scholarly journals Chromospheric variation in cool supergiant stars

1996 ◽  
Vol 176 ◽  
pp. 415-422
Author(s):  
J. A. Eaton ◽  
G. W. Henry

Stars close to the main sequence, if they rotate rapidly enough, show magnetic activity in the form of spots, active regions, and strong chromospheres. With the exception of the hybrid stars, stars cooler and more luminous than the so-called Linsky-Haisch dividing line, in contrast, are not known to have any of these phenomena. In fact, it is not clear such stars, even though rotating and convective, show any magnetic phenomena at all. We discuss (1) photometry used to search for spots in the hybrid stars, which we have not found, and (2) evidence for chromospheric variation in K supergiants that takes the form of enhanced winds, but which may be analogous to the activity of stars closer to the main sequence.

2019 ◽  
Vol 628 ◽  
pp. A74 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Guarcello ◽  
E. Flaccomio ◽  
G. Micela ◽  
C. Argiroffi ◽  
S. Sciortino ◽  
...  

Context. Pre-main sequence stars are variable sources. In diskless stars this variability is mainly due to the rotational modulation of dark photospheric spots and active regions, as in main sequence stars even if associated with a stronger magnetic activity. Aims. We aim at analyzing the simultaneous optical and X-ray variability in these stars to unveil how the activity in the photosphere is connected with that in the corona, to identify the dominant surface magnetic activity, and to correlate our results with stellar properties, such as rotation and mass. Methods. We analyzed the simultaneous optical and X-ray variability in stars without inner disks (e.g., class III objects and stars with transition disks) in NGC 2264 from observations obtained with Chandra/ACIS-I and CoRoT as part of the Coordinated Synoptic Investigation of NGC 2264. We searched for those stars whose optical and X-ray variability is correlated, anti-correlated, or not correlated by sampling their optical and X-ray light curves in suitable time intervals and studying the correlation between the flux observed in optical and in X-rays. We then studied how this classification is related with stellar properties. Results. Starting from a sample of 74 class III/transition disk (TD) stars observed with CoRoT and detected with Chandra with more than 60 counts, we selected 16 stars whose optical and X-ray variability is anti-correlated, 11 correlated, and 17 where there is no correlation. The remaining stars did not fall in any of these groups. We interpreted the anti-correlated optical and X-ray variability as typical of spot-dominated sources, due to the rotational modulation of photospheric spots spatially coincident to coronal active regions, and correlated variability typical of faculae-dominated sources, where the brightening due to faculae is dominant over the darkening due to spots. Conclusions. Stars with “anti-correlated” variability rotate slower and are less massive than those with “correlated” variability. Furthermore, cool stars in our sample have larger u − r variability than hot stars. This suggests that there is a connection between stellar rotation, mass, and the dominant surface magnetic activity, which may be related with the topology of the large-scale magnetic field. We thus discuss this scenario in the framework of the complex magnetic properties of weak-line T Tauri stars observed as part of recent projects.


2018 ◽  
Vol 620 ◽  
pp. A189 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Oláh ◽  
S. Rappaport ◽  
T. Borkovits ◽  
T. Jacobs ◽  
D. Latham ◽  
...  

Context. Stars can maintain their observable magnetic activity from the pre-main sequence (PMS) to the tip of the red giant branch. However, the number of known active giants is much lower than active stars on the main sequence (MS) since the stars spend only about 10% of their MS lifetime on the giant branch. Due to their rapid evolution it is difficult to estimate the stellar parameters of giant stars. A possibility for obtaining more reliable stellar parameters for an active giant arises when it is a member of an eclipsing binary system. Aims. We have discovered EPIC 211759736, an active spotted giant star in an eclipsing binary system during the Kepler K2 Campaign 5. The eclipsing nature allows us to much better constrain the stellar parameters than in most cases of active giant stars. Methods. We have combined the K2 data with archival HATNet, ASAS, and DASCH photometry, new spectroscopic radial velocity measurements, and a set of follow-up ground-based BVRCIC photometric observations, to find the binary system parameters as well as robust spot models for the giant at two different epochs. Results. We determined the physical parameters of both stellar components and provide a description of the rotational and long-term activity of the primary component. The temperatures and luminosities of both components were examined in the context of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. We find that both the primary and the secondary components deviate from the evolutionary tracks corresponding to their masses in the sense that the stars appear in the diagram at lower masses than their true masses. Conclusions. We further evaluate the proposition that traditional methods generally result in higher masses for active giants than what is indicated by stellar evolution tracks in the HR diagram. A possible reason for this discrepancy could be a strong magnetic field, since we see greater differences in more active stars.


