Discovery of fossil magnetic fields in the intermediate-mass pre-main sequence stars
arXiv:0812.3805 · doi:10.1017/S1743921309031081
Abstract
It is now well-known that the surface magnetic fields observed in cool, lower-mass stars on the main sequence (MS) are generated by dynamos operating in their convective envelopes. However, higher-mass stars (above 1.5 Msun) pass their MS lives with a small convective core and a largely radiative envelope. Remarkably, notwithstanding the absence of energetically-important envelope convection, we observe very strong (from 300 G to 30 kG) and organised (mainly dipolar) magnetic fields in a few percent of the A and B-type stars on the MS, the origin of which is not well understood. In this poster we propose that these magnetic fields could be of fossil origin, and we present very strong observational results in favour of this proposal.
To appear in Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 259, 2009. Cosmic Magnetic Fields: From Planets, to Stars and Galaxies
References in corpus (4)
- Characterisation of the magnetic field of the Herbig Be star HD 200775
- The magnetic field of the pre-main sequence Herbig Ae star HD 190073
- Magnetic fields and chemical peculiarities of the very young intermediate-mass binary system HD 72106
- Discovery of magnetic fields in the very young, massive stars W601 (NGC 6611) and OI 201 (NGC 2244)