ABSTRACT
We present the results of a study aiming at retrieving the fundamental parameters of M dwarfs from spectra secured with SPIRou, the near-infrared high-resolution spectropolarimeter installed ...at the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), in the framework of the SPIRou Legacy Survey (SLS). Our study relies on comparing observed spectra with two grids of synthetic spectra, respectively, computed from PHOENIX and MARCS model atmospheres, with the ultimate goal of optimizing the precision at which fundamental parameters can be determined. In this first step, we applied our technique to 12 inactive M dwarfs with effective temperatures (Teff) ranging from 3000 to 4000 K. We implemented a benchmark to carry out a comparison of the two models used in this study. We report that the choice of model has a significant impact on the results and may lead to discrepancies in the derived parameters of 30 K in Teff and 0.05 dex to 0.10 dex in surface gravity (log g) and metallicity ($\rm {M/H}$), as well as systematic shifts of up to 50 K in Teff and 0.4 dex log g and $\rm {M/H}$. The analysis is performed on high signal-to-noise ratio template SPIRou spectra, averaged over multiple observations corrected from telluric absorption features and sky lines, using both a synthetic telluric transmission model and principal component analysis. With both models, we retrieve Teff, log g, and $\rm {M/H}$ estimates in good agreement with reference literature studies, with internal error bars of about 30 K, 0.05 dex, and 0.1 dex, respectively.
Long-term photometric variability can sometimes be related to the emergence of starspots in the photosphere following a quasi-periodic magnetic activity cycle. In order to investigate the existence ...and properties of magnetic cycles in a narrow range of fundamental parameters, we focused on solar-type stars in the intermediate-age open cluster NGC 6811 (1 Gyr). The cluster membership was analyzed both in terms of stellar kinematics and Gaia photometry. Rotation periods and photometric variability were analyzed for 138 stars from Kepler light curves and we discuss the existing trends and relationships. We also searched a sample of 11 solar-type stars for cycle-like periodicities and in each case classified the variability as either cyclic, multicyclic, flat, or acyclic. The results suggest a significant scatter, possibly due to sensitive nonlinearities in the dynamo process. This raises theoretical questions on whether these periodicities can be associated to activity cycles and what determines the stellar cycle presence or its period. Also, the lack of solar-twin flat activity stars in NGC 6811 combined with other recent results, suggests that the presence of magnetic grand minima in the Sun is a relatively recent phenomenon.
Context.
One of the most enigmatic phenomena related to solar activity is the so-called Maunder minimum phase. It consists in the lowest sunspot count ever registered for the Sun and has not been ...confirmed for other stars to date. Since the spectroscopic observations of stellar activity at the Mount Wilson Observatory, the solar analog HD 43587 has shown a very low and apparently invariant activity level, which makes it a Maunder minimum candidate.
Aims.
We aim to analyze the chromospheric activity evolution of HD 43587 and its evolutive status, with the intention of unraveling the reasons for this low and flat activity.
Methods.
We used an activity measurements dataset available in the literature, and computed the
S
-index from HARPS and NARVAL spectra to infer a cycle period. Additionally, we analyzed the CoRoT light curve of HD 43587, and applied gyrochronology and activity calibrations to determine its rotation period. Finally, based on an evolutionary model and the inferred rotation period, we used the EULAG-MHD code to perform global MHD simulations of HD 43587 to get some insight into its dynamo process.
Results.
We confirm the almost flat activity profile, with a cycle period
P
cyc
= 10.44 ± 3.03 yr deduced from the
S
-index time series, and a long-term trend that might be a period of more than 50 yr. It was impossible to define a rotation period from the light curve, however gyrochronology and activity calibrations allow us to infer an indirect estimate of
¯
P
rot
= 22.6 ± 1.9 d. Furthermore, the MHD simulations confirm an oscillatory dynamo with a cycle period in good agreement with the observations and a low level of surface magnetic activity.
Conclusions.
We conclude that this object might be experiencing a “natural” decrease in magnetic activity as a consequence of its age. Nevertheless, the possibility that HD 43587 is in a Maunder minimum phase cannot be ruled out.
Aims.
We report on observations of the active K2 dwarf
ϵ
Eridani based on contemporaneous SPIRou, NARVAL and TESS data obtained over two months in late 2018, when the activity of the star was ...reported to be in a non-cyclic phase.
