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Register a new userThe rotation-activity relation of M dwarfs: From K2 to TESS and PLATO
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Studies of the rotation-activity relation of late-type stars are essential to enhance our understanding of stellar dynamos and angular momentum evolution. We study the rotation-activity relation with K2 for M dwarfs where it is especially poorly understood. We analyzed the light curves of all bright and nearby M dwarfs form the Superblink proper motion catalog that were in the K2 field of view. For a sample of 430 M dwarfs observed in campaigns C0-C19 in long cadence mode we determined the rotation period and a wealth of activity diagnostics. Our study of the rotation-activity relation based on photometric activity indicators confirmed the previously published abrupt change of the activity level at a rotation period of ~10d. Our more than three times larger sample increases the statistical significance of this finding.
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We study the relation between stellar rotation and magnetic activity for a sample of 134 bright, nearby M dwarfs observed in the Kepler Two-Wheel (K2) mission during campaigns C0 to C4. The K2 lightcurves yield photometrically derived rotation periods for 97 stars (79 of which without previous period measurement), as well as various measures for activity related to cool spots and flares. We find a clear difference between fast and slow rotators with a dividing line at a period of ~10d at which the activity level changes abruptly. All photometric diagnostics of activity (spot cycle amplitude, flare peak amplitude and residual variability after subtraction of spot and flare variations) display the same dichotomy, pointing to a quick transition between a high-activity mode for fast rotators and a low-activity mode for slow rotators. This unexplained behavior is reminiscent of a dynamo mode-change seen in numerical simulations that separates a dipolar from a multipolar regime. A substantial number of the fast rotators are visual binaries. A tentative explanation is accelerated disk evolution in binaries leading to higher initial rotation rates on the main-sequence and associated longer spin-down and activity lifetimes. We combine the K2 rotation periods with archival X-ray and UV data. X-ray, FUV and NUV detections are found for 26, 41, and 11 stars from our sample, respectively. Separating the fast from the slow rotators, we determine for the first time the X-ray saturation level separately for early- and for mid-M stars.
Using light curves obtained by the K2 mission, we study the relation between stellar rotation and magnetic activity with special focus on stellar flares. Our sample comprises 56 bright and nearby M dwarfs observed by K2 during campaigns C0-C18 in long- and short-cadence mode. We derive rotation periods for 46 M dwarfs and measure photometric activity indicators such as amplitude of the rotational signal, standard deviation of the light curves, and the basic flare properties (flare rate, flare energy, flare duration, and flare amplitude). We found 1662 short-cadence flares, 363 of which have a long-cadence counterpart with flare energies of up to $5.6cdotp10^{34}$erg. The flare amplitude, duration, and frequency derived from the short-cadence light curves differ significantly from those derived from the long-cadence data. The analysis of the short-cadence light curves results in a flare rate that is 4.6 times higher than the long-cadence data. We confirm the abrupt change in activity level in the rotation-activity relation at a critical period of ~10d when photometric activity diagnostics are used. This change is most drastic in the flare duration and frequency for short-cadence data. Our flare studies revealed that the highest flare rates are not found among the fastest rotators and that stars with the highest flare rates do not show the most energetic flares. We found that the superflare frequency ($Egeq5cdotp10^{34}$erg) for the fast-rotating M stars is twice higher than for solar like stars in the same period range. By fitting the cumulative FFD, we derived a power-law index of $alpha=1.84 pm 0.14$, consistent with previous M dwarf studies and the value found for the Sun.
