GIANT CORONAL LOOPS DOMINATE THE QUIESCENT X-RAY EMISSION IN RAPIDLY ROTATING M STARS
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
Observations indicate that magnetic fields in rapidly rotating stars are very strong, on both small and large scales. What is the nature of the resulting corona? Here we seek to shed some light on this question. We use the results of an anelastic dynamo simulation of a rapidly rotating fully convective M star to drive a physics-based model for the stellar corona. We find that due to the several kilo Gauss large-scale magnetic fields at high latitudes, the corona, and its X-ray emission are dominated by star-size large hot loops, while the smaller, underlying colder loops are not visible much in the X-ray. Based on this result, we propose that, in rapidly rotating stars, emission from such coronal structures dominates the quiescent, cooler but saturated X-ray emission.
- OSTI ID:
- 22661423
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 834, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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