Accurate and Model Independent Radius Determination of Single FGK and M Dwarfs Using Gaia DR3 Data

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Main Authors: Kiman, Rocio, Brandt, Timothy D., Faherty, Jacqueline K., Popinchalk, Mark
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Kiman, Rocio
Brandt, Timothy D.
Faherty, Jacqueline K.
Popinchalk, Mark
author_facet Kiman, Rocio
Brandt, Timothy D.
Faherty, Jacqueline K.
Popinchalk, Mark
contents Measuring fundamental stellar parameters is key to fully comprehending the evolution of stars. However, current theoretical models over-predict effective temperatures, and under-predict radii, compared to observations of K and M dwarfs (radius inflation problem). In this work, we developed a model independent method to infer precise radii of single FGK and M dwarfs using Gaia DR3 parallaxes and photometry, and we used it to study the radius inflation problem. We calibrated nine surface brightness-color relations for the three Gaia magnitudes and colors using a sample of stars with angular diameter measurements. We achieved an accuracy of 4% in our angular diameter estimations, which Gaia's parallaxes allow us to convert to a physical radii. We validated our method by comparing our radius measurements with literature samples and the Gaia DR3 catalog, which confirmed the accuracy of our method and revealed systematic offsets in the Gaia measurements. Moreover, we used a sample with measured Halpha equivalent width (HaEW), a magnetic activity indicator, to study the radius inflation problem. We demonstrated that active stars have larger radii than inactive stars, showing that radius inflation is correlated with magnetic activity. We found a correlation between the radius inflation of active stars and HaEW for the mass bin 0.5<M[Msun]<= 0.6, but we found no correlation for lower masses. This could be due to lack of precision in our radius estimation or a physical reason. Radius measurements with smaller uncertainties are necessary to distinguish between the two scenarios.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_00229
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Accurate and Model Independent Radius Determination of Single FGK and M Dwarfs Using Gaia DR3 Data
Kiman, Rocio
Brandt, Timothy D.
Faherty, Jacqueline K.
Popinchalk, Mark
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Measuring fundamental stellar parameters is key to fully comprehending the evolution of stars. However, current theoretical models over-predict effective temperatures, and under-predict radii, compared to observations of K and M dwarfs (radius inflation problem). In this work, we developed a model independent method to infer precise radii of single FGK and M dwarfs using Gaia DR3 parallaxes and photometry, and we used it to study the radius inflation problem. We calibrated nine surface brightness-color relations for the three Gaia magnitudes and colors using a sample of stars with angular diameter measurements. We achieved an accuracy of 4% in our angular diameter estimations, which Gaia's parallaxes allow us to convert to a physical radii. We validated our method by comparing our radius measurements with literature samples and the Gaia DR3 catalog, which confirmed the accuracy of our method and revealed systematic offsets in the Gaia measurements. Moreover, we used a sample with measured Halpha equivalent width (HaEW), a magnetic activity indicator, to study the radius inflation problem. We demonstrated that active stars have larger radii than inactive stars, showing that radius inflation is correlated with magnetic activity. We found a correlation between the radius inflation of active stars and HaEW for the mass bin 0.5<M[Msun]<= 0.6, but we found no correlation for lower masses. This could be due to lack of precision in our radius estimation or a physical reason. Radius measurements with smaller uncertainties are necessary to distinguish between the two scenarios.
title Accurate and Model Independent Radius Determination of Single FGK and M Dwarfs Using Gaia DR3 Data
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.00229