How to constrain your M dwarf: Measuring effective temperature, bolometric luminosity, mass, and radius
- University of Texas at Austin (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20, Uppsala (Sweden)
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 (United States)
Precise and accurate parameters for late-type (late K and M) dwarf stars are important for characterization of any orbiting planets, but such determinations have been hampered by these stars’ complex spectra and dissimilarity to the Sun. We exploit an empirically calibrated method to estimate spectroscopic effective temperature (T{sub eff}) and the Stefan–Boltzmann law to determine radii of 183 nearby K7–M7 single stars with a precision of 2%–5%. Our improved stellar parameters enable us to develop model-independent relations between T{sub eff} or absolute magnitude and radius, as well as between color and T{sub eff}. The derived T{sub eff}–radius relation depends strongly on [Fe/H], as predicted by theory. The relation between absolute K{sub S} magnitude and radius can predict radii accurate to ≃3%. We derive bolometric corrections to the VR{sub C}I{sub C}grizJHK{sub S} and Gaia passbands as a function of color, accurate to 1%–3%. We confront the reliability of predictions from Dartmouth stellar evolution models using a Markov chain Monte Carlo to find the values of unobservable model parameters (mass, age) that best reproduce the observed effective temperature and bolometric flux while satisfying constraints on distance and metallicity as Bayesian priors. With the inferred masses we derive a semi-empirical mass–absolute magnitude relation with a scatter of 2% in mass. The best-agreement models overpredict stellar T{sub eff} values by an average of 2.2% and underpredict stellar radii by 4.6%, similar to differences with values from low-mass eclipsing binaries. These differences are not correlated with metallicity, mass, or indicators of activity, suggesting issues with the underlying model assumptions, e.g., opacities or convective mixing length.
- OSTI ID:
- 22882284
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 804, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Since 2009, the country of publication for this journal is the UK.; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Radii of 88 M Subdwarfs and Updated Radius Relations for Low-metallicity M-dwarf Stars
AN EMPIRICAL CALIBRATION TO ESTIMATE COOL DWARF FUNDAMENTAL PARAMETERS FROM H-BAND SPECTRA