Chromospheric Activity Indicators Research Articles

A vigorous activity cycle mimicking a planetary system in HD 200466

Stellar activity can be a source of radial velocity (RV) noise and can reproduce periodic RV variations similar to those produced by an exoplanet. We present the vigorous activity cycle in the primary of the visual binary HD200466, a system made of two almost identical solar-type stars with an apparent separation of 4.6 arcsec at a distance of 44+/-2 pc. High precision RV over more than a decade, adaptive optics (AO) images, and abundances have been obtained for both components. A linear trend in the RV is found for the secondary. We assumed that it is due to the binary orbit and once coupled with the astrometric data, it strongly constrains the orbital solution of the binary at high eccentricities (e~0.85) and quite small periastron of ~21 AU. If this orbital motion is subtracted from the primary radial velocity curve, a highly significant (false alarm probability <0.1%) period of about 1300 d is obtained, suggesting in a first analysis the presence of a giant planet, but it turned out to be due to the stellar activity cycle. Since our spectra do not include the Ca~II resonance lines, we measured a chromospheric activity indicator based on the Halpha line to study the correlation between activity cycles and long-term activity variations. While the bisector analysis of the line profile does not show a clear indication of activity, the correlation between the Halpha line indicator and the RV measurements identify the presence of a strong activity cycle.

Magnetic activity and orbital periods of five low-mass eclipsing binaries

We report 15 new VRI light curves of five low-mass eclipsing binaries (NSVS 02502726, NSVS 07453183, NSVS 11868841, NSVS 06550671 and NSVS 10653195) that were observed between 2010 and 2012. We analysed our new data together with three published spectroscopic observations and seven published light curves using a modified version of the Wilson-Devinney program. Orbital solutions of the five low-mass eclipsing binaries were revised and new star-spot parameters were obtained. We found that spot locations on the five low-mass eclipsing binaries changed over several years. However, the star-spots for NSVS 07453183 and NSVS 06550671 were stable for several months. More interestingly, for NSVS 02502726, the spots within a star-spot longitude region of 180A degrees-360A degrees indicated a magnetic activity cycle of 5.9(+/- 0.2) yr. Moreover, we detected the first flare-like event on NSVS 07453183 at phase 0.39. The observations of the chromospheric activity indicators (H beta and H gamma lines) revealed that NSVS 10653195 and NSVS 06550671 were active. For NSVS 02502726, we found a weak continuous secular decrease at a smaller rate of dp/dt = -2.1(0.8) x 10(-7) d yr(-1) than the previous result. For NSVS 07453183, the O-C times appeared to increase at cycle 6000, and this was followed by a decrease at cycle 6500.

Gaia-ESO Survey: Empirical classification of VLT/Giraffe stellar spectra in the wavelength range 6440–6810 Å in theγVelorum cluster, and calibration of spectral indices

We study spectral diagnostics available from optical spectra with R=17000 obtained with the VLT/Giraffe HR15n setup, using observations from the Gaia-ESO Survey, on the gamma Vel young cluster, in order to determine the fundamental parameters of these stars. We define a set of spectroscopic indices, sampling TiO bands, H-alpha core and wings, and many temperature- and gravity-sensitive lines. Combined indices tau (gamma) are also defined as Teff (log g) indicators over a wide spectral-type range. H-alpha emission-line indices are also chromospheric activity or accretion indicators. A metallicity-sensitive index is also defined. These indices enable us to find a clear difference between gravities of main-sequence and pre-main-sequence stars (as well as giant stars): the (gamma,tau) diagram is thus argued to be a promising distance-independent age measurement tool for young clusters. Our indices were quantitatively calibrated by means of photometry and literature reference spectra (from UVES-POP and ELODIE 3.1 Libraries, and other datasets), over a wide range of stellar parameters. The ability of our indices to select peculiar, or other rare classes of stars is also established. Finally, our gravity determinations support the existence of an older pre-main-sequence population in the gamma Vel sky region, in agreement with the lithium depletion pattern of those stars (abridged).