The Sun’s magnetic activity varies cyclically, with a well-defined mean period of about 11 years. At the beginning of a new cycle, spots appear at latitudes around ±30°; then the zones of activity expand and drift towards the equator, where they die away as the new cycle starts again at higher latitudes. Active regions are typically oriented parallel to the equator, with oppositely directed magnetic fields in leading and following regions. The sense of these fields is opposite in the two hemispheres and reverses at sunspot minimum. So the magnetic cycle has a 22-year period, with waves of activity that drift towards the equator. Sunspot records show that there was a dearth of spots in the late 17th century - the Maunder minimum - which can also be detected in proxy records.


2020 ◽  
Vol 500 (1) ◽  
pp. 1158-1177
Author(s):  
R D Jeffries ◽  
R J Jackson ◽  
Qinghui Sun ◽  
Constantine P Deliyannis

ABSTRACT New fibre spectroscopy and radial velocities from the WIYN telescope are used to measure photospheric lithium in 242 high-probability, zero-age main-sequence F- to K-type members of the rich cluster M35. Combining these with published rotation periods, the connection between lithium depletion and rotation is studied in unprecedented detail. At Teff < 5500 K there is a strong relationship between faster rotation and less Li depletion, although with a dispersion larger than measurement uncertainties. Components of photometrically identified binary systems follow the same relationship. A correlation is also established between faster rotation rate (or smaller Rossby number), decreased Li depletion and larger stellar radius at a given Teff. These results support models where star-spots and interior magnetic fields lead to inflated radii and reduced Li depletion during the pre-main-sequence (PMS) phase for the fastest rotators. However, the data are also consistent with the idea that all stars suffered lower levels of Li depletion than predicted by standard PMS models, perhaps because of deficiencies in those models or because saturated levels of magnetic activity suppress Li depletion equally in PMS stars of similar Teff regardless of rotation rate, and that slower rotators subsequently experience more mixing and post-PMS Li depletion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 628 ◽  
pp. A41 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Pizzocaro ◽  
B. Stelzer ◽  
E. Poretti ◽  
S. Raetz ◽  
G. Micela ◽  
...  

The relation between magnetic activity and rotation in late-type stars provides fundamental information on stellar dynamos and angular momentum evolution. Rotation-activity studies found in the literature suffer from inhomogeneity in the measurement of activity indexes and rotation periods. We overcome this limitation with a study of the X-ray emitting, late-type main-sequence stars observed by XMM-Newton and Kepler. We measured rotation periods from photometric variability in Kepler light curves. As activity indicators, we adopted the X-ray luminosity, the number frequency of white-light flares, the amplitude of the rotational photometric modulation, and the standard deviation in the Kepler light curves. The search for X-ray flares in the light curves provided by the EXTraS (Exploring the X-ray Transient and variable Sky) FP-7 project allows us to identify simultaneous X-ray and white-light flares. A careful selection of the X-ray sources in the Kepler field yields 102 main-sequence stars with spectral types from A to M. We find rotation periods for 74 X-ray emitting main-sequence stars, 20 of which do not have period reported in the previous literature. In the X-ray activity-rotation relation, we see evidence for the traditional distinction of a saturated and a correlated part, the latter presenting a continuous decrease in activity towards slower rotators. For the optical activity indicators the transition is abrupt and located at a period of ~10 d but it can be probed only marginally with this sample, which is biased towards fast rotators due to the X-ray selection. We observe seven bona-fide X-ray flares with evidence for a white-light counterpart in simultaneous Kepler data. We derive an X-ray flare frequency of ~0.15 d−1, consistent with the optical flare frequency obtained from the much longer Kepler time-series.


