Low-frequency monitoring of flare star binary CR Draconis: Long-term electron-cyclotron maser emission
J. R. Callingham, B. J. S. Pope, A. D. Feinstein, H. K. Vedantham, T. W. Shimwell, P. Zarka, C. Tasse, L. Lamy, K. Veken, S. Toet, J. Sabater, P. N. Best, R. J.… 展开作者
J. R. Callingham, B. J. S. Pope, A. D. Feinstein, H. K. Vedantham, T. W. Shimwell, P. Zarka, C. Tasse, L. Lamy, K. Veken, S. Toet, J. Sabater, P. N. Best, R. J. van Weeren, H. J. A. Röttgering, T. P. Ray
备注：
Accepted for publication in A&A, 16 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables
Recently detected coherent low-frequency radio emission from M dwarf systems shares phenomenological similarities with emission produced by magnetospheric processes from the gas giant planets of our Solar System. Such beamed electron-cyclotron maser emission can be driven by a star-planet interaction or a breakdown in co-rotation between a rotating plasma disk and a stellar magnetosphere. Both models suggest that the radio emission could be periodic. Here we present the longest low-frequency interferometric monitoring campaign of an M dwarf system, composed of twenty-one $\approx$8 hour epochs taken in two series of observing blocks separated by a year. We achieved a total on-source time of 6.5 days. We show that the M dwarf binary CR Draconis has a low-frequency 3$σ$ detection rate of 90$^{+5}_{-8}$% when a noise floor of $\approx$0.1 mJy is reached, with a median flux density of 0.92 mJy, consistent circularly polarised handedness, and a median circularly polarised fraction of 66%. We resolve three bright radio bursts in dynamic spectra, revealing the brightest is elliptically polarised, confined to 4 MHz of bandwidth centred on 170 MHz, and reaches a flux density of 205 mJy. The burst structure is mottled, indicating it consists of unresolved sub-bursts. Such a structure shares a striking resemblance with the low-frequency emission from Jupiter. We suggest the near-constant detection of high brightness temperature, highly-circularly-polarised radiation that has a consistent circular polarisation handedness implies the emission is produced via the electron-cyclotron maser instability. Optical photometric data reveal the system has a rotation period of 1.984$\pm$0.003 days. We observe no periodicity in the radio data, but the sampling of our radio observations produces a window function that would hide the near two-day signal.
The electron-cyclotron maser instability is widespread in the Universe, producing, e.g., radio emission of the magnetized planets and cool substellar objects. Diagnosing the parameters of astrophysical radio sources requires comprehensive nonlinear simulations of the radiation process. We simulate the electron-cyclotron maser instability in a very low-beta plasma. The model used takes into account the radiation escape from the source region and the particle flow through this region. We developed a kinetic code to simulate the time evolution of an electron distribution in a radio emission sourc…
In this paper we present new and archive radio measurements obtained with the Very Large Array of the magnetic chemically peculiar (MCP) star σOri E. The radio data have been obtained at different frequencies and are well distributed along the rotational phases. We analyze in detail the radio emission from σOri E with the aim to search evidence of circularly polarized radio pulses. Up to now, among the MCP stars only CU Virginis shows 100% polarized time-stable radio pulses, explained as highly directive electron cyclotron maser emission, visible from Earth at particular rotational phases, lik…
The electron-cyclotron maser instability (ECMI) is responsible for generation of the planetary auroral radio emissions. Most likely, the same mechanism produces radio bursts from ultracool dwarfs. We investigate amplification of plasma waves by the horseshoe-like electron distribution (similar to those observed in the terrestrial magnetosphere) as well as relaxation of this distribution due to the ECMI. We aim to determine parameters of the generated plasma waves, timescales of the relaxation process, and the conversion efficiency of the particle energy into waves. We have developed a kinetic …
A scenario based on the electron cyclotron maser emission is proposed for the fine structures of solar radio emission in the present discussion. It is suggested that under certain conditions modulation of the ratio between the plasma frequency and electron gyro-frequency by ultra low frequency waves, which is a key parameter for excitation of the electron cyclotron maser instability, may lead to the intermittent emission of radio waves. As an example, the explanation of the observed fine-structure components in the solar type IIIb burst is discussed in detail. Three primary issues of the type …
A number of ultra-cool dwarfs emit circularly polarised radio waves generated by the electron cyclotron maser instability. In the solar system such radio is emitted from regions of strong auroral magnetic field-aligned currents. We thus apply ideas developed for Jupiter's magnetosphere, being a well-studied rotationally-dominated analogue in our solar system, to the case of fast-rotating UCDs. We explain the properties of the radio emission from UCDs by showing that it would arise from the electric currents resulting from an angular velocity shear in the fast-rotating magnetic field and plasma…
