Deep Imaging of M37, A Better Hyades
Abstract
X-ray emission traces the strength of a star's magnetic dynamo and is tightly linked to age and stellar rotation. Early studies found that X-ray luminosity decreases steadily as stars age. However, recent studies suggest that the picture of X-ray luminosity decaying from 10 Myr to 5 Gyr as a single power-law, and independently of mass, is too simplistic. Open clusters, with their homogeneous, coeval populations, provide an ideal environment for calibrating empirically how stellar activity depends on age and rotation. M37, a Hyades analog, has been carefully surveyed in the optical, and we have obtained complementary deep (450 ksec) Chandra ACIS-I imaging of this open cluster. M37's rich membership, good match to Chandra's field-of-view, and large number of measured periods 700) make it ideal for examining the evolution of coronal X-ray emission. Here we report the first results from our analysis of the combined X-ray and optical data. These data will enable determinations of X-ray luminosity as a function of rotation period, tests of whether magnetic effects produce anomalous optical colors/luminosities for high X-ray luminosity sources, and theta characterization of M37's interacting binaries.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #221
- Pub Date:
- January 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AAS...22125207B