7,038 research outputs found
Quiescent X-ray emission from an evolved brown dwarf ?
I report on the X-ray detection of Gl569Bab. During a 25ksec Chandra
observation the binary brown dwarf is for the first time spatially separated in
X-rays from the flare star primary Gl569A. Companionship to Gl569A constrains
the age of the brown dwarf pair to ~300-800 Myr. The observation presented here
is only the second X-ray detection of an evolved brown dwarf. About half of the
observing time is dominated by a large flare on Gl569Bab, the remainder is
characterized by weak and non-variable emission just above the detection limit.
This emission -- if not related to the afterglow of the flare -- represents the
first detection of a quiescent corona on a brown dwarf, representing an
important piece in the puzzle of dynamos in the sub-stellar regime.Comment: to appear in ApJ
Emission Line Variability of the Accreting Young Brown Dwarf 2MASSW J1207334-393254: From Hours to Years
We have obtained a series of high-resolution optical spectra for the brown
dwarf 2MASSW J1207334-393254 (2M1207) using the ESO Very Large Telescope with
the UVES spectrograph during two consecutive observing nights (time resolution
of ~12 min) and the Magellan Clay telescope with the MIKE spectrograph.
Combined with previously published results, these data allow us to investigate
changes in the emission line spectrum of 2M1207 on timescales of hours to
years. Most of the emission line profiles of 2M1207 are broad, in particular
that of Halpha, indicating that the dominant fraction of the emission must be
attributed to disk accretion rather than to magnetic activity. From the Halpha
10% width we deduce a relatively stable accretion rate between
10^(-10.1...-9.8) Msun/yr for two nights of consecutive observations.
Therefore, either the accretion stream is nearly homogeneous over (sub-)stellar
longitude or the system is seen face-on. Small but significant variations are
evident throughout our near-continuous observation, and they reach a maximum
after ~8 h, roughly the timescale on which maximum variability is expected
across the rotation cycle. Together with past measurements, we confirm that the
accretion rate of 2M1207 varies by more than one order of magnitude on
timescales of months to years. Such variable mass accretion yields a plausible
explanation for the observed spread in the accretion rate vs. mass diagram. The
magnetic field required to drive the funnel flow is on the order of a few
hundred G. Despite the obvious presence of a magnetic field, no radio nor X-ray
emission has been reported for 2M1207. Possibly strong accretion suppresses
magnetic activity in brown dwarfs, similar to the findings for higher mass T
Tauri stars.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap
Production of gauge bosons plus jets in hadronic collisions
A computational strategy and a collection of codes are presented for studying
multiparticle final states in hard hadronic collisions.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, talk given at ICHEP'02 (Amsterdam, 24-31 July
2002
X-ray emission from old and intermediate age brown dwarfs
According to the paradigm of solar-type dynamo action brown dwarfs should not
exhibit magnetic activity as they are fully convective. Indeed, Halpha
observations of ultracool field dwarfs indicate a decline of activity setting
in near the substellar limit. X-ray emission traditionally serves as another
means to examine magnetic activity on stars. The substellar regime can now be
accessed with the new generation of X-ray instruments onboard XMM-Newton and
Chandra. We report on two recent XMM-Newton observations of brown dwarfs in the
Pleiades cluster and in the field aiming to constrain the age and effective
temperature dependence of X-ray emission from substellar objects.Comment: 4 pages, to appear in proceedings of the IAU Symposium 211 on "Brown
Dwarfs", ASP Conference Serie
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