A signature of chromospheric activity in brown dwarfs revealed by 2.5–5.0 μm AKARI spectra

We propose that the 2.7 micron H_2O, 3.3 micron CH_4 and 4.6 micron CO absorption bands can be good tracers of chromospheric activity in brown dwarfs. In our previous study, we found that there are difficulties in explaining entire spectra between 1.0 and 5.0 microns with the Unified Cloudy Model (UCM), a brown dwarf atmosphere model. Based on simple radiative equilibrium, temperature in a model atmosphere usually decreases monotonically with height. However, if a brown dwarf has a chromosphere, as inferred by some observations, the temperature in the upper atmosphere is higher. We construct a simple model that takes into account heating due to chromospheric activity by setting a temperature floor in an upper atmosphere, and find that the model spectra of 3 brown dwarfs with moderate H-alpha emission, an indicator of chromospheric activity, are considerably improved to match the AKARI spectra. Because of the higher temperatures in the upper atmospheres, the amount of CH_4 molecules is reduced and the absorption band strengths become weaker. The strengths of the absorption bands of H_2O and CO also become weaker. On the other hand, other objects with weak H-alpha emission cannot be fitted by our treatment. We also briefly discuss magnetic heating processes which possibly operate in upper atmospheres, by extending our numerical simulations for the Sun and stars with surface convection to brown dwarf atmospheres.

Chromospheric activity on late-type star LQ Hya

We present new high-resolution echelle spectra of LQ Hya to study its chromospheric activity. We analyzed our spectroscopic observations including several optical indicators of chromospheric activity (the HeiD3, Nai D1, D2, Hα, and Caii infrared triplet lines), by means of the spectral subtraction technique. All the chromospheric activity indicators (the Nai D1, D2, Hα, and Caii IRT lines) confirmed chromospheric emissions. The ratio of EW8542/EW8498 for LQ Hya is around 1.5, which indicates that there is optically thick emission in a plage-like region. As for the Caii IRT and Hα lines, it seems that there is also a weak rotation modulation of chromospheric activity in our data, which might be explained by the strong plage or flare. The contemporaneous monitoring of photospheric and chromospheric emissions for LQ Hya indicate chromospheric plages might spatially associated with the spots.

MAGNETIC ACTIVITY AND ORBITAL PERIOD VARIATION OF THE SHORT-PERIOD ECLIPSING BINARY DV Psc

We present six new BVRcIc CCD light curves of a short-period RS CVn binary DV Psc obtained in 2010-2012. The light curve distortions change on both short and long timescales, which is explained by two starspots on the primary component. Moreover, five new flare events were detected and the flare ratio of DV Psc is about 0.082 flares per hour. There is a possible relation between the phases (longitude) of the flares and starspots for all of the available data of late-type binaries, which implies a correlation of the stellar activity of the spots and flares. The cyclic oscillation, with a period of 4.9 +/- 0.4 yr, may result from the magnetic activity cycle, identified by the variability of Max. I-Max. II. Until now, there were no spectroscopic studies of chromospheric activity indicators of the H-beta and H-gamma lines for DV Psc. Our observations of these indicators show that DV Psc is active, with excess emissions. The updated O - C diagram with an observing time span of about 15 yr shows an upward parabola, which indicates a secular increase in the orbital period of DV Psc. The orbital period secularly increases at a rate of dP/dt = 2.0x10(-7) days yr(-1), which might be explained by the angular momentum exchanges or mass transfer from the secondary to primary component.