This Brief Communication presents a quantitative investigation for the effect of electron holes on electron-cyclotron maser (ECM) driven by horseshoe distributions. The investigation is based on an integrated distribution function for the horseshoe distributions with electron holes. Results show that the presence of electron holes can significantly enhance the ECM growth rate by 2-3 times in a very narrow waveband. The present study suggests that these electron holes probably are responsible for some fine structures of radiations, such as narrowband events in auroral kilometric radiation and s…
Electron Cyclotron Maser Emission from Ejected Stellar Prominences on V374 Peg
SUPA, Schools of Mathematics and Physics and Astronomy（苏格兰大学物理天文学超级学院）；Lowell Observatory（洛威尔天文台）；Université de Toulouse, CNRS, IRAP（图卢兹大学，法国国家科学研究中心，天体物理研究所）；Université de Montpellier, CNRS, LUPM（蒙彼利埃大学，法国国家科学研究中心，等离子体与统一物质实验室）
We conducted the first dedicated search for signatures of exoplanet-exomoon interactions using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) as part of the radio-loud exoplanet-exomoon survey (RLEES). Due to stellar tidal heating, irradiation, and subsequent atmospheric escape, candidate `exo-Io' systems are expected to emit up to $10^6$ times more plasma flux than the Jupiter-Io DC circuit. This can induce detectable radio emission from the exoplanet-exomoon system. We analyze three `exo-Io' candidate stars: WASP-49, HAT-P 12, and HD 189733. We perform 12-hour phase-curve observations of WASP-49…
A beam of super-thermal, hot electrons was injected into maxwellian plasma with a density gradient along a magnetic field line. 1.5D particle-in-cell simulations were carried out which established that the EM emission is produced by the perpendicular component of the beam injection momentum. The beam has a positive slope in the distribution function in perpendicular momentum phase space, which is the characteristic feature of a cyclotron maser. The cyclotron maser in the overdense plasma generates emission at the electron cyclotron frequency. The frequencies of generated waves were too low to …
Efficient radiation at second and/or higher harmonics of Wce has been suggested to circumvent the escaping difficulty of the electron cyclotron maser emission mechanism when it is applied to solar radio bursts, such as spikes. In our earlier study, we developed a three-step numerical scheme to connect the dynamics of energetic electrons within a large-scale coronal loop structure with the microscale kinetic instability energized by the obtained nonthermal velocity distribution and found that direct and efficient harmonic X-mode (X2 for short) emission can be achieved due to the strip-like feat…
We report the discovery of coherent radio emission from the young, rapidly-rotating magnetic Bp star HD 133880 at a frequency of 610 MHz with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). This is only the second magnetic star in which coherent radio emission has been detected. In our observations of HD 133880 covering the full rotational cycle of the star (except for a phase window 0.17-0.24), we witness an abrupt order-of-magnitude flux enhancement along with $\approx100$ percent right circular polarization. We attribute this phenomenon to coherent Electron Cyclotron MASER Emission. We attribut…
The electron-cyclotron maser emission from electron holes is applied to holes generated in the downstream current region of the aurora. We suggest that part of the fine structure observed in the auroral kilometric radiation is generated by the electron-cyclotron maser mechanism in the downstream current region. The argument goes that the main background auroral kilometric radiation source is still located in the partial electron ring (horseshoe) distribution of the upward current region while the fine structure is caused by electron holes generated predominantly in the downward current region.…
Reconnection in strong current-aligned magnetic guide fields allows for the excitation of the electron-cyclotron-maser instability and emission of electromagnetic radiationfrom the electron exhaust at the {\sf X} point. The electrons in the guide field remain magnetized, with reconnection barely affected. The guide field is responsible for the asymmetric properties of the {\sf X} point and exhaust. Asymmetry in the electron population results in conditions favorable for ECMI. Fundamental mission beneath the guide field cyclotron is similar to electron hole emission discussed elsewhere. It can …
Context. The Sun is an active source of radio emission ranging from long duration radio bursts associated with solar flares and coronal mass ejections to more complex, short duration radio bursts such as solar S bursts, radio spikes and fibre bursts. While plasma emission is thought to be the dominant emission mechanism for most radio bursts, the electron-cyclotron maser (ECM) mechanism may be responsible for more complex, short-duration bursts as well as fine structures associated with long-duration bursts. Aims. We investigate the conditions for ECM in the solar corona by considering the rat…
Auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) is the paradigm of intense radio emission from planetary magnetospheres. Being close to the electron gyro frequency and/or its lower harmonics, its observation indicates the non-thermal state of the source plasma. Emission is produced when the plasma enters a state of energetic excitation which results in deformation of the electron distribution function. Under certain conditions this leads to "quasi-coherent" emission. It is believed that the weakly-relativistic electron-cyclotron-maser instability is responsible for this kind of radiation. Since energetical…
Fast electron beams (FEBs) are common products of solar active phenomena. Solar radio bursts are an important diagnostic tool in the understanding of FEBs as well as the solar plasma environment in which they are propagating along solar magnetic fields. In particular, the evolutions of the energy spectrum and velocity distribution of FEBs due to the interaction with the ambient plasma and field when propagating can significantly influence the efficiency and property of their emissions. In this paper, we discuss some possible evolutions of the energy spectrum and velocity distribution of FEBs d…
Recently, coherent radio emission has been discovered from a number of hot magnetic stars, via the process of electron cyclotron maser emission (ECME). This emission, observed in the form of highly circularly polarized pulses, have interesting properties which contain information about the host star. One of the important properties of ECME is the frequency dependence of the pulse arrival time. This has been attributed to propagation effect by Trigilio et al. (2011), and could explain the sequence observed for CU Vir qualitatively (Lo et al. 2012). However no quantitative treatment exists for t…
Energetic electrons with power-law spectrum are most commonly observed in astrophysics. This paper investigates electron cyclotron maser emission (ECME) from the power-law electrons, in which strong pitch-angle anisotropy is emphasized. The electron distribution function proposed in this paper can describe various types of pitch-angle anisotropy. Results show that the emission properties of ECME, including radiation growth, propagation, and frequency properties, depend considerably on the types of electron pitch-angle anisotropy, and different wave modes show different dependences on the pitch…
Since the early 1980s, decimetric spike bursts have been attributed to electron cyclotron maser emission (ECME) by the electrons that produce hard X-ray bursts as they precipitate into the chromosphere in the impulsive phase of a solar flare. Spike bursts are regarded as analogous to the auroral kilometric radiation (AKR), which is associated with the precipitation of auroral electrons in a geomagnetic substorm. Originally, a loss-cone-driven version of ECME, developed for AKR, was applied to spike bursts, but it is now widely accepted that a different, horseshoe-driven, version of EMCE applie…
Electron cyclotron maser emission (ECME) is regarded as a plausible source for the coherent radio radiations from solar active regions (e.g., solar radio spikes). In this Letter, we present a 2D3V fully kinetic electromagnetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation to investigate the wave excitations and subsequent nonlinear processes induced by the energetic electrons in the loss-cone distribution. The ratio of the plasma frequency to the electron gyrofrequency $ω_{pe}/Ω_{ce}$ is set to 0.25, adequate for solar active region conditions. As a main result, we obtain strong emissions at the second-ha…
Content. Electron-cyclotron maser emission (ECME) is the favored mechanism for solar radio spikes and has been investigated extensively since the 1980s. Most studies relevant to solar spikes employ a loss-cone-type distribution of energetic electrons, generating waves mainly in the fundamental X/O mode (X1/O1), with a ratio of plasma oscillation frequency to electron gyrofrequency ($ω_ {pe}/Ω_{ce}$) lower than 1. Despite the great progress made in this theory, one major problem is how the fundamental emissions pass through the second-harmonic absorption layer in the corona and escape. This is …
Understanding the origins of stellar radio emission can provide invaluable insight into the strength and geometry of stellar magnetic fields and the resultant space weather environment experienced by exoplanets. Here, we present the first model capable of predicting radio emission through the electron cyclotron maser instability using observed stellar magnetic maps of low-mass stars. We determine the structure of the coronal magnetic field and plasma using spectropolarimetric observations of the surface magnetic fields and the X-ray emission measure. We then model the emission of photons from …
A simple mechanism for the generation of electromagnetic Zebra pattern emission is proposed. The mechanism is based on the generation of an ion-ring distribution in a magnetic mirror geometry in the presence of a properly directed field-aligned electric potential field. The ion-cyclotron maser then generates a number of electromagnetic ion-cyclotron harmonics which modulate the electron maser emission. The mechanism is capable of switching the emission on and off or amplifying it quasi-periodically which is a main feature of the observations.
