The population of M dwarfs observed at low radio frequencies
Journal
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Callingham, J. R.
•
Vedantham, H. K.
•
Shimwell, T. W.
•
Pope, B. J. S.
•
Davis, I. E.
•
Best, P. N.
•
Hardcastle, M. J.
•
Röttgering, H. J. A.
•
Sabater, J.
•
Tasse, C.
•
van Weeren, R. J.
•
Williams, W. L.
•
Zarka, P.
•
•
Drabent, A.
Abstract
Coherent low-frequency (≲200 MHz) radio emission from stars encodes the conditions of the outer corona, mass-ejection events and space weather1-5. Previous low-frequency searches for radio-emitting stellar systems have lacked the sensitivity to detect the general population, instead largely focusing on targeted studies of anomalously active stars5-9. Here we present 19 detections of coherent radio emission associated with known M dwarfs from a blind flux-limited low-frequency survey. Our detections show that coherent radio emission is ubiquitous across the M dwarf main sequence, and that the radio luminosity is independent of known coronal and chromospheric activity indicators. While plasma emission can generate the low-frequency emission from the most chromospherically active stars of our sample1,10, the origin of the radio emission from the most quiescent sources is yet to be ascertained. Large-scale analogues of the magnetospheric processes seen in gas giant planets3,11,12 probably drive the radio emission associated with these quiescent stars. The slowest-rotating stars of this sample are candidate systems to search for star-planet interaction signatures.
Volume
5
Start page
1233
Issn Identifier
2397-3366
Ads BibCode
2021NatAs...5.1233C
Rights
open.access
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