A First Look at Rotation in Inactive Late-Type M Dwarfs

Details A First Look at Rotation in Inactive Late-Type M Dwarfs A First Look at Rotation in Inactive Late-Type M Dwarfs

2008-12-05

arxiv.org/abs/0812.1220v1

Astrophys.J.693:1283-1289,2009

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1088/0004-637X/693/2/1283

We have examined the relationship between rotation and activity in 14 late-type (M6-M7) M dwarfs, using high resolution spectra taken at the W.M. Keck Observatory and flux-calibrated spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Most were selected to be inactive at a spectral type where strong H-alpha emission is quite common. We used the cross-correlation technique to quantify the rotational broadening; six of the stars in our sample have vsini > 3.5 km/s. Our most significant and perplexing result is that three of these stars do not exhibit H-alpha emission, despite rotating at velocities where previous work has observed strong levels of magnetic field and stellar activity. Our results suggest that rotation and activity in late-type M dwarfs may not always be linked, and open several additional possibilities including a rotationally-dependent activity threshold, or a possible dependence on stellar parameters of the Rossby number at which magnetic/activity "saturation" takes place in fully convective stars.

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