O VI Observations of the Onset of Convection Zones in Main-Sequence A Stars

TL;DR

This study used FUSE to observe O VI emission lines in stars with temperatures from 7720 to 10,000 K, finding activity indicators even in hotter stars, but attributing these to unresolved binary companions rather than intrinsic stellar activity.

Contribution

First detection of O VI emission in stars hotter than 8300 K, suggesting activity may originate from unresolved binary companions rather than the stars themselves.

Findings

O VI emission observed in 11 of 14 stars, including some hotter than 8300 K.

Emission lines are narrower than expected from stellar rotation, indicating possible binary companions.

High X-ray to UV luminosity ratios support the binary companion hypothesis.

Abstract

If magnetic activity in outer stellar atmospheres is due to an interplay between rotation and subsurface convection, as is generally presumed, then one would not expect to observe indicators of activity in stars with T_eff > 8300 K. Any X-ray or ultraviolet line emission from hotter stars must be due either to a different mechanism or to an unresolved, active, binary companion. Due to their poor spatial resolution, X-ray instruments have been especially susceptible to source confusion. At wavelengths longward of 1216 Angstroms, the near ultraviolet spectra of stars hotter than this putative dividing line are dominated by photospheric continuum. We have used FUSE to obtain spectra of the subcoronal O VI emission lines, which lie at a wavelength where the photospheric continuum of the mid- and early-A stars is relatively weak. We observed 14 stars spanning a range in T_eff from 7720 to 10,000 K. Eleven of the 14 stars showed O VI emission lines, including 6 of the 8 targets with T_eff > 8300 K. At face value, this suggests that activity does not fall off with increasing temperature. However, the emission lines are narrower than expected from the projected rotational velocities of these rapidly-rotating stars, suggesting that the emission could come from unresolved late-type companions. Furthermore, the strength of the O VI emission is consistent with that expected from an unseen active K or M dwarf binary companinon, and the high x-ray to far uv luminosity ratios observed indicate that this must be the case. Our results are therefore consistent with earlier studies that have shown a rapid drop-off in activity at the radiative/convective boundary expected at T_eff about 8300 K, in agreement with conventional stellar structure models.