The Jansky Very Large Array was used to observe 121 magnetic cataclysmic variables (MCVs). We report radio detections of 19 stars. Fourteen are new radio sources, increasing the number of MCVs that are radio sources by more than twofold, from 8 to 22. Most detections are at 8.7 GHz (X-band) with a lesser number at 5.4 and 21.1 GHz (C- and K-bands). Most flux density limits are in the range of 47-470 uJy. With the exception of AE Aqr, the maximum flux detected is 818 uJy. Fourteen of the detections show approximately 100% circularly polarized emission, which is characteristic of electron-cyclot…
Electron holes are suggested to be an important source for generation of electron-cyclotron maser radiation. We demonstrate that electron holes generated in a ring-horseshoe distribution in the auroral-kilometric radiation source region have the capacity to emit band-limited radiation. The radiation is calculated in the proper frame of a circular model hole and shown to be strictly perpendicular in this frame. Its bandwidth under auroral conditions is of the order of $\sim1$ kHz, which is a reasonable value. {It is also shown that much of the drift of fine structure in the radiation can be int…
The magnetic field strength of a methane dwarf measured from its radio spectral cutoff
ASTRON, The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy（荷兰射电天文研究所）；Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen（格罗宁根大学卡普坦天文研究所）；Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam（阿姆斯特丹大学安东·潘内库克天文研究所）；Leiden Observatory, Leiden University（莱顿大学莱顿天文台）
The theory of plasma emission and of electron cyclotron maser emission, and their applications to solar radio bursts and to Jupiter's DAM and the Earth's AKR are reviewed, emphasizing the early literature and problems that remain unresolved. It is pointed out that there are quantitative measures of coherence in radio astronomy that have yet to be explored either observationally or theoretically.
The nearby M dwarf WX UMa has recently been detected at radio wavelengths with LOFAR. The combination of its observed brightness temperature and circular polarisation fraction suggests that the emission is generated via the electron-cyclotron maser instability. Two distinct mechanisms have been proposed to power such emission from low-mass stars: either a sub-Alfvénic interaction between the stellar magnetic field and an orbiting planet, or reconnection at the edge of the stellar magnetosphere. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of both mechanisms, utilising the information about th…
CU Virginis is a rapidly rotating Magnetic Chemically Peculiar star with at present unique characteristics as radio emitter. The most intriguing one is the presence of intense, 100% circularly polarized radiation ascribed to Cyclotron Maser. Each time the star rotates, this highly beamed emission points two times toward the Earth, like a pulsar. We observed CU Vir in April 2010 with the EVLA in two bands centered at 1450 and 1850 MHz. We covered nearly the whole rotational period, confirming the presence of the two pulses at a flux density up to 20 mJy. Dynamical spectra, obtained with unprece…
Coherent radio emission from stars can be used to constrain fundamental coronal plasma parameters, such as plasma density and magnetic field strength. It is also a probe of chromospheric and magnetospheric acceleration mechanisms. Close stellar binaries, such as RS Canum Venaticorum (RS CVn) systems, are particularly interesting as their heightened level of chromospheric activity and possible direct magnetic interaction make them a unique laboratory to study coronal and magnetospheric acceleration mechanisms. RS CVn binaries are known to be radio-bright but coherent radio emission has only con…
An attractive mechanism for radiation transport by electron holes from the magnetospheric auroral cavity source region down to the ionosphere and possibly even down to the atmosphere is examined. Because of the excitation and propagation properties of the X mode, this mechanism turns out to be highly improbable for the usual resonant excitation of radiation of frequency just below the local electron cyclotron frequency, $ω\lesssim ω_{ce}$. It could work only, if the auroral ionosphere would be locally perforated being of sufficiently low density for allowing electron holes riding down to low a…
