The BRITE spectropolarimetric survey

TL;DR

This spectropolarimetric survey of bright stars observed by the BRITE satellites aims to detect stellar magnetic fields, enhancing understanding of stellar internal structures and discovering new magnetic stars for detailed follow-up studies.

Contribution

It is the first comprehensive spectropolarimetric survey of all bright stars observed by BRITE, combining magnetic measurements with seismic data for improved stellar modeling.

Findings

Detection threshold of 50 G for hotter stars and 5 G for cooler stars.

Identification of new magnetic stars among very bright targets.

Enhanced understanding of stellar internal structures through combined magnetic and seismic data.

Abstract

The BRITE constellation of nanosatellites observes very bright stars to perform seismology. We have set up a spectropolarimetric survey of all BRITE targets, i.e. all ~600 stars brighter than V=4, with Narval at TBL, ESPaDOnS at CFHT and HarpsPol at ESO. We plan to reach a magnetic detection threshold of Bpol = 50 G for stars hotter than F5 and Bpol = 5 G for cooler stars. This program will allow us to combine magnetic information with the BRITE seismic information and obtain a better interpretation and modelling of the internal structure of the stars. It will also lead to new discoveries of very bright magnetic stars, which are unique targets for follow-up and multi-technique studies.