Search results for "coronae"

Variable X-ray emission from the accretion shock in the classical T Tauri star V2129 Ophiuchi

2011

The soft X-ray emission from high density plasma in CTTS is associated with the accretion process. It is still unclear whether this high density cool plasma is heated in the accretion shock, or if it is coronal plasma fed/modified by the accretion process. We conducted a coordinated quasi-simultaneous optical and X-ray observing campaign of the CTTS V2129 Oph (Chandra/HETGS data to constrain the X-ray emitting plasma components, and optical observations to constrain the characteristics of accretion and magnetic field). We analyze a 200 ks Chandra/HETGS observation of V2129 Oph, subdivided into two 100 ks segments, corresponding to two different phases within one stellar rotation. The X-ray …

Viewing the Sun as an X-ray star

2003

The Sun is the late-type star we can study with the highest level of detail. In the interpretation of stellar data, therefore, it is often assumed that the physical processes of the coronae of late-type stars are similar to those of the solar corona, i.e. the "solar-stellar analogy". In order to investigate the validity of this assumption, we have started a program to study systematically the Sun as an X-ray star. Our program aims to explore how far the solar model can be applied to other stars. In this paper we review the results obtained from these studies and, in particular, we discuss the variability of a star identical to the Sun during its cycle, the contribution of different coronal …

Accretion disk coronae of intermediate polar cataclysmic variables

2017

Context. Intermediate polar cataclysmic variables (IPCV) contain a magnetic, rotating white dwarf surrounded by a magnetically truncated accretion disk. To explain their strong flickering X-ray emission, accretion has been successfully taken into account. Nevertheless, observations suggest that accretion phenomena might not be the only process behind it. An intense flaring activity occurring on the surface of the disk may generate a corona, contribute to the thermal X-ray emission, and influence the system stability. Aims. Our purposes are: investigating the formation of an extended corona above the accretion disk, due to an intense flaring activity occurring on the disk surface; studying t…

Accretion disk coronae of Intermediate Polar Cataclysmic Variables: 3D MagnetoHydroDynamic modeling and thermal X-ray emission

Intermediate Polar Cataclysmic Variables (IPCVs), also known as DQ Her stars after their prototype, are cataclysmic variable stars characterized by the presence of an accreting, magnetic, rapidly rotating white dwarf surrounded by an accretion disk magnetically truncated by the inner magnetosphere of the star. These objects exhibit a magnetic field of the order of few MG, able to disrupt the inner part of the disk but not strong enough to inhibit the formation of a disk. These stars show a strong X-ray emission with a stochastic pulsation that in some cases arise in the inner part of the disk. However, the observations of the X-ray luminosity for these objects do not match the expected valu…

Fe Kα and Hydrodynamic Loop Model Diagnostics for a Large Flare on II Pegasi

2008

The observation by the Swift X-ray Telescope of the Fe K alpha_1, alpha_2 doublet during a large flare on the RS CVn binary system II Peg represents one of only two firm detections to date of photospheric Fe K alpha from a star other than our Sun. We present models of the Fe K alpha equivalent widths reported in the literature for the II Peg observations and show that they are most probably due to fluorescence following inner shell photoionisation of quasi-neutral Fe by the flare X-rays. Our models constrain the maximum height of flare the to 0.15 R_* assuming solar abundances for the photospheric material, and 0.1 R_* and 0.06 R_* assuming depleted photospheric abundances ([M/H]=-0.2 and […

Emission Measure Distribution in Loops Impulsively Heated at the Footpoints

2004

This work is prompted by the evidence of sharply peaked emission measure distributions in active stars, and by the claims of isothermal loops in solar coronal observations, at variance with the predictions of hydrostatic loop models with constant cross-section and uniform heating. We address the problem with loops heated at the foot-points. Since steady heating does not allow static loop models solutions, we explore whether pulse-heated loops can exist and appear as steady loops, on a time average. We simulate pulse-heated loops, using the Palermo-Harvard 1-D hydrodynamic code, for different initial conditions corresponding to typical coronal temperatures of stars ranging from intermediate …

Diagnostics of stellar flares from X-ray observations: from the decay to the rise phase

2007

The diagnostics of stellar flaring coronal loops have been so far largely based on the analysis of the decay phase. We derive new diagnostics from the analysis of the rise and peak phase of stellar flares. We release the assumption of full equilibrium of the flaring loop at the flare peak, according to the frequently observed delay between the temperature and the density maximum. From scaling laws and hydrodynamic simulations we derive diagnostic formulas as a function of observable quantities and times. We obtain a diagnostic toolset related to the rise phase, including the loop length, density and aspect ratio. We discuss the limitations of this approach and find that the assumption of lo…

X-ray optical depth diagnostics of T Tauri accretion shocks

2009

In classical T Tauri stars, X-rays are produced by two plasma components: a hot low-density plasma, with frequent flaring activity, and a high-density lower temperature plasma. The former is coronal plasma related to the stellar magnetic activity. The latter component, never observed in non-accreting stars, could be plasma heated by the shock formed by the accretion process. However its nature is still being debated. Our aim is to probe the soft X-ray emission from the high-density plasma component in classical T Tauri stars to check whether this is plasma heated in the accretion shock or whether it is coronal plasma. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy allows us to measure individual line f…

Flare diagnostics from loop modeling of a stellar flare observed with XMM-Newton

2006

Abstract XMM-Newton data of an X-ray flare observed on Proxima Centauri provide detailed and challenging constraints for flare modeling. The comparison of the data with the results of time-dependent hydrodynamic loop modeling of this flare allows us to constrain not only the loop morphology, but also the details of the heating function. The results show that even a complex flare event like this can be described with a relatively few – though constrained – components: two loop systems, i.e., a single loop and an arcade, and two heat components, an intense pulse probably located at the loop footpoints followed by a low gradual decay distributed in the coronal part of the loop. The similarity …

X-ray emission from MP Muscae: an old classical T Tauri star

2007

We study the properties of X-ray emitting plasma of MP Mus, an old classical T Tauri star. We aim at checking whether an accretion process produces the observed X-ray emission and at deriving the accretion parameters and the characteristics of the shock-heated plasma. We compare the properties of MP Mus with those of younger classical T Tauri stars to test whether age is related to the properties of the X-ray emission plasma. XMM-Newton X-ray spectra allows us to measure plasma temperatures, abundances, and electron density. In particular the density of cool plasma probes whether X-ray emission is produced by plasma heated in the accretion process. X-ray emission from MP Mus originates from…