The recent detection of circularly polarized, long-duration (>8 hr) low-frequency (~150 MHz) radio emission from the M4.5 dwarf GJ 1151 has been interpreted as arising from a star-planet interaction via the electron cyclotron maser instability. The existence or parameters of the proposed planets have not been determined. Using 20 new HARPS-N observations, we put 99th-percentile upper limits on the mass of any close companion to GJ 1151 at Msini < 5.6 M earth. With no stellar, brown dwarf, or giant planet companion likely in a close orbit, our data are consistent with detected radio emission em…
We present 325 MHz (90 cm wavelength) radio observations of ultracool dwarfs TVLM 513-46546 and 2MASS J0036+1821104 using the Very Large Array (VLA) in June 2007. Ultracool dwarfs are expected to be undetectable at radio frequencies, yet observations at 8.5 GHz (3.5 cm) and 4.9 GHz (6 cm) of have revealed sources with > 100 μJy quiescent radio flux and > 1 mJy pulses coincident with stellar rotation. The anomalous emission is likely a combination of gyrosynchrotron and cyclotron maser processes in a long-duration, large-scale magnetic field. Since the characteristic frequency for each process …
In recent years, thanks to new facilities such as LOFAR capable of sensitive observations, much work has been done on the detection of stellar radio emission at low frequencies. Such emission has commonly been shown to be coherent emission, generally attributed to electron-cyclotron maser emission, and has usually been detected from main-sequence M dwarfs. Here we report the first detection of coherent emission at low frequencies from T Tauri stars, which are known to be associated with high levels of stellar activity. Using LOFAR, we have detected several bright radio bursts at 150 MHz from t…
For main-sequence stars beyond spectral type M5 the characteristics of magnetic activity common to warmer solar-like stars change into the brown-dwarf domain: the surface magnetic field becomes more dipolar and the evolution of the field patterns slows, the photospheric plasma is increasingly neutral and decoupled from the magnetic field, chromospheric and coronal emissions weaken markedly, and the efficiency of rotational braking rapidly decreases. Yet, radio emission persists, and has been argued to be dominated by electron-cyclotron maser emission instead of the gyrosynchrotron emission fro…
We present the numerical simulations for an electron-beam-driven and loss-cone-driven electron-cyclotron maser (ECM) with different plasma parameters and different magnetic field strengths for a relatively small region and short time-scale in an attempt to interpret the recent discovered intense radio emission from ultracool dwarfs. We find that a large amount of electromagnetic field energy can be effectively released from the beam-driven ECM, which rapidly heats the surrounding plasma. A rapidly developed high-energy tail of electrons in velocity space (resulting from the heating process of …
We present results from the most comprehensive radio monitoring campaign towards the closest star to our Sun, Proxima Centauri. We report 1.1 to 3.1 GHz observations with the Australian Telescope Compact Array over 18 consecutive days in April 2017. We detect radio emission from Proxima Centauri for most of the observing sessions, which spanned $\sim$1.6 orbital periods of the planet Proxima b. The radio emission is stronger at the low-frequency band, centered around 1.6 GHz, and is consistent with the expected electron-cyclotron frequency for the known star's magnetic field intensity of about…
Solar radio emission at low frequencies (<1 GHz) can provide valuable information on processes driving flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Radio emission has been detected from active M dwarf stars, suggestive of much higher levels of activity than previously thought. Observations of active M dwarfs at low frequencies can provide information on the emission mechanism for high energy flares and possible stellar CMEs. Here, we conducted two observations with the Australian Square Kilometre Pathfinder Telescope (ASKAP) totalling 26 hours and scheduled to overlap with the Transiting Exoplane…
Two coherent radio emission mechanisms operate in stellar coronae: plasma emission and cyclotron emission. They directly probe the electron density and magnetic field strength respectively. Most stellar radio detections have been made at cm-wavelengths where it is often not possible to uniquely identify the emission mechanism, hindering the utility of radio observations in probing coronal conditions. In anticipation of stellar observations from a suite of sensitive low-frequency ($ν\sim 10^2\,{\rm MHz}$) radio telescopes, here I apply the general theory of coherent emission in non-relativistic…