CHROMOSPHERIC ACTIVITY AND ROTATIONAL MODULATION ON THE YOUNG, SINGLE K2 DWARF LQ Hya

High-resolution echelle spectra of LQ Hya, obtained during several observing runs from 2006 to 2012, have been analyzed to study its chromospheric activity. Using the spectral subtraction technique, we derived information about chromospheric activity of LQ Hya from several optical chromospheric activity indicators (including the H-beta, He I D-3, Na I D-1, D-2, H alpha, and Ca II infrared triplet (IRT) lines). No optical flares were found during our observations. The equivalent widths (EWs) of the excess emissions in the chromospheric activity lines have been measured. The ratios of EW8542/EW8498 are generally small, which indicates that the Ca II IRT emission arises from plage-like regions, while the EH alpha/EH beta values suggest that the emission of the Balmer lines is due to both plage and prominence structures for the observations in 2012. We find that clear rotational modulation of chromospheric emission exists, which suggests the presence and change of chromospheric active regions over the surface of LQ Hya. Moreover, the active regions were associated with the photospheric spots in spatial structure.

The main factors determining the character of the solar-type activity

For further study of evolution of solar-type activity, we analyzed indices of activity together with results of spectral observations of Li abundances in atmospheres of F, G, K dwarfs. We confirm the Li depletion accordingly to the mixing theory which is sensitive to the depth of the convection zone. We found that the Li-activity correlation exists only in restricted intervals of T_eff and it is tighter for the stars with 5700 > T_eff > 5200 K. This correlation between log A(Li) and the chromospheric activity index log R′_HK can mean that the depth of the lower boundary of the convection zone is a significant factor not only for the Li abundance, but also for development of definite features of activity. Particularly, these features appear in change of interrelation between indices of the chromospheric and coronal activity for G stars the hotter and colder than the Sun that presumably associated with different role of large-scale and local magnetic fields in formation of activity. Thus, our conclusions indicate that the main factors of formation of activity are the axial rotation rate and the thickness of the convection zone.

CHROMOSPHERICALLY ACTIVE STARS IN THE RADIAL VELOCITY EXPERIMENT (RAVE) SURVEY. I. THE CATALOG

RAVE, the unbiased magnitude limited survey of the southern sky stars, contained 456,676 medium-resolution spectra at the time of our analysis. Spectra cover the CaII IRT range which is a known indicator of chromospheric activity. Our previous work (Matijevi\v{c} et al. 2012) classified all spectra using locally linear embedding. It identified 53,347 cases with a suggested emission component in calcium lines. Here we use a spectral subtraction technique to measure the properties of this emission. Synthetic templates are replaced by the observed spectra of non-active stars to bypass the difficult computations of non-LTE profiles of the line cores and stellar parameter dependence. We derive both the equivalent width of the excess emission for each calcium line on a 5\AA\ wide interval and their sum EW_IRT for ~44,000 candidate active dwarf stars with S/N>20 and with no respect to the source of their emission flux. From these ~14,000 show a detectable chromospheric flux with at least 2\sigma\ confidence level. Our set of active stars vastly enlarges previously known samples. Atmospheric parameters and in some cases radial velocities of active stars derived from automatic pipeline suffer from systematic shifts due to their shallower calcium lines. We re-estimate the effective temperature, metallicity and radial velocities for candidate active stars. The overall distribution of activity levels shows a bimodal shape, with the first peak coinciding with non-active stars and the second with the pre main-sequence cases. The catalogue will be publicly available with the next RAVE public data releases.

The character of solar-type activity and the depth of the convective zone

The origin of solar-type activity for low-mass stars of late spectral types is considered. Spectroscopic data were used to study the dependence of the activity level logR′ HK on the lithium abundance logA(Li) and axial rotation rate. A close correlation between logA(Li) and logR′ HK is found for two groups of G stars, hotter and cooler than the Sun. This relation is most clearly expressed in the case of high activity, and is somewhat more strongly expressed for G6-K3 dwarfs, which includes many BY Dra variables, than for F8-G5 stars. It is confirmed that, for stars with high activity, both the lithium abundance and the activity level are determined by the rotation rate, which depends on the age. The lithium abundance exhibits different dependences on the chromospheric activity, depending on the level of this activity. Cooler stars, with detectable lithium and solar-like chromospheres, possess much stronger coronas. This change in the relationship between the relative luminosities of the chromosphere and corona can be reliably traced using larger datasets. The different ratios between the activity of the choromosphere and corona for cooler and hotter G stars may reflect the fact that their convective zones become deeper or shallower than some critical value. This is consistent with observations of parameters describing rotational modulation and the correlation and anti-correlation of chromospheric and photospheric activity indices for stars hotter and cooler than the Sun. Physically, this means that the character of the activity could be related to a changing contribution of the large-scale and local magnetic fields to the generation of the activity. The results of this study confirm the earlier idea that there may be different evolution paths associated with solar-type activity. The results can be used to refine methods for estimating ages of stars from their activity levels (gyrochronology).