[Abridged] We present a new radio survey of about 100 late-M and L dwarfs undertaken with the VLA. The sample was chosen to explore the role of rotation in the radio activity of ultracool dwarfs. Combining the new sample with results from our previous studies and from the literature, we compile the largest sample to date of ultracool dwarfs with radio observations and measured rotation velocities (167 objects). In the spectral type range M0-M6 we find a radio activity-rotation relation, with saturation at log(L_rad/L_bol) 10^(-7.5) above vsini~5 km/s, similar to the relation in H-alpha and X-rays. However, at spectral types >M7 the ratio of radio to bolometric luminosity increases regardless of rotation velocity, and the scatter in radio luminosity increases. In particular, while the most rapid rotators (vsini>20 km/s) exhibit super-saturation in X-rays and H-alpha, this effect is not seen in the radio. We also find that ultracool dwarfs with vsini>20 km/s have a higher radio detection fraction by about a factor of 3 compared to objects with vsini<10 km/s. When measured in terms of the Rossby number (Ro), the radio activity-rotation relation follows a single trend and with no apparent saturation from G to L dwarfs and down to Ro~10^-3; in X-rays and H-alpha there is clear saturation at Ro<0.1, with super-saturation beyond M7. A similar trend is observed for the radio surface flux (L_rad/R^2) as a function of Ro. The continued role of rotation in the overall level of radio activity and in the fraction of active sources, and the single trend of L_rad/L_bol and L_rad/R^2 as a function of Ro from G to L dwarfs indicates that rotation effects are important in regulating the topology or strength of magnetic fields in at least some fully-convective dwarfs. The fact that not all rapid rotators are detected in the radio provides additional support to the idea of dual dynamo states.
In this work, we calibrate the relationship between Halpha emission and M dwarf ages. We compile a sample of 892 M dwarfs with Halpha equivalent width (HaEW) measurements from the literature that are either co-moving with a white dwarf of known age (21 stars) or in a known young association (871 stars). In this sample we identify 7 M dwarfs that are new candidate members of known associations. By dividing the stars into active and inactive categories according to their HaEW and spectral type (SpT), we find that the fraction of active dwarfs decreases with increasing age, and the form of the decline depends on SpT. Using the compiled sample of age-calibrators we find that HaEW and fractional Halpha luminosity (LHaLbol) decrease with increasing age. HaEW for SpT<M7 decreases gradually up until ~1Gyr. For older ages, we found only two early M dwarfs which are both inactive and seem to continue the gradual decrease. We also found 14 mid-type out of which 11 are inactive and present a significant decrease of HaEW, suggesting that the magnetic activity decreases rapidly after ~1Gyr. We fit LHaLbol versus age with a broken power-law and find an index of -0.11+0.02-0.01 for ages <~776Myr. The index becomes much steeper at older ages however a lack of field age-calibrators leaves this part of the relation far less constrained. Finally, from repeated independent measurements for the same stars we find that 94% of these has a level of HaEW variability <=5A at young ages (<1Gyr).
Over the past 40 years, observational surveys have established the existence of a tight relationship between a stars age, rotation period, and magnetic activity. This age-rotation-activity relation documents the interplay between a stars magnetic dynamo and angular momentum evolution, and provides a valuable age estimator for isolated field stars. While the age-rotation-activity relation has been studied extensively in clusters younger than 500 Myr, empirically measured rotation periods are scarce for older ages. Using the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF), we have begun a survey of stellar rotation to map out the late-stage evolution of the age-rotation-activity relation: the Columbia/Cornell/Caltech PTF (CCCP) survey of open clusters. The first CCCP target is the nearby ~600 Myr Hyades-analog Praesepe, where PTF has produced light curves spanning more than 3 months and containing >150 measurements for ~650 cluster members. Analyzing these light curves, we have measured rotation periods for 40 K & M cluster members, filling the gap between the periods previously reported for solar-type Hyads (Radick et al. 1987, Prosser et al. 1995) and for a handful of low-mass Praesepe members (Scholz et al. 2007). Our measurements indicate that Praesepes period-color relation undergoes at transition at a characteristic spectral type of ~M1 --- from a well-defined singular relation at higher mass, to a more scattered distribution of both fast and slow-rotators at lower masses. The location of this transition is broadly consistent with expectations based on observations of younger clusters and the assumption that stellar-spin down is the dominant mechanism influencing angular momentum evolution at ~600 Myr. In addition to presenting the results of our photometric monitoring of Praesepe, we summarize the status and future of the CCCP survey.
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