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Age, Activity and Rotation in Mid and Late-Type M Dwarfs from MEarth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

Andrew A. West
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215, USA email: aawest@bu.edu, kolbylyn@bu.edu
Kolby L. Weisenburger
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215, USA email: aawest@bu.edu, kolbylyn@bu.edu
Jonathan Irwin
Affiliation:
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA email: jirwin@cfa.harvard.edu, dcharbonneau@cfa.harvard.edu, jdittmann@cfa.harvard.edu
David Charbonneau
Affiliation:
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA email: jirwin@cfa.harvard.edu, dcharbonneau@cfa.harvard.edu, jdittmann@cfa.harvard.edu
Jason Dittmann
Affiliation:
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA email: jirwin@cfa.harvard.edu, dcharbonneau@cfa.harvard.edu, jdittmann@cfa.harvard.edu
Zachory K. Berta-Thompson
Affiliation:
MIT, Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Bldg. 37-673, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA email: zkbt@mit.edu
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Abstract

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Using spectroscopic observations and photometric light curves of 280 nearby M dwarfs from the MEarth exoplanet transit survey, we examine the relationships between magnetic activity (quantified by Hα emission), rotation period, and stellar age (derived from three-dimensional space velocities). Although we have known for decades that a large fraction of mid-late-type M dwarfs are magnetically active, it was not clear what role rotation played in the magnetic field generation (and subsequent chromospheric heating). Previous attempts to investigate the relationship between magnetic activity and rotation in mid-late-type M dwarfs were hampered by the limited number of M dwarfs with measured rotation periods (and the fact that vsini measurements only probe rapid rotation). However, the photometric data from the MEarth survey allows us to probe a wide range of rotation periods for hundreds of M dwarf stars (from less than one to over 100 days). Over all M spectral types we find that magnetic activity decreases with longer rotation periods, including late-type, fully convective M dwarfs. We find that the most magnetically active (and hence, most rapidly rotating) stars are consistent with a kinematically young population, while slow-rotators are less active or inactive and appear to belong to an older, dynamically heated stellar population.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2014 

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