Magnetic Field Structure and Activity of the He-burning Giant 37 Comae

AbstractWe present the first magnetic map of the late-type giant 37 Com. The Least Squares Deconvolution (LSD) method and Zeeman Doppler Imaging (ZDI) inversion technique were applied. The chromospheric activity indicators Hα, S-index, Ca ii IRT and the radial velocity were also measured. The evolutionary status of the star has been studied on the basis of state-of-the-art stellar evolutionary models and chemical abundance analysis. 37 Com appears to be in the core Helium-burning phase.

Magnetic field structure in single late-type giants:βCeti in 2010–2012

The data were obtained using two spectropolarimeters - Narval at the Bernard Lyot Telescope, Pic du Midi, France, and ESPaDOnS at CFHT, Hawaii. Thirty-eight circularly-polarized spectra have been collected in the period June 2010 - January 2012. The Least Square Deconvolution method was applied for extracting high signal-to-noise ratio line profiles, from which we measure the surface-averaged longitudinal magnetic field Bl. Chromospheric activity indicators CaII K, H_alpha, CaII IR (854.2 nm) and radial velocity were simultaneously measured and their variability was analysed together with the behavior of Bl. The Zeeman Doppler Imaging (ZDI) inversion technique was employed for reconstruction of the large-scale magnetic field and two magnetic maps of Beta Ceti are presented for two periods (June 2010 - December 2010 and June 2011 - January 2012). Bl remains of positive polarity for the whole observational period. The behavior of the line activity indicators is in good agreement with the Bl variations. The two ZDI maps show a mainly axisymmetric and poloidal magnetic topology and a simple surface magnetic field configuration dominated by a dipole. Little evolution is observed between the two maps, in spite of a 1 yr interval between both subsets. We also use state-of-the-art stellar evolution models to constrain the evolutionary status of Beta Ceti. We derive a mass of 3.5 M_sun and propose that this star is already in the central-helium burning phase. Taking into account all our results and the evolutionary status of the star, we suggest that dynamo action alone may not be eficient enough to account for the high magnetic activity of Beta Ceti. As an alternate option, we propose that it may be an Ap star descendant presently undergoing central helium-burning and still exhibiting a remnant of the Ap star magnetic field.

TRACERS OF CHROMOSPHERIC STRUCTURE. I. Ca II H&amp;K EMISSION DISTRIBUTION OF 13,000 F, G, AND K STARS IN SDSS DR7 SPECTROSCOPIC SAMPLE

We present chromospheric activity index $S\rm_{HK}$ measurements for over 13,000 F, G and K disk stars with high signal-to-noise ratio ($>$ 60) spectra in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 (DR7) spectroscopic sample. A parameter $\delta$S is defined as the difference between $S\rm_{HK}$ and a `zero' emission line fitted by several of the most inactive stars. The $S\rm_{HK}$ indices of subgiant stars tend to be much lower than dwarfs, which provide a way to distinguish dwarfs and giants with relatively low resolution spectra. Cooler stars are generally more active and display a larger scatter than hotter stars. Stars associated with the thick disk are in general less active than those of the thin disk. The fraction of K dwarfs that are active drops with vertical distance from the Galactic plane. Metallicity affects $S\rm_{HK}$ measurements differently among F, G and K dwarfs in this sample. Using the open clusters NGC 2420, M67 and NGC6791 as calibrations, ages of most field stars in this SDSS sample range from 3-8 Gyr.

