Bibcode
Berger, E.; Basri, G.; Fleming, T. A.; Giampapa, M. S.; Gizis, J. E.; Liebert, J.; Martín, E. L.; Phan-Bao, N.; Rutledge, R. E.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 709, Issue 1, pp. 332-341 (2010).
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2010
Journal
Citations
133
Refereed citations
123
Description
As part of our on-going investigation into the magnetic field properties
of ultracool dwarfs, we present simultaneous radio, X-ray, and Hα
observations of three M9.5-L2.5 dwarfs (BRI 0021-0214, LSR
060230.4+391059, and 2MASS J052338.2-140302). We do not detect X-ray or
radio emission from any of the three sources, despite previous
detections of radio emission from BRI 0021 and 2M0523-14. Steady and
variable Hα emission are detected from 2M0523-14 and BRI 0021,
respectively, while no Hα emission is detected from LSR 0602+39.
Overall, our survey of nine M8-L5 dwarfs doubles the number of ultracool
dwarfs observed in X-rays, and triples the number of L dwarfs, providing
in addition the deepest limits to date, log(L X/L
bol) lsim -5. With this larger sample we find the first clear
evidence for a substantial reduction in X-ray activity, by about two
orders of magnitude, from mid-M to mid-L dwarfs. We find that the
decline in Hα roughly follows L Hα/L
bol vprop 10-0.4×(SP-6) for SP >= 6,
where SP = 0 for spectral type M0. In the radio band, however, the
luminosity remains relatively unchanged from M0 to L4, leading to a
substantial increase in L rad/L bol. Our survey
also provides the first comprehensive set of simultaneous
radio/X-ray/Hα observations of ultracool dwarfs, and reveals a
clear breakdown of the radio/X-ray correlation beyond spectral type M7,
evolving smoothly from L ν,rad/L X ≈
10-15.5 to ~10-11.5 Hz-1 over the
narrow spectral-type range M7-M9. This breakdown reflects the
substantial reduction in X-ray activity beyond M7, but its physical
origin remains unclear since, as evidenced by the uniform radio
emission, there is no drop in the field dissipation and particle
acceleration efficiency. Based on the results of our survey, we conclude
that a further investigation of magnetic activity in ultracool dwarfs
will benefit from a two-pronged approach: multi-rotation observations of
nearby known active sources and a snapshot survey of a large sample
within ~50 pc to uncover rare flaring objects.