Magnetic geometries of Sun-like stars: exploring the mass-rotation plane

• Published in: Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
• Main Authors: Petit, Pascal, Dintrans, B., Aurière, M., Catala, C., Donati, J.-F., Fares, R., Gastine, T., Lignières, F., Morgenthaler, A., Morin, J., Paletou, F., Ramirez, J., Solanki, S. K., Théado, S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2008
• Subjects: Astronomy and Astrophysics; Space and Planetary Science; narval
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921309031068; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1743921309031068

Abstract Sun-like stars are able to continuously generate a large-scale magnetic field through the action of a dynamo. Various physical parameters of the star are able to affect the dynamo output, in particular the rotation and mass. Using the NARVAL spectropolarimeter (Observatoire du Pic du Midi, France), it is now possible to measure the large-scale magnetic field of solar analogues (i.e. stars very close to the Sun in the mass-rotation plane, including strict solar twins). From spectropolarimetric time-series, tomographic inversion enables one to reconstruct the field geometry and its progressive distortion under the effect of surface differential rotation. We show the first results obtained on a sample of main-sequence dwarfs, probing masses between 0.7 and 1.4 solar mass and rotation rates between 1 and 3 solar rotation rate.