The influence of the environment on the spin evolution of low-mass stars - I. External photoevaporation of circumstellar discs
Massive stars are strong sources of far-ultraviolet radiation that can be hostile to the evolution of protoplanetary discs, driving mass-loss by external photoevaporation and shortening disc-dissipation time-scales. Their effect may also reduce the time-scale of angular momentum exchanges between th...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
02 October 2021
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| In: |
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Year: 2021, Volume: 508, Issue: 3, Pages: 3710-3729 |
| ISSN: | 1365-2966 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/mnras/stab2772 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab2772
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| Author Notes: | J. Roquette, S.P. Matt, A.J. Winter, L. Amard and S. Stasevic |
| Summary: | Massive stars are strong sources of far-ultraviolet radiation that can be hostile to the evolution of protoplanetary discs, driving mass-loss by external photoevaporation and shortening disc-dissipation time-scales. Their effect may also reduce the time-scale of angular momentum exchanges between the disc and host star during the early pre-main-sequence phase. To improve our understanding of the environmental influence on the rotational history of stars, we developed a model that considers the influence of the local far-ultraviolet radiation on the spin evolution of low mass stars. Our