Magnetic inflation and stellar mass. V. Intensification and saturation of M-dwarf absorption lines with Rossby number
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Published version
Date
2020-01-15
Authors
Muirhead, Philip S.
Veyette, Mark J.
Newton, Elisabeth R.
Theissen, Christopher A.
Mann, Andrew W.
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Published version
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Citation
Philip S Muirhead, Mark J Veyette, Elisabeth R Newton, Christopher A Theissen, Andrew W Mann. "Magnetic Inflation and Stellar Mass. V. Intensification and Saturation of M-dwarf Absorption Lines with Rossby Number." The Astronomical Journal, Volume 159, Issue 2, pp. 52. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ab5d3d
Abstract
In young Sun-like stars and field M-dwarf stars, chromospheric and coronal magnetic activity indicators such as Hα, X-ray, and radio emission are known to saturate with low Rossby number (Ro lesssim 0.1), defined as the ratio of rotation period to convective turnover time. The mechanism for the saturation is unclear. In this paper, we use photospheric Ti i and Ca i absorption lines in the Y band to investigate magnetic field strength in M dwarfs for Rossby numbers between 0.01 and 1.0. The equivalent widths of the lines are magnetically enhanced by photospheric spots, a global field, or a combination of the two. The equivalent widths behave qualitatively similar to the chromospheric and coronal indicators: we see increasing equivalent widths (increasing absorption) with decreasing Ro and saturation of the equivalent widths for Ro lesssim 0.1. The majority of M dwarfs in this study are fully convective. The results add to mounting evidence that the magnetic saturation mechanism occurs at or beneath the stellar photosphere.
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© 2020 The American Astronomical Society