scholarly journals Theoretical estimates of the convective turnover time for low-mass, rotating pre-main sequence stars

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S239) ◽  
pp. 446-448
Author(s):  
L. T. S. Mendes ◽  
N. R. Landin ◽  
L. P. R. Vaz

AbstractThe Rossby number Ro is an important quantity related to the well-known magnetic activity-rotation correlation for main sequence, solar-type stars. For such stars, Ro can be obtained by a semi-empirical relationship between the convective turnover time τc and the B-V colour index, but an equivalent activity-rotation correlation seems not to exist for pre-main sequence stars. In this work we report theoretical estimates of τc for low-mass, rotating pre-main sequence stars under either the Full Spectrum of Turbulence (FST) or the classical Mixing Length Theory (MLT) convection models. The results for the MLT models show that the lower the convection efficiency the higher τc, while the FST models give τc lower than those for the MLT. The presence of a parametric magnetic field lowers the convection efficiency, resulting in smaller τc values.

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S258) ◽  
pp. 161-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keivan G. Stassun ◽  
Leslie Hebb ◽  
Mercedes López-Morales ◽  
Andrej Prša

AbstractEclipsing binary stars provide highly accurate measurements of the fundamental physical properties of stars. They therefore serve as stringent tests of the predictions of evolutionary models upon which most stellar age determinations are based. Models generally perform very well in predicting coeval ages for eclipsing binaries with main-sequence components more massive than ≈1.2 M⊙; relative ages are good to ~5% or better in this mass regime. Low-mass main-sequence stars (M < 0.8 M⊙) reveal large discrepancies in the model predicted ages, primarily due to magnetic activity in the observed stars that appears to inhibit convection and likely causes the radii to be 10–20% larger than predicted. In mass-radius diagrams these stars thus appear 50–90% older or younger than they really are. Aside from these activity-related effects, low-mass pre–main-sequence stars at ages ~1 Myr can also show non-coevality of ~30% due to star formation effects, however these effects are largely erased after ~10 Myr.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S275) ◽  
pp. 404-405
Author(s):  
María V. del Valle ◽  
Gustavo E. Romero

AbstractT Tauri stars are low mass, pre-main sequence stars. These objects are surrounded by an accretion disk and present strong magnetic activity. T Tauri stars are copious emitters of X-ray emission which belong to powerful magnetic reconnection events. Strong magnetospheric shocks are likely outcome of massive reconnection. Such shocks can accelerate particles up to relativistic energies through Fermi mechanism. We present a model for the high-energy radiation produced in the environment of T Tauri stars. We aim at determining whether this emission is detectable. If so, the T Tauri stars should be very nearby.


2018 ◽  
Vol 618 ◽  
pp. A48 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Mittag ◽  
J. H. M. M. Schmitt ◽  
K.-P. Schröder

The connection between stellar rotation, stellar activity, and convective turnover time is revisited with a focus on the sole contribution of magnetic activity to the Ca II H&K emission, the so-called excess flux, and its dimensionless indicator R+HK in relation to other stellar parameters and activity indicators. Our study is based on a sample of 169 main-sequence stars with directly measured Mount Wilson S-indices and rotation periods. The R+HK values are derived from the respective S-indices and related to the rotation periods in various B–V-colour intervals. First, we show that stars with vanishing magnetic activity, i.e. stars whose excess flux index R+HK approaches zero, have a well-defined, colour-dependent rotation period distribution; we also show that this rotation period distribution applies to large samples of cool stars for which rotation periods have recently become available. Second, we use empirical arguments to equate this rotation period distribution with the global convective turnover time, which is an approach that allows us to obtain clear relations between the magnetic activity related excess flux index R+HK, rotation periods, and Rossby numbers. Third, we show that the activity versus Rossby number relations are very similar in the different activity indicators. As a consequence of our study, we emphasize that our Rossby number based on the global convective turnover time approaches but does not exceed unity even for entirely inactive stars. Furthermore, the rotation-activity relations might be universal for different activity indicators once the proper scalings are used.


1999 ◽  
Vol 170 ◽  
pp. 121-130
Author(s):  
G. W. Marcy ◽  
R. Paul Butler ◽  
D. A. Fischer

