2002/11/29 by D. Ségransan, D. Segransan, P. Kervella +2 · 10 citations
Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Educational Leadership and Practices #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20021714
published as Astron.Astrophys. 397 (2003) L5-L8 · Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters, 4 pages, 3 figures
arxiv created 2002/11/29 · openalex publication_date 2003/01/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
We present 4 very low mass stars radii measured with the VLTI using the 2.2 μm VINCI test instrument. The observations were carried out during the commissioning of the 104-meter-baseline with two 8-meter-telescopes. We measure angular diameters of 0.7–1.5 mas with accuracies of 0.04–0.11 mas, and for spectral type ranging from M0V to M5.5V. We determine an empirical mass-radius relation for M dwarfs based on all available radius measurements. The observed relation agrees well with theoretical models at the present accuracy level, with possible discrepancy around 0.5–0.8 that needs to be confirmed. In the near future, dozens of M dwarfs radii will be measured with 0.1–1% accuracy, with the VLTI, thanks to the improvements expected from the near infrared instrument AMBER. This will bring strong observational constraints on both atmosphere and interior physics.