EVIDENCE FOR A WEAK WIND FROM THE YOUNG SUN

Journal Article · Sat Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/781/2/L33· OSTI ID:22364009

Wood, Brian E. ^[1]; Müller, Hans-Reinhard ^[2]; Redfield, Seth; Edelman, Eric ^[3]

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1. Naval Research Laboratory, Space Science Division, Washington, DC 20375 (United States)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755 (United States)
3. Astronomy Department, Van Vleck Observatory, Wesleyan University, 96 Foss Hill Drive, Middletown, CT 06459 (United States)

The early history of the solar wind has remained largely a mystery due to the difficulty of detecting winds around young stars that can serve as analogs for the young Sun. Here we report on the detection of a wind from the 500 Myr old solar analog π{sup 1} UMa (G1.5 V), using spectroscopic observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. We detect H I Lyα absorption from the interaction region between the stellar wind and interstellar medium, i.e., the stellar astrosphere. With the assistance of hydrodynamic models of the π{sup 1} UMa astrosphere, we infer a wind only half as strong as the solar wind for this star. This suggests that the Sun and solar-like stars do not have particularly strong coronal winds in their youth.

• OSTI ID: 22364009
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 781, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ABSORPTION
DETECTION
EMISSION SPECTRA
HYDRODYNAMICS
HYDROGEN
LYMAN LINES
SOLAR CORONA
SOLAR WIND
SPACE
SUN
TELESCOPES
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION