ROSAT observations of V471 Tauri, showing that stellar activity is determined by rotation, not age

Details ROSAT observations of V471 Tauri, showing that stellar activity is determined by rotation, not age ROSAT observations of V471 Tauri, showing that stellar activity is determined by rotation, not age

1998-02-20

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9802274v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

7 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. Also available at http://www.star.le.ac.uk/~pjw/

Scientific paper

10.1046/j.1365-8711.1998.01607.x

I present pointed ROSAT PSPC observations of the pre-cataclysmic binary V471 Tauri. The hard X-ray emission (>0.4keV) is not eclipsed by the K star, demonstrating conclusively that this component cannot be emitted by the white dwarf. Instead I show that its spectrum and luminosity are consistent with coronal emission from the tidally spun-up K star. The star is more active than other K stars in the Hyades, but equally active as K stars in the Pleiades with the same rotation periods, demonstrating that rotation--and not age--is the key parameter in determining the level of stellar activity. The soft X-ray emission (<0.4keV) is emitted predominately by the white dwarf and is modulated on its spin period. I find that the pulse-profile is stable on timescales of hours and years, supporting the idea that it is caused by opacity of accreted material. The profile itself shows that the magnetic field configuration of the white dwarf is dipolar and that the magnetic axis passes through the centre of the star. There is an absorption feature in the lightcurve of the white dwarf, which occurs at a time when our line-of-sight passes within a stellar radius of the K star. The column density and duration of this feature imply a volume and mass for the absorber which are similiar to those of coronal mass ejections of the Sun.

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