AbstractWe have measured the radial velocities of 540 G and K main sequence stars with a precision of 3−10 ms−1 using the Lick and Keck échelle spectrometers. We had detected 6 companions that have m sin i < 7 MJup. We announce here the discovery of a new planet around Gliese 876, found in our Doppler measurements from both Lick and Keck. This is the first planet found around an M dwarf, which indicates that planets occur around low-mass stars, in addition to solar-type stars. We combine our entire stellar sample with that of Mayor et al. to derive general properties of giant planets within a few AU of these stars. Less than 1% of G and K main sequence stars harbor brown dwarf companions with masses between 5 and 70 MJup. Including Gliese 876b, 8 companions exhibit m sin i < 5 MJup which constitute the best planet candidates to date. Apparently, 4% of stars have planetary companions within the range m sin i = 0.5 to 5 MJup. Planets are distinguished from brown dwarfs by the discontinuous jump in the mass function at 5 MJup. About 2/3 of the planets orbit within just 0.3 AU due in part to their favorable detectability, but also possibly due to a real “pile up” of planets near the star. Inward orbital migration after formation may explain this, but the mechanism to stop the migration remains unclear. Five of eight planets have orbital eccentricities greater than that of our Jupiter, eJup = 0.048, and tidal circularization may explain most of the circular orbits. Thus, eccentric orbits are common and may arise from gravitational interactions with other planets, stars, or the protoplanetary disk. The planet-bearing stars are systematically metal-rich, as is the Sun, compared to the solar neighborhood.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S271) ◽  
pp. 401-402
Author(s):  
Joel Tanner ◽  
Sarbani Basu ◽  
Pierre Demarque ◽  
Frank Robinson

AbstractWe perform 3D radiative hydrodynamic simulations to study convection in low-mass main-sequence stars with the aim of improving stellar models. Comparing models from a 0.90 M⊙ evolutionary track with 3D simulations reveals distinct differences between simulations and mixing length theory. The simulations show obvious structural differences throughout the superadiabatic layer where convection is inefficient at transporting energy. The discrepancy between MLT and simulation changes as the star evolves and the dynamical effects of turbulence increase. Further, the simulations reveal a T-tau relation that is sensitive to the strength of the turbulence, which is in contrast to 1D stellar models that use the same T-tau relation across the HR diagram.


1990 ◽  
Vol 137 ◽  
pp. 363-370
Author(s):  
Thierry Montmerle

X-rays turned out rather unexpectedly to be of fundamental importance in studying, and especially in discovering, pre-main sequence stars. The bulk of the data we now have comes from observations using the Einstein satellite, operating in the imaging mode between ~0.4 to ~4 keV (for reviews, see, e.g., Feigelson 1984, Feigelson, Giampapa, and Vrba 1990); because many of the detected sources turned out to suffer a relatively large absorption (Av up to several magnitudes, see below), EXOSAT, sensitive to softer X rays, unfortunately proved to be of little use.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S276) ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Geoffrey W. Marcy ◽  
Andrew W. Howard ◽  

AbstractWe analyze the statistics of Doppler-detected planets and Keplere-detected planet candidates of high integrity. We determine the number of planets per star as a function of planet mass, radius, and orbital period, and the occurrence of planets as a function of stellar mass. We consider only orbital periods less than 50 days around Solar-type (GK) stars, for which both Doppler and Kepler offer good completeness. We account for observational detection effects to determine the actual number of planets per star. From Doppler-detected planets discovered in a survey of 166 nearby G and K main sequence stars we find a planet occurrence of 15+5−4% for planets with M sin i = 3–30 ME and P < 50 d, as described in Howard et al. (2010). From Keplere, the planet occurrence is 0.130 ± 0.008, 0.023 ± 0.003, and 0.013 ± 0.002 planets per star for planets with radii 2–4, 4–8, and 8–32 RE, consistent with Doppler-detected planets. From Keplere, the number of planets per star as a function of planet radius is given by a power law, df/dlog R = kRRα with kR = 2.9+0.5−0.4, α = −1.92 ± 0.11, and R = RP/RE. Neither the Doppler-detected planets nor the Keplere-detected planets exhibit a “desert” at super-Earth and Neptune sizes for close-in orbits, as suggested by some planet population synthesis models. The distribution of planets with orbital period, P, shows a gentle increase in occurrence with orbital period in the range 2–50 d. The occurrence of small, 2–4 RE planets increases with decreasing stellar mass, with seven times more planets around low mass dwarfs (3600–4100 K) than around massive stars (6600–7100 K).


2004 ◽  
Vol 191 ◽  
pp. 37-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut A. Abt ◽  
Daryl W. Willmarth

AbstractTwo previous studies of the secondary mass function in spectroscopic binaries by Abt & Levy (1976) and by Duquennoy & Mayor (1991) are shown to be in good agreement if they are both plotted with the same abscissa scale. A new study of 271 main-sequence stars later than F6 V made with a radial-velocity accuracy of ±0.10 km s-1 yielded 10 new sets of orbital elements in addition to the 59 published ones. The resulting secondary mass function is nearly flat and shows that 2.2±1.5% of the primaries have low-mass (0.01–0.10 M⊙) companions. In contrast, the secondary mass function for visual binaries with separations >500 AU fits a van Rhijn function, as was shown previously by Abt and Levy.


1993 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 141-145
Author(s):  
K. Stȩpień

It is shown that the scaling of rotation periods by a color-dependent parameter (turnover time) improves substantially the observed activity-period relations only for single, main sequence, solar type stars with 0.5 ≲ B – V ≲ 0.8. For other single main sequence stars and for single giants activity indices correlate equally well with rotation period and the Rossby number, or show no correlation with either parameter.


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