V889 Her: abrupt changes in the magnetic field or differential rotation?

TL;DR

This study uses Zeeman-Doppler imaging to analyze the magnetic field and differential rotation of V889 Her, revealing significant differential rotation and rapid magnetic field changes, which challenge existing assumptions about stellar rotation.

Contribution

It demonstrates the difficulty of distinguishing magnetic field evolution from differential rotation using ZDI and suggests that strong differential rotation may be common in young, active stars.

Findings

V889 Her exhibits strong differential rotation.

Magnetic field evolution occurs on short timescales.

Differential rotation may be underestimated in rapidly rotating stars.

Abstract

We have applied Zeeman-Doppler imaging (ZDI) to an extensive spectropolarimetric HARPSpol data set of the magnetically active young solar analogue V889 Her, covering 35 spectra obtained during six nights in May 2011. The data set allows us to study Stokes V profiles of the star at almost identical rotational phases, separated by one or more stellar rotations. We use these data to study if the line profiles evolve from one rotation to the next, and find that some evolution does indeed occur. We consider two possible explanations for this: abrupt changes in the large-scale magnetic field or differential rotation. We find it quite difficult to distinguish between the two alternatives using ZDI alone. A strong differential rotation could, however, explain the changes in the line profiles, so we conclude that it must be present, and the abrupt magnetic field evolution is left uncertain. Commonly, rapidly rotating stars are assumed to have only weak differential rotation. If the strong differential rotation of V889 Her is indeed present, as has been found in other studies as well, it could indicate that the theoretical and numerical results of differential rotation still need to be revised. The rapid changes that may have occurred in the magnetic field indicate that one should be quite cautious when interpreting ZDI maps constructed from data over long time intervals.