Stellar activity as a tracer of moving groups

We present the results of a study of the stellar activity in the solar neighborhood using complete kinematics (galactocentric velocities U,V,W) and the chromospheric activity index $\log R'_{\rm{HK}}$. We analyzed the average activity level near the centers of known moving groups using a sample of 2529 stars and found that the stars near these associations tend to be more active than field stars. This supports the hypothesis that these structures, or at least a significant part of them, are composed of kinematically bound, young stars. We confirmed our results by using Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) UV data and kinematics taken from the Geneva-Copenhagen Survey for the stars in the sample. Finally, we present a compiled catalog with kinematics and activities for 2529 stars and a list of potential moving group members selected based on their stellar activity level.

High-precision photometry by telescope defocusing - IV. Confirmation of the huge radius of WASP-17 b

We present photometric observations of four transits in the WASP-17 planetary system, obtained using telescope defocussing techniques and with scatters reaching 0.5 mmag per point. Our revised orbital period is 4.0 +/- 0.6 s longer than previous measurements, a difference of 6.6 sigma, and does not support the published detections of orbital eccentricity in this system. We model the light curves using the JKTEBOP code and calculate the physical properties of the system by recourse to five sets of theoretical stellar model predictions. The resulting planetary radius, Rb = 1.932 +/- 0.052 +/- 0.010 Rjup (statistical and systematic errors respectively), provides confirmation that WASP-17b is the largest planet currently known. All fourteen planets with radii measured to be greater than 1.6 Rjup are found around comparatively hot (Teff > 5900 K) and massive (MA > 1.15 Msun) stars. Chromospheric activity indicators are available for eight of these stars, and all imply a low activity level. The planets have small or zero orbital eccentricities, so tidal effects struggle to explain their large radii. The observed dearth of large planets around small stars may be natural but could also be due to observational biases against deep transits, if these are mistakenly labelled as false positives and so not followed up.

New observations of chromospheric and prominence activity on the RS CVn-type binary SZ Piscium

Aims. New high-resolution spectroscopic observations were made for the RS CVn-type binary SZ Psc aimed at searching for evidence of stellar prominences in this system and studying its chromospheric activity. Methods. By means of the spectral subtraction technique, we searched for prominence-like events in the H-alpha spectra, and also analyzed several optical chromospheric activity indicators (the He (I) D-3, Na (I) D-1, D-2, H-alpha, and Ca (II) IRT lines) included in our observations. Results. The emission in the H-alpha and Ca (II) IRT lines show that the cooler component is very active, supporting earlier work. Notably, some absorption features are detected in the subtracted H-alpha profiles, and one of them may result from prominence-like material on the cooler component of the system. According to a model of stellar prominences, the distance of the prominence from the rotation axis of the cooler component is calculated to be close to the corotation radius and to exceed the Roche lobe of the cooler component.

The ultracool dwarf DENIS-P J104814.7-395606

We have obtained an XMM-Newton observation and a broad-band spectrum from the ultraviolet to the near infrared with X-Shooter for one of the nearest M9 dwarfs, DENIS-P J1048-3956 (4pc). We integrate these data by a compilation of activity parameters for ultracool dwarfs from the literature with the aim to advance our understanding of these objects by comparing them to early-M type dwarf stars and the Sun. Our deep XMM-Newton observation has led to the first X-ray detection of DENIS-P J1048-3956 (log Lx = 25.1) as well as the first measurement of its V band brightness (V = 17.35mag). Flux-flux relations between X-ray and chromospheric activity indicators are here for the first time extended into the regime of the ultracool dwarfs. The approximate agreement of DENIS-P J1048-3956 and other ultracool dwarfs with flux-flux relations for early-M dwarfs suggests that the same heating mechanisms work in the atmospheres of ultracool dwarfs, albeit weaker as judged from their lower fluxes. The observed Balmer decrements of DENIS-P J1048-3956 are compatible with optically thick plasma in LTE at low, nearly photospheric temperature or optically thin LTE plasma at 20000K. Describing the decrements with CaseB recombination requires different emitting regions for Halpha and the higher Balmer lines. The high observed Halpha/Hbeta flux ratio is also poorly fitted by the optically thin models. We derive a similarly high value for the Halpha/Hbeta ratio of vB10 and LHS2065 and conclude that this may be a characteristic of ultracool dwarfs. We add DENIS-P J1048-3956 to the list of ultracool dwarfs detected in both the radio and the X-ray band. The Benz-Guedel relation between radio and X-ray luminosity of late-type stars is well-known to be violated by ultracool dwarfs. We speculate on the presence of two types of ultracool dwarfs with distinct radio and X-ray behavior.

