Séminaire IPAG

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Strong magnetic fields of slowly rotating M dwarfs unveiled with SPIRou

jeudi 1er juin 2023 - 11h00

Lisa Lehmann - IRAP, Toulouse
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The large-scale magnetic field of stars is a crucial property to understand, e.g., the stellar evolution or to judge the habitability of exoplanets. The low-mass M dwarfs are of particular interest to finding a second Earth but to do so we need good knowledge about the M dwarf’s magnetic field. Previous studies focusing on fast-rotating M dwarfs reveal opposing field topologies for early and mid-M dwarfs and a bimodality for late M dwarfs. With the near-infrared spectropolarimeter SPIRou at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), we are now exploring the magnetic properties of six slowly rotating M dwarfs. We determined their rotation period using various techniques and study the M dwarf magnetic field topologies using Zeeman-Doppler-Imaging and our newly developed PCA method. In the talk, I will introduce you to the basic principles of our new PCA method before I present our first results uncovering the magnetic field topology of six slowly rotating M dwarfs showing surprisingly strong and variable magnetic fields.

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Hôtes : Evelyne Alecian

Salle Manuel Forestini, 414 rue de la piscine, 38400 Saint Martin d'Hères