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Cool stars
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What determines the structure of stellar coronae? |
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| A star's corona expands out until the magnetic field can no longer contain it. If the star is a rapid rotator, centrifugal forces will strip the outer parts of the corona leading to a reduction in X-ray emission and an enhancement of any rotation modulation in X-rays (Jardine, 2004).
We calculate the X-ray structure by taking a magnetic map of the surface (obtained using Zeeman-Doppler imaging), extrapolating the field into the corona and filling this structure with hot gas in hydrostatic balance. We test the code using solar magnetograms (Jardine et al 2002). |
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