X-ray rotational modulation of a supersaturated star in IC 2391

Abstract

We present evidence of X-ray rotational modulation on VXR45, a young fast rotator star, member of IC 2391. It is a dG9 spectral type star whose rotational period and X-ray luminosity make it a supersaturated star. Our X-ray observation, made with EPIC/PN on XMM-Newton, covers about two photometric rotational periods. The detection of rotational modulation implies the presence of structural inhomogeneities. Possible interpretations are presented and discussed.Comment: 4 pages with 4 PostScript figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letter