FRAGILE BINARY CANDIDATES IN THE SDSS DR8 SPECTROSCOPIC ARCHIVE

We present a catalog of 80 very wide fragile binary candidates (projected separations > 10000 AU) from the SDSS DR8 spectral archive. The pairs were selected based on proper motion, radial velocity, metallicity and photometric parallax criteria. The angular separations of these pairs range from 3" to 250". The peak in the metallicity distribution of these pairs is about -0.5 dex of solar metallicity. Space motions and reduced proper motion diagrams indicate all these pairs are members of the disk. The chromospheric activity index SHK of each component in 38 binary candidates having spectra of high signal-to-noise ratio and member stars of three open clusters (NGC2420, M67 and NGC6791) were measured. The SHK vs. color relation for these binary candidates is consistent with the trend seen in these open clusters. The ages implied by this relation suggest that fragile wide pairs can survive longer than 8 Gyr.

Soft X-ray emission as diagnostics for Maunder minimum stars

AbstractThe identification of stars in a Maunder minimum state purely from their chromospheric emission (for example in Ca II lines) has proven to be difficult. Photospheric contributions, metallicities and possible deviations from the main sequence stage may lead to very low values of the traditional chromospheric activity indicators, while no Maunder minimum state may be present. X-ray observations can be a key tool for identifying possible Maunder minimum stars: We have detected very soft X-ray emission from low-temperature coronal plasma, similar to emission from solar coronal holes, in several stars with very low chromospheric activity indicators. The coronal properties inferred from X-ray observations can therefore yield a crucial piece of information to verify Maunder minimum states in stars.

Long-term magnetic activity of a sample of M-dwarf stars from the HARPS program

Aims. Other stars are known to have magnetic cycles similar to that of the Sun. The relationship between these activity variations and the observed radial-velocity is still not satisfactorily understood. In this first paper our aim is to assess the long-term activity variations in the low end of the main sequence, having in mind a planetary search perspective. Methods. We used a sample of 30 M0-M5.5 stars from the HARPS M-dwarf planet search program with a median timespan of observations of 5.2 years. We computed chromospheric activity indicators based on the Ca II H and K, H{\alpha}, He I D3, and Na I D1 and D2 lines. All data were binned in to average out undesired effects such as rotationally modulated atmospheric inhomogeneities. We searched for long-term variability of each index and determined the correlations between them. Results. While the S_CaII, H{\alpha}, and Na I indices showed significant variability for a fraction of our stellar sample (39%, 33%, and 37%, respectively), only 10% of our stars presented significant variability in the He i index. We therefore conclude that this index is a poor activity indicator at least for this type of stars. Although the H{\alpha} shows good correlation with S_Ca II for the most active stars, the correlation is lost when the activity level decreases. This result appears to indicate that the Ca II-H{\alpha} correlation is dependent on the activity level of the star. The Na I lines correlate very well with the S_Ca II index for the stars with low activity levels we used, and are thus a good chromospheric activity proxy for early-M dwarfs. We therefore strongly recommend the use of the Na I activity index because the signal-to-noise ratio in the sodium lines spectral region is always higher than for the calcium lines.