No Arabic abstract
Magnetospheric clouds have been proposed as explanations for depth-varying dips in the phased light curves of young, magnetically active stars such as $sigma$ Ori E and RIK-210. However, the stellar theory that first predicted magnetospheric clouds also anticipated an associated mass-loss mechanism known as centrifugal breakout for which there has been limited empirical evidence. In this paper, we present data from TESS, LCO, ASAS-SN, and Veloce on the 45 Myr M3.5 star TIC 234284556, and propose that it is a candidate for the direct detection of centrifugal breakout. In assessing this hypothesis, we examine the sudden ($sim$1-day timescale) disappearance of a previously stable ($sim$1-month timescale) transit-like event. We also interpret the presence of an anomalous brightening event that precedes the disappearance of the signal, analyze rotational amplitudes and optical flaring as a proxy for magnetic activity, and estimate the mass of gas and dust present immediately prior to the potential breakout event. After demonstrating that our spectral and photometric data support a magnetospheric clouds and centrifugal breakout model and disfavor alternate scenarios, we discuss the possibility of a coronal mass ejection (CME) or stellar wind origin of the corotating material and we introduce a reionization mechanism as a potential explanation for more gradual variations in eclipse parameters. Finally, after comparing TIC 234284556 with previously identified ``flux-dip stars, we argue that TIC 234284556 may be an archetypal representative of a whole class of young, magnetically active stars.
We present results from three weeks photometric monitoring of the magnetic helium-strong star sigma Ori E using the MOST microsatellite. The stars light curve is dominated by twice-per-rotation eclipse-like dimmings arising when magnetospheric clouds transit across and occult the stellar disk. However, no evidence is found for any abrupt centrifugal breakout of plasma from the magnetosphere, either in the residual flux or in the depths of the light minima. Motivated by this finding we compare the observationally inferred magnetospheric mass against that predicted by a breakout analysis. The large discrepancy between the values leads us to argue that centrifugal breakout does not play a significant role in establishing the magnetospheric mass budget of sigma Ori E.
Bow shocks can be formed around planets due to their interaction with the coronal medium of the host stars. The net velocity of the particles impacting on the planet determines the orientation of the shock. At the Earths orbit, the (mainly radial) solar wind is primarily responsible for the formation of a shock facing towards the Sun. However, for close-in planets that possess high Keplerian velocities and are frequently located at regions where the host stars wind is still accelerating, a shock may develop ahead of the planet. If the compressed material is able to absorb stellar radiation, then the signature of bow shocks may be observed during transits. Bow-shock models have been investigated in a series of papers (Vidotto et al. 2010, 2011,a,b; Llama et al. 2011) for known transiting systems. Once the signature of a bow-shock is observed, one can infer the magnetic field intensity of the transiting planet. Here, we investigate the potential to use this model to detect magnetic fields of (hypothetical) planets orbiting inside the habitable zone of M-dwarf stars. For these cases, we show, by means of radiative transfer simulations, that the detection of bow-shocks of planets surrounding M-dwarf stars may be more difficult than for the case of close-in giant planets orbiting solar-type stars.
Stellar activity poses one of the main obstacles for the detection and characterisation of small exoplanets around cool stars, as it can induce radial velocity (RV) signals that can hide or mimic the presence of planetary companions. Several indicators of stellar activity are routinely used to identify activity-related signals in RVs, but not all indicators trace exactly the same activity effects, nor are any of them always effective in all stars. We evaluate the performance of a set of spectroscopic activity indicators for M dwarf stars with different masses and activity levels with the aim of finding a relation between the indicators and stellar properties. In a sample of 98 M dwarfs observed with CARMENES, we analyse the temporal behaviour of RVs and nine spectroscopic activity indicators: cross-correlation function (CCF) full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM), contrast, and bisector inverse slope (BIS), chromatic index (CRX), differential line width (dLW), and indices of the chromospheric lines H$alpha$ and calcium infrared triplet. A total of 56 stars of the initial sample show periodic signals related to activity in at least one of these ten parameters. RV is the parameter for which most of the targets show an activity-related signal. CRX and BIS are effective activity tracers for the most active stars in the sample, especially stars with a relatively high mass, while for less active stars, chromospheric lines perform best. FWHM and dLW show a similar behaviour in all mass and activity regimes, with the highest number of activity detections in the low-mass, high-activity regime. Most of the targets for which we cannot identify any activity-related signals are stars at the low-mass end of the sample. These low-mass stars also show the lowest RV scatter, which indicates that ultracool M dwarfs could be better candidates for planet searches than earlier types, which show larger RV jitter.
M dwarfs are ideal targets for the search of Earth-size planets in the habitable zone using the radial velocity method, attracting the attention of many ongoing surveys. As a by-product of these surveys, new multiple stellar systems are also found. This is the case also for the CARMENES survey, from which nine new SB2 systems have already been announced. Throughout the five years of the survey, the accumulation of new observations has resulted in the detection of several new multiple stellar systems with long periods and low radial-velocity amplitudes. Here, we newly characterise the spectroscopic orbits and constrain the masses of eight systems and update the properties of a system that we reported earlier. We derive the radial velocities of the stars using two-dimensional cross correlation techniques and template matching. The measurements are modelled to determine the orbital parameters of the systems. We combine CARMENES spectroscopic observations with archival high-resolution spectra from other instruments to increase the time-span of the observations and improve our analysis. When available, we also added archival photometric, astrometric, and adaptive optics imaging data to constrain the rotation periods and absolute masses of the components. We determine the spectroscopic orbits of nine multiple systems, eight of which are presented for the first time. The sample is composed of five SB1s, two SB2s, and two ST3s. The companions of two of the single-line binaries, GJ 3626 and GJ 912, have minimum masses below the stellar boundary and, thus, could be brown dwarfs. We find a new white dwarf in a close binary orbit around the M star GJ 207.1. From a global fit to radial velocities and astrometric measurements, we are able to determine the absolute masses of the components of GJ 282C, which is one of the youngest systems with measured dynamical masses.
WISEA J080822.18-644357.3, an M star in the Carina association, exhibits extreme infrared excess and accretion activity at an age greater than the expected accretion disk lifetime. We consider J0808 as the prototypical example of a class of M star accretion disks at ages $gtrsim 20$ Myr, which we call ``Peter Pan disks, since they apparently refuse to grow up. We present four new Peter Pan disk candidates identified via the Disk Detective citizen science project, coupled with textit{Gaia} astrometry. We find that WISEA J044634.16-262756.1 and WISEA J094900.65-713803.1 both exhibit significant infrared excess after accounting for nearby stars within the 2MASS beams. The J0446 system has $>95%$ likelihood of Columba membership. The J0949 system shows $>95%$ likelihood of Carina membership. We present new GMOS optical spectra of all four objects, showing possible accretion signatures on all four stars. We present ground-based and textit{TESS} lightcurves of J0808 and 2MASS J0501-4337, including a large flare and aperiodic dipping activity on J0808, and strong periodicity on J0501. We find Pa$beta$ and Br$gamma$ emission indicating ongoing accretion in near-IR spectroscopy of J0808. Using observed characteristics of these systems, we discuss mechanisms that lead to accretion disks at ages $gtrsim20$ Myr, and find that these objects most plausibly represent long-lived CO-poor primordial disks, or ``hybrid disks, exhibiting both debris- and primordial-disk features. The question remains: why have gas-rich disks persisted so long around these particular stars?