which can be used for the LSST or any other type of broadband optical survey. The mean ratio between the catalogue values of SFR and those estimated using optical-only SDSS data with the AFUVp prior calculated as $\Delta$SFR=log(SFR_{\tiny{\mbox{this work}}}/SFR$_{\tiny{}\texttt{GSWLC}}$) is found to be less than 0.1~dex, while runs without priors result in an SFR overestimation larger than 0.3~dex. The presence or absence of theAFUVp has a negligible influence on the stellar mass estimation (with $\Delta$M$_{star}$ in the range from 0 to $-0.15$ dex). Forthcoming deep optical observations of the LSST Deep Drilling Fields, which also have multi-wavelength data, will enable one to calibrate the obtained relation for higher redshift galaxies and, possibly, extend the study towards other types of galaxies, such as early-type galaxies off the main sequence.Comment: 18 pages, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

The Ca II Infrared Triplet as a stellar activity diagnostic

This work is part of a larger project on the study of activity in stars of spectral type similar to, or later than the Sun, from PMS to ZAMS, based on the analysis of the high resolution \ion{Ca}{ii} InfraRed Triplet (\ion{Ca}{ii} IRT: $\lambda= 8498$, 8542, 8662 Å) observed profiles. Here, a preliminary study on the diagnostic power of these calcium lines has been performed by means of NLTE calculations of the line profiles with an approximate treatment of UV line-blanketing, for a grid of photospheric models with ${T_\mathrm{eff}}$ = 4200, 5200, 6200 K, ${\log g}$ = 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 and [A/H] = 0.0, -1.0, -2.0. We used these calculations to estimate the sensitivity of the profiles to changes in stellar parameters and the effect of departures from LTE. As found by other authors, the \ion{Ca}{ii} triplet NLTE EQWs (equivalent widths) are quite sensitive to photospheric parameters, in particular to ${T_\mathrm{eff}}$ and [A/H]. On the other hand, we find that the dependence of the \ion{Ca}{ii} triplet lines central depression (CD = 1-central relative flux) on ${\log g}$ and ${T_\mathrm{eff}}$, and to a lesser extent to [A/H], is very weak. The departure from LTE is negligible when we consider EQWs, unless very metal-poor atmospheres are considered, while CDs can be affected by NLTE by more than 20%. This analysis indicates that in the use of these lines as activity indicators (where the details of the line profile in the core are important), a NLTE treatment is required. Furthermore, we show that a new chromospheric indicator, which we denote ${R_\mathrm{IRT}}$, can be derived from measurements of \ion{Ca}{ii} IRT line central depressions, provided that rotational broadening is taken into proper account. In order to facilitate the use of the \ion{Ca}{ii} IRT lines as activity diagnostics, we give interpolation formulae for estimating line CDs within the range of stellar parameters of our NLTE calculations

The CaII infrared triplet as a stellar activity diagnostic - II. Test and calibration with high resolution observations

Aims.We report on our analysis of the high resolution spectra ($R\approx86\,000$) of a sample of 42 late-type active stars (with measured ${\log{R'_\mathrm{HK}}}$ spanning from ${\approx}{ -}3$ to ${\approx}{ -}5$) acquired with the Italian 3.6 m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) using the SARG spectrometer in the 4960-10 110  Å range. The high quality of the spectra and the good activity-level coverage allow us to measure two different chromospheric indicators that can be derived from the Ca i