Methods.
Near-infrared (NIR) spectropolarimetry was obtained using SPIRou over four nights in late September, while visible spectropolarimetry was collected with NARVAL over 20 nights, spread between 18 September and 07 November. We first recovered the fundamental parameters of the target from both visible and NIR spectral fitting. The large-scale magnetic field was investigated from polarimetric data. From unpolarized spectra, we estimated the total magnetic flux through Zeeman broadening of magnetically sensitive NIR lines and the chromospheric emission using the CaII H&K lines. The photometric monitoring, secured with TESS between 19 October and 15 November, is modelled with pseudo-periodic Gaussian process regression.
Results.
Fundamental parameters of
ϵ
Eridani derived from visible and NIR wavelengths provide us with consistent results, which also agree with published values. We report a progressive increase of macroturbulence towards larger NIR wavelengths. Zeeman broadening of individual lines highlights an unsigned surface magnetic field
B
mono
= 1.90 ± 0.13 kG, with a filling factor
f
= 12.5 ± 1.7% (unsigned magnetic flux
Bf
= 237 ± 36 G). The large-scale magnetic field geometry, chromospheric emission and broadband photometry display clear signs of non-rotational evolution over the course of data collection. Characteristic decay times deduced from the light curve and longitudinal field fall in the range 30–40 days, while the characteristic timescale of surface differential rotation, as derived through the evolution of the magnetic geometry, is equal to 57 ± 5 days. The large-scale magnetic field exhibits a combination of properties not observed previously for
ϵ
Eridani, with a surface field among the weakest previously reported, but this field is also mostly axisymmetric, and is dominated by a toroidal component.
Context. We present rotation period measurements for subgiants observed by CoRoT. Interpreting the modulation of stellar light that is caused by star-spots on the time scale of the rotational period ...depends on knowing the fundamental stellar parameters. Aims. Constraints on the angular momentum distribution can be extracted from the true stellar rotational period. By using models with an internal angular momentum distribution and comparing these with measurements of rotation periods of subgiant stars we investigate the agreement between theoretical predictions and observational results. With this comparison we can also reduce the global stellar parameter space compatible with the rotational period measurements from subgiant light curves. We can prove that an evolution assuming solid body rotation is incompatible with the direct measurement of the rotational periods of subgiant stars. Methods. Measuring the rotation periods relies on two different periodogram procedures, the Lomb-Scargle algorithm and the Plavchan periodogram. Angular momentum evolution models were computed to give us the expected rotation periods for subgiants, which we compared with measured rotational periods. Results. We find evidence of a sinusoidal signal that is compatible in terms of both phase and amplitude with rotational modulation. Rotation periods were directly measured from light curves for 30 subgiant stars and indicate a range of 30 to 100 d for their rotational periods. Conclusions. Our models reproduce the rotational periods obtained from CoRoT light curves. These new measurements of rotation periods and stellar models probe the non-rigid rotation of subgiant stars.
The question of whether the Sun is peculiar within the class of solar-type stars has been the subject of active investigation over the past three decades. Although several solar twins have been found ...with stellar parameters similar to those of the Sun (albeit in a range of Li abundances and with somewhat different compositions), their rotation periods are unknown, except for 18 Sco, which is younger than the Sun and with a rotation period shorter than solar. It is difficult to obtain rotation periods for stars of solar age from ground-based observations, as a low-activity level implies a shallow rotational modulation of their light curves. CoRoT has provided space-based long time series from which the rotation periods of solar twins as old as the Sun could be estimated. Based on high-signal-to-noise, high-resolution spectroscopic observations gathered at the Subaru Telescope, we show that the star CoRoT ID 102684698 is a somewhat evolved solar twin with a low Li abundance. Its rotation period is 29 + or -5 days, compatible with its age (6.7 Gyr) and low lithium content, A sub(Li) <, ~ 0.85 dex. Interestingly, our CoRoT solar twin seems to have enhanced abundances of the refractory elements with respect to the Sun, a typical characteristic of most nearby twins. With a magnitude V Asymptotically = to 14.1, ID 102684698 is the first solar twin revealed by CoRoT, the farthest field solar twin so far known, and the only solar twin older than the Sun for which a rotation period has been determined.
The analysis of brain signal variability is a promising approach to understand pathological brain function related to chronic pain. This study investigates whether blood-oxygen-level–dependent signal ...variability (BOLDSV) in specific frequency bands is altered in temporomandibular disorder (TMD) and correlated to its clinical features. Twelve patients with chronic myofascial TMD and 24 healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. The BOLDSV was measured as the standard deviation of the BOLD time series at each voxel and compared between groups. We also examined the potential relationship between the BOLDSV and the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism. We assessed sensory-discriminative pain in the craniofacial region, pain sensitivity to sustained masseteric pain challenge, and TMD pain frequency for clinical correlation. Patients displayed reduced BOLDSV in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) as compared with HC in all frequency bands. In the slow-3 band, patients also showed reduced BOLDSV in the medial dorsal thalamus, primary motor cortex (M1), and primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and heightened BOLDSV in the temporal pole. Notably, we found a significant correlation between lower BOLDSV (slow-3) in the orofacial M1/S1 regions and higher clinical pain (intensity/area) and higher sensitivity of the masseter muscle pain. Moreover, lower BOLDSV (slow-3) in the dlPFC and ventrolateral PFC was associated with a higher TMD pain frequency. Participants who had the COMT 158Met substitution exhibited lower BOLDSV in the dlPFC and higher BOLDSV in the temporal pole as compared with participants without the COMT 158Met substitution. An increasing number of Met alleles was associated with lower dlPFC and greater temporal pole BOLDSV in both HC and TMD groups. Together, we demonstrated that chronic TMD patients exhibit aberrant BOLDSV in the top-down pain modulatory and sensorimotor circuits associated with their pain frequency and severity. COMT Val158Met polymorphism might affect clinical symptoms in association with regional brain signal variability, specifically involved in cognitive and emotional regulation of pain.
Abstract
Tidal interaction governs the redistribution of angular momentum in close binary stars and planetary systems and determines the systems evolution towards the possible equilibrium state. ...Turbulent friction acting on the equilibrium tide in the convective envelope of low-mass stars is known to have a strong impact on this exchange of angular momentum in binaries. Moreover, theoretical modelling in recent literature as well as presented in this paper suggests that the dissipation of the dynamical tide, constituted of tidal inertial waves propagating in the convective envelope, is weak compared to the dissipation of the equilibrium tide during the red giant phase. This prediction is confirmed when we apply the equilibrium-tide formalism developed by Zahn, Verbunt & Phinney, and Remus, Mathis & Zahn on to the sample of all known red giant binaries observed by the NASA Kepler mission. Moreover, the observations are adequately explained by only invoking the equilibrium tide dissipation. Such ensemble analysis also benefits from the seismic characterization of the oscillating components and surface rotation rates. Through asteroseismology, previous claims of the eccentricity as an evolutionary state diagnostic are discarded. This result is important for our understanding of the evolution of multiple star and planetary systems during advanced stages of stellar evolution.
ABSTRACT
We present a study of the evolutionary state of a few lithium-rich giant stars based on the Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) parallaxes and photometry. We also investigate the chromospheric ...activity, the presence of a surface magnetic field, and the radial velocity for our sample stars. We analysed both archive and new data. We gathered archive spectra from several instruments, mainly ELODIE and NARVAL, and we added new data acquired with the spectrograph MUSICOS. We applied the least-squares deconvolution technique to obtain Stokes V and I mean profiles to compute longitudinal magnetic field for a subset. Moreover, for the same subset, we analysed the Ca ii H&K emission lines to calculate the S-index. We also derived atmospheric parameters and Li abundances for all 18 stars of our sample. We found that stars previously classified as red giant branch (RGB) may actually be at a different evolutionary state. Furthermore, we identified that most stars in our sample with detection of surface magnetic field show at least moderate rotation velocities, but none the less, we could not detect a magnetic field in two fast rotators. Because of our small sample of magnetic giants, it is difficult to determine if the presence of surface magnetic field and the Li-rich giant phenomena could be somehow linked. The large variation of the radial velocity of part of our sample indicates that some of them might have a binary companion, which may change the way we look at the Li problem in giant stars.
PDF
