No Arabic abstract
Rotational light modulation in Kepler photometry of K - A stars is used to estimate the absolute rotational shear. The rotation frequency spread in 2562 carefully selected stars with known rotation periods is measured using time-frequency diagrams. The variation of rotational shear as a function of effective temperature in restricted ranges of rotation period is determined. The shear increases to a maximum in F stars, but decreases somewhat in the A stars. Theoretical models reproduce the temperature variation quite well. The dependence of rotation shear on rotation rate in restricted temperature ranges is also determined. The dependence of the shear on the rotation rate is weak in K and G stars, increases rapidly for F stars and is strongest in A stars. For stars earlier than type K, a discrepancy exists between the predicted and observed variation of shear with rotation rate. There is a strong increase in the fraction of stars with zero frequency spread with increasing effective temperature. The time-frequency diagrams for A stars are no different from those in cool stars, further supporting the presence of spots in stars with radiative envelopes.
The stellar luminosity and depth of the convective envelope vary rapidly with mass for G- and K-type main sequence stars. In order to understand how these properties influence the convective turbulence, differential rotation, and meridional circulation, we have carried out 3D dynamical simulations of the interiors of rotating main sequence stars, using the anelastic spherical harmonic (ASH) code. The stars in our simulations have masses of 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, and 1.1 M_sun, corresponding to spectral types K7 through G0, and rotate at the same angular speed as the sun. We identify several trends of convection zone properties with stellar mass, exhibited by the simulations. The convective velocities, temperature contrast between up- and down-flows, and meridional circulation velocities all increase with stellar luminosity. As a consequence of the trend in convective velocity, the Rossby number (at a fixed rotation rate) increases and the convective turnover timescales decrease significantly with increasing stellar mass. The 3 lowest mass cases exhibit solar-like differential rotation, in a sense that they show a maximum rotation at the equator and minimum at higher latitudes, but the 1.1 M_sun case exhibits anti-solar rotation. At low mass, the meridional circulation is multi-cellular and aligned with the rotation axis; as the mass increases, the circulation pattern tends toward a unicellular structure covering each hemisphere in the convection zone.
We present projected rotational velocities and new measurements of the rotational profile of some 180 nearby stars with spectral types A-F. The overall broadening profile is derived analysing spectral line shape from hundreds of spectral lines by the method of least-squares deconvolution. Rigid and differential rotation can be distinguished in 56 cases. Ten stars with significant differential rotation rates are identified. As of now, 33 differential rotators detected by line profile analysis have been confirmed. The frequency of differential rotators decreases towards high effective temperature and rapid rotation. There is evidence for two populations of differential rotators with a gap in between at spectral type early-F. The gap can only partly be explained by an upper bound found for the horizontal shear of F stars. Apparently, the physical conditions of differential rotation change at early-F spectral types.
Aims. We study the evolution of rotation and high energy X-ray, extreme ultraviolet (EUV), and Ly-alpha emission for F, G, K, and M dwarfs, with masses between 0.1 and 1.2 Msun, and provide our evolutionary code and a freely available set of evolutionary tracks for use in planetary atmosphere studies. Methods. We develop a physical rotational evolution model constrained by observed rotation distributions in young stellar clusters. Using rotation, X-ray, EUV, and Ly-alpha measurements, we derive empirical relations for the dependences of high energy emission on stellar parameters. Our description of X-ray evolution is validated using measurements of X-ray distributions in young clusters. Results. A stars X-ray, EUV, and Ly-alpha evolution is determined by its mass and initial rotation rate, with initial rotation being less important for lower mass stars. At all ages, solar mass stars are significantly more X-ray luminous than lower mass stars and stars that are born as rapid rotators remain highly active longer than those born as slow rotators. At all evolutionary stages, habitable zone planets receive higher X-ray and EUV fluxes when orbiting lower mass stars due to their longer evolutionary timescales. The rates of flares follow similar evolutionary trends with higher mass stars flaring more often than lower mass stars at all ages, though habitable zone planets are likely influenced by flares more when orbiting lower mass stars. Conclusions. Our results show that single decay-laws are insufficient to describe stellar activity evolution and highlight the need for a more comprehensive description based on the evolution of rotation, including also the effects of short-term variability. Planets at similar orbital distances from their host stars receive significantly more X-ray and EUV energy over their lifetimes when orbiting higher mass stars. (abstract incomplete)
We continue our studies on stellar latitudinal differential rotation. The presented work is a sequel of the work of Reiners et al. who studied the spectral line broadening profile of hundreds of stars of spectral types A through G at high rotational speed (vsini > 12 km/s). While most stars were found to be rigid rotators, only a few tens show the signatures of differential rotation. The present work comprises the rotational study of some 180 additional stars. The overall broadening profile is derived according to Reiners et al. from hundreds of spectral lines by least-squares deconvolution, reducing spectral noise to a minimum. Projected rotational velocities vsini are measured for about 120 of the sample stars. Differential rotation produces a cuspy line shape which is best measured in inverse wavelength space by the first two zeros of its Fourier transform. Rigid and differential rotation can be distinguished for more than 50 rapid rotators (vsini > 12 km/s) among the sample stars from the available spectra. Ten stars with significant differential rotation rates of 10-54 % are identified, which add to the few known rapid differential rotators. Differential rotation measurements of 6 % and less for four of our targets are probably spurious and below the detection limit. Including these objects, the line shapes of more than 40 stars are consistent with rigid rotation.
Monitoring chromospheric and photospheric indexes of magnetic activity can provide valuable information, especially the interaction between different parts of the atmosphere and their response to magnetic fields. We extract chromospheric indexes, S and Rhk+, for 59,816 stars from LAMOST spectra in the LAMOST-Kepler program, and photospheric index, Reff, for 5575 stars from Kepler light curves. The log Reff shows positive correlation with log Rhk+. We estimate the power-law indexes between Reff and Rhk+ for F-, G-, and K-type stars, respectively. We also confirm the dependence of both chromospheric and photospheric activity on stellar rotation. Ca II H and K emissions and photospheric variations generally decrease with increasing rotation periods for stars with rotation periods exceeding a few days. The power-law indexes in exponential decay regimes show different characteristics in the two activity-rotation relations. The updated largest sample including the activity proxies and reported rotation periods provides more information to understand the magnetic activity for cool stars.