1980 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 296-297
Author(s):  
G. Belvedere ◽  
L. Paterno ◽  
M. Stix

AbstractWe extend to the lower main sequence stars the analysis of convection interacting with rotation in a compressible spherical shell, already applied to the solar case (Belvedere and Paterno, 1977; Belvedere et al. 1979a). We assume that the coupling constant ε between convection and rotation, does not depend on the spectral type. Therefore we take ε determined from the observed differential rotation of the Sun, and compute differential rotation and magnetic cycles for stars ranging from F5 to MO, namely for those stars which are supposed to possess surface convection zones (Belvedere et al. 1979b, c, d). The results show that the strength of differential rotation decreases from a maximum at F5 down to a minimum at G5 and then increases towards later spectral types. The computations of the magnetic cycles based on the αω-dynamo theory show that dynamo instability decreases from F5 to G5, and then increases towards the later spectral types reaching a maximum at MO. The period of the magnetic cycles increases from a few years at F5 to about 100 years at MO. Also the extension of the surface magnetic activity increases substantially towards the later spectral types. The results are discussed in the framework of Wilson’s (1978) observations.


1998 ◽  
Vol 167 ◽  
pp. 415-418
Author(s):  
Kirill M. Kuzanyan

AbstractThe main magnetic activity of the Sun can be visualised by Maunder butterfly diagrams which represent the spatio-temporal distribution of sunspots. Besides sunspots there are other tracers of magnetic activity, like filaments and active regions, which are observable over a wider latitudinal range of the Sun. Both these phenomena allow one to consider a complete picture of solar magnetic activity, which should be explained in the framework of one relatively simple model.A kinematic αѡ-dynamo model of the magnetic field’s generation in a thin convection shell with nonuniform helicity for large dynamo numbers is considered in the framework of Parker’s migratory dynamo. The obtained asymptotic solution of equations governing the magnetic field has a form of a modulated travelling dynamo wave. This wave propagates over the most latitudes of the solar hemisphere equatorwards, and the amplitude of the magnetic field first increases and then decreases with the propagation. Over the subpolar latitudes the dynamo wave reverses, there the dynamo wave propagates polewards and decays with latitude. Butterfly diagrams are plotted and analyzed.There is an attractive opportunity to develop a more quantitatively precise model taking into account helioseismological data on differential rotation and fitting the solar observational data on the magnetic field and turbulence, analyzing the helicity and the phase shift between toroidal and poloidal components of the field.


1991 ◽  
Vol 130 ◽  
pp. 266-267
Author(s):  
I. Sattarov ◽  
A. Hojaev

The most widely used indicator of the stellar magnetic activity is the flux in the CaII K-line core (K-index) (Baliunas and Vaughan, 1985). The K-index data have also been used for measuring the rotation of stars. But using the method for the Sun gives different results (Keil and Worden, 1984; Singh and Livingston, 1987). The reason for the observed differences, besides those indicated by Singh and Livingston, may be the character of the distribution of active regions. This study is based on observations made at Tashkent Astronomical Observatory and the data published in SGD for solar cycle 21. We study the longitudional distribution of sunspots and plages. Some intervals of active longitudes (IAL) were selected and the evolution of them was studied. Active regions were found to concentrate in certain longitude intervals which are in nearly rigid rotation. Fig. 1 shows the longitudinal distribution of sunspots areas for 1983-84, as an example.


2004 ◽  
Vol 219 ◽  
pp. 128-132
Author(s):  
S. V. Berdyugina ◽  
I. G. Usoskin

Using a new Sun-as-a-star approach we analyze sunspot group data for the past 120 years and reveal that sunspots are formed preferably in two persistent migrating active longitudes 180° apart. Their migration is determined by changes of the mean latitude of sunspots and the surface differential rotation. The two active regions periodically alternate being the dominant region with a period of about 3.7 years similar to the “flip-flop” phenomenon known in starspot activity. The fact that the Sun shows the same pattern of magnetic activity as highly active stars strengthens the solar paradigm for magnetic activity on cool stars.


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