Catching the wisps: Stellar mass-loss limits from low-frequency radio observations
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arXiv
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| Autori principali: | , , , , |
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| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866916655881256960 |
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| author | Bloot, Sanne Vedantham, Harish K. Kavanagh, Robert D. Callingham, Joseph R. Pope, Benjamin J. S. |
| author_facet | Bloot, Sanne Vedantham, Harish K. Kavanagh, Robert D. Callingham, Joseph R. Pope, Benjamin J. S. |
| contents | The winds of low-mass stars carry away angular momentum and impact the atmospheres of surrounding planets. Determining the properties of these winds is necessary to understand the mass-loss history of the star and the evolution of exoplanetary atmospheres. Due to their tenuous nature, the winds of low-mass main-sequence stars are difficult to detect. The few existing techniques for measuring these winds are indirect, with the most common inference method for winds of low-mass stars being astrospheric Lyman-$α$ absorption combined with complex hydrodynamical modelling of the interaction between the stellar wind and the interstellar medium. Here, we employ a more direct method to place upper limits on the mass-loss rates of low-mass stars by combining observations of low-frequency coherent radio emission, the lack of free-free absorption, and a simple stellar wind model. We determine upper limits on the mass-loss rate for a sample of 19 M dwarf stars detected with the LOFAR telescope at 120--168 MHz, reaching a sensitivity within an order of magnitude of the solar mass-loss rate for cold stars with a surface magnetic field strength of $\sim$100 G. The sensitivity of our method does not depend on distance or spectral type, allowing us to find mass-loss rate constraints for stars up to spectral type M6 and out to a distance of 50 pc, later and farther than previous measurements. With upcoming low-frequency surveys with both LOFAR and the Square Kilometre Array, the number of stars with mass-loss rate upper limits determined with this method could reach $\sim$1000. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_14701 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Catching the wisps: Stellar mass-loss limits from low-frequency radio observations Bloot, Sanne Vedantham, Harish K. Kavanagh, Robert D. Callingham, Joseph R. Pope, Benjamin J. S. Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Earth and Planetary Astrophysics The winds of low-mass stars carry away angular momentum and impact the atmospheres of surrounding planets. Determining the properties of these winds is necessary to understand the mass-loss history of the star and the evolution of exoplanetary atmospheres. Due to their tenuous nature, the winds of low-mass main-sequence stars are difficult to detect. The few existing techniques for measuring these winds are indirect, with the most common inference method for winds of low-mass stars being astrospheric Lyman-$α$ absorption combined with complex hydrodynamical modelling of the interaction between the stellar wind and the interstellar medium. Here, we employ a more direct method to place upper limits on the mass-loss rates of low-mass stars by combining observations of low-frequency coherent radio emission, the lack of free-free absorption, and a simple stellar wind model. We determine upper limits on the mass-loss rate for a sample of 19 M dwarf stars detected with the LOFAR telescope at 120--168 MHz, reaching a sensitivity within an order of magnitude of the solar mass-loss rate for cold stars with a surface magnetic field strength of $\sim$100 G. The sensitivity of our method does not depend on distance or spectral type, allowing us to find mass-loss rate constraints for stars up to spectral type M6 and out to a distance of 50 pc, later and farther than previous measurements. With upcoming low-frequency surveys with both LOFAR and the Square Kilometre Array, the number of stars with mass-loss rate upper limits determined with this method could reach $\sim$1000. |
| title | Catching the wisps: Stellar mass-loss limits from low-frequency radio observations |
| topic | Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Earth and Planetary Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.14701 |