The Chromospheric Activity-Age Relation for M Dwarf Stars
Abstract
We propose to complete our study of M dwarf/white dwarf binary systems with the goal of determining the correlation between the chromospheric activity and ages of M dwarf stars for ages up to the age of the galactic disk (~M7-8; ~10 Gyr). This project is unique in that it uses the well determined age of the white dwarf to establish the age of the M dwarf in the binary system. Previous studies used open clusters for age determination, and were confined to ages < 5 Gyr. These indicated the surprising result that the age at which activity ceased depended on the mass (temperature, color) of the M dwarf, in contrast to the well known Skumanich relation for early type F-G-K stars where the age-activity relation is a manifestation of the rotational velocity evolution. Such a different age-activity relation has important consequences for understanding the dynamo generation of the magnetic fields in the lowest mass stars and brown dwarfs, and the different manifestations of the magnetic activity compared to solar-type stars.
- Publication:
-
NOAO Proposal
- Pub Date:
- August 2001
- Bibcode:
- 2001noao.prop..254S