2006/09/25 by S. G. Gregory, M. Jardine, A. Collier Cameron +3 · 33 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Modulation (music) #Rotation (mathematics) #Rotation period #Stars #Starspot #Stellar mass #Stellar rotation #T Tauri star #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.11086.x
published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 373(2), 827-835 (Oxford University Press) · 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS
arxiv created 2006/09/25 · openalex publication_date 2006/10/30 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We have modelled the rotational modulation of X-ray emission from T Tauri stars assuming that they have isothermal, magnetically confined coronae. By extrapolating surface magnetograms, we find that T Tauri coronae are compact and clumpy, such that rotational modulation arises from X-ray emitting regions being eclipsed as the star rotates. Emitting regions are close to the stellar surface and inhomogeneously distributed about the star. However, some regions of the stellar surface, which contain wind bearing open field lines, are dark in X-rays. From simulated X-ray light curves, obtained using stellar parameters from the Chandra Orion Ultradeep Project, we calculate X-ray periods and make comparisons with optically determined rotation periods. We find that X-ray periods are typically equal to, or are half of, the optical periods. Further, we find that X-ray periods are dependent upon the stellar inclination, but that the ratio of X-ray to optical period is independent of stellar mass and radius.