Solar coronal shocks are very common phenomena in the solar atmosphere and are believed to be the drivers of solar type II radio bursts. However, the microphysical nature of these emissions is still an open problem. This paper proposes that electron cyclotron maser (ECM) emission is responsible for the generation of radiations from the coronal shocks. In the present model, an energetic ion beam accelerated by the shock excites first Alfvén wave (AW) and then the excited AW leads to the formation of a density-depleted duct along the foreshock boundary of the shock. In this density-depleted duct…
Photometric variability attributed to cloud phenomena is common in L/T transition brown dwarfs. Recent studies show that such variability may also trace aurorae, suggesting that localized magnetic heating may contribute to observed brown dwarf photometric variability. We assess this potential correlation with a survey of 17 photometrically variable brown dwarfs using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) at 4 -- 8 GHz. We detect quiescent and highly circularly polarized flaring emission from one source, 2MASS J17502484-0016151, which we attribute to auroral electron cyclotron maser emissio…
Magnetic reconnection in solar flares can efficiently generate non-thermal electron beams. The energetic electrons can, in turn, cause radio waves through microscopic plasma instabilities as they propagate through the ambient plasma along the magnetic field lines. We aim at investigating the wave emission caused by fast moving electron beams (FEBs) with characteristic non-thermal electron velocity distribution functions (EVDFs) generated by kinetic magnetic reconnection: two-streaming EVDFs along the separatrices and in the diffusion region, and perpendicular crescent-shaped EVDFs closer to th…
We discuss Electron Cyclotron Maser Emission (ECME), observed in the form of highly circularly polarized pulses, from a few hot magnetic stars. This emission is one of the manifestations of stellar wind-magnetic field interaction. With the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), we have observed ECME from four magnetic B/A type stars. Currently, we are trying to understand certain properties of the ECME pulses and their dependences on the magnetospheric plasma. Here we briefly review all those works which have used ECME observed from hot magnetic stars to infer some physical properties of the …
The NSF's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is used to observe 122 magnetic cataclysmic variables (MCVs) during three observing semesters (13B, 15A, and 18A). We report radio detections of 33 stars with fluxes in the range 6--8031 uJy. Twenty-eight stars are new radio sources, increasing the number of radio detected MCVs to more that 40. A surprising result is that about three-quarters (24 of 33 stars) of the detections show highly circularly polarized radio emission of short duration, which is characteristic of electron cyclotron maser emission. We argue that this emission originates from…
Radio detections of ultracool dwarfs provide insight into their magnetic fields and the dynamos that maintain them, especially at the very bottom of the main sequence, where other activity indicators dramatically weaken. Until recently, radio emission was only detected in the M and L dwarf regimes, but this has changed with the Arecibo detection of rapid polarized flares from the T6.5 dwarf 2MASS J10475385+2124234. Here, we report the detection of quasi-quiescent radio emission from this source at 5.8 GHz using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. The luminosity is νL_ν = (1.3 +- 0.4) x 10^22 …
We present 13 cm and 20 cm radio observations of the magnetic chemically peculiar star CU Virginis taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. We detect two circularly polarised radio pulses every rotation period which confirm previous detections. In the first pulse, the lower frequency emission arrives before the higher frequency emission and the ordering reverses in the second pulse. In order to explain the frequency dependence of the time between the two pulses, we construct a geometric model of the magnetosphere of CU Virginis, and consider various emission angles relative to the mag…
Hot Jupiters have been proposed as a likely population of low frequency radio sources due to electron cyclotron maser emission of similar nature to that detected from the auroral regions of magnetized solar system planets. Such emission will likely be confined to specific ranges of orbital/rotational phase due to a narrowly beamed radiation pattern. We report on GMRT 150 MHz radio observations of the hot Jupiter Tau Bootis b, consisting of 40 hours carefully scheduled to maximize coverage of the planet's 79.5 hour orbital/rotational period in an effort to detect such rotationally modulated emi…
LSPM J1314+1320 (=NLTT 33370) is a binary star system consisting of two nearly identical pre-main sequence stars of spectral type M7. The system is remarkable among ultracool dwarfs for being the most luminous radio emitter over the widest frequency range. Masses and luminosities are at first sight consistent with the system being coeval at age ~80 Myr according to standard (non-magnetic) evolutionary models. However, these models predict an average effective temperature, 2950 +/- 5 K, which is 180 K hotter than the empirical value. Thus, the empirical radii are oversized relative to the stand…
Magnetospheric processes seen in gas-giants such as aurorae and circularly-polarized cyclotron maser radio emission have been detected from some brown dwarfs. However, previous radio observations targeted known brown dwarfs discovered via their infrared emission. Here we report the discovery of BDR J1750+3809, a circularly polarized radio source detected around 144 MHz with the LOFAR telescope. Follow-up near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy show that BDR J1750+3809 is a cold methane dwarf of spectral type T$6.5\pm 1$ at a distance of $65^{+9}_{-8}\,{\rm pc}$. The quasi-quiescent radio spe…
Recently, a number of ultracool dwarfs have been found to produce periodic radio bursts with high brightness temperature and polarization degree; the emission properties are similar to the auroral radio emissions of the magnetized planets of the Solar System. We simulate the dynamic spectra of radio emission from ultracool dwarfs. The emission is assumed to be generated due to the electron-cyclotron maser instability. We consider two source models: the emission caused by interaction with a satellite and the emission from a narrow sector of active longitudes; the stellar magnetic field is model…
The electron cyclotron maser is the coherent emission process that gives rise to the radio lighthouse effect observed in the hot magnetic chemically peculiar star CU Virginis. It has also been proposed to explain the highly circularly polarized radio pulses observed on some ultra cool dwarfs, with spectral type earlier than M7. Such kind of coherent events resemble the auroral radio emission from the magnetized planets of the solar system. In this paper, we present a tridimensional model able to simulate the timing and profile of the pulses emitted by those stars characterized by a dipolar mag…
We present multi-epoch astrometric observations of the M9 ultra-cool dwarf TVLM513-46546 that is placed at the brown dwarf boundary. The new observations have been performed with the European VLBI Network (EVN) at 6cm band. The target has been detected at 7~epochs spanning three years, with measured quiescent emission flux in the range 180-300 muJy. We identified four short-duration flaring events (0.5-2 mJy) with very high circular polarization (~75%-100%). Properties of the observed radio flares support the physical model of the source that is characterized by the electron cyclotron maser in…
HD 142990 is a Bp-type star with a nearly dipolar surface magnetic field of kG strength. Recently Lenc et al. (2018) reported the tentative discovery of Electron Cyclotron Maser Emission (ECME) from this star at 200 MHz. This type of emission has been observed from only three other hot magnetic stars. In this paper, we present our observations of HD 142990 with the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio telescope (uGMRT) at 550-804 MHz and with the legacy GMRT at 1420 MHz near the rotational phases of the nulls of the longitudinal magnetic field. We found strong enhancements in flux density in both ci…
We present calculations of auroral radio powers of magnetised hot Jupiters orbiting Sun-like stars, computed using global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modelling of the magnetospheric and ionospheric convection arising from the interaction between the magnetosphere and the stellar wind. Exoplanetary auroral radio powers are traditionally estimated using empirical or analytically-derived relations, such as the Radiometric Bode's Law (RBL), which relates radio power to the magnetic or kinetic energy dissipated in the stellar wind-planet interaction. Such methods risk an oversimplification of the mag…
