Study of starspots in fully convective stars using three dimensional MHD simulations

Abstract

AbstractConcentrated magnetic structures such as sunspots and starspots play a fundamental role in driving solar and stellar activity. However, as opposed to the sun, observations as well as numerical simulations have shown that stellar spots are usually formed as high-latitude patches extended over wide areas. Using a fully spectral magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code, we simulate polar starspots produced by self-consistent dynamo action in rapidly rotating convective shells. We carry out high resolution simulations and investigate various properties related to stellar dynamics which lead to starspot formation.