B3 Non-refereed article in a conference publication

Investigating stellar surface rotation using observations of starspots




AuthorsKorhonen H

EditorsC H Mandrini, D F Webb

Conference nameComparative Magnetic Minima: Characterizing quiet times in the Sun and Stars

Publishing placeCambridge

Publication year2012

JournalProceedings of the International Astronomical Union

Book title Comparative Magnetic Minima: Characterizing quiet times in the Sun and Stars

Series titleProceedings of the International Astronomical Union

Volume7

Issue286

First page 268

Last page278

Number of pages11

ISBN978-1-107-01986-7

ISSN1743-9213

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1017/S1743921312004966


Abstract

Rapid rotation enhances the dynamo operating in stars, and thus also introduces significantly stronger magnetic activity than is seen in slower rotators. Many young cool stars still have the rapid, primordial rotation rates induced by the interstellar molecular cloud from which they were formed. Also older stars in close binary systems are often rapid rotators. These types of stars can show strong magnetic activity and large starspots. In the case of large starspots which cause observable changes in the brightness of the star, and even in the shapes of the spectral line profiles, one can get information on the rotation of the star. At times even information on the spot rotation at different stellar latitudes can be obtained, similarly to the solar surface differential rotation measurements using magnetic features as tracers. Here, I will review investigations of stellar rotation based on starspots. I will discuss what we can obtain from ground-based photometry and how that improves with the uninterrupted, high precision, observations from space. The emphasis will be on how starspots, and even stellar surface differential rotation, can be studied using high resolution spectra.




Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 22:34