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Discovery of fossil magnetic fields in the intermediate-mass pre-main sequence stars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2008

Evelyne Alecian ,
Gregg A. Wade  and
Claude Catala
Evelyne Alecian
Affiliation:
Royal Military College of Canada, PO Box 17000, Stn Forces, Kingston K7K 7B4, Canada Observatoire de Paris, LESIA, place Jules Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France
Gregg A. Wade
Affiliation:
Royal Military College of Canada, PO Box 17000, Stn Forces, Kingston K7K 7B4, Canada
Claude Catala
Affiliation:
Observatoire de Paris, LESIA, place Jules Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France
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Abstract

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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 M⊙) 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.

Keywords

Stars: magnetic field – Stars: pre-main-sequence – Instrumentation: spectropolarimetry
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 4 , Symposium S259: Cosmic Magnetic Fields: From Planets, to Stars and Galaxies , November 2008 , pp. 445 - 446
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2009

References

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