Sleuthing the Magnetic Dynamo in Metal-Poor Stars

Metal-poor stars on the red horizontal branch (RHB) have convective cores and semi-convective envelopes allowing for dynamo activity. The strong infrared He I line (10830A) we have detected in RHB field objects suggests also that X-ray emission is present to create the surprisingly strong helium absorption, yet no X-ray observations exist of this category of star. Discovery of X-rays from RHB objects will demonstrate for the first time that magnetic fields are present in normal Population II stars, provide a driving mechanism for the stellar winds indicated by line profiles, and have implications for globular clusters too, with respect to the 2nd parameter problem, and missing intracluster material.