1. The surface magnetic fields of T Tauri stars
- Author
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Moira Jardine, Jean-François Donati, Andrew Collier Cameron, and Gaitee Hussain
- Subjects
Physics ,Spiral galaxy ,K-type main-sequence star ,Flare star ,Astronomy ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Astrophysics ,Herbig Ae/Be star ,T Tauri star ,Astrophysical jet ,Space and Planetary Science ,Stellar mass loss ,Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics ,Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics ,Herbig–Haro object ,Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics - Abstract
We present surface magnetic field maps of the two accreting T Tauri stars, CV Cha and CR Cha. Our magnetic field maps show evidence for strong, complex multi-polar fields similar to those obtained on young rapidly rotating main sequence stars. Both CV Cha and CR Cha show magnetic field patterns that are more complex than those recovered for the lower mass, fully convective T Tauri star, BP Tau.By comparing our maps with previously published maps of classical T Tauri stars, we infer that magnetic field patterns on T Tauris, and their underlying magnetic field generation mechanisms evolve quickly as they develop radiative cores. This may have implications for the efficiency with which T Tauri stars can effectively lock onto their surrounding disks under the magnetospheric accretion model scenario. This, in turn, has implications for the angular momentum evolution of T Tauri stars as they evolve towards the main sequence.
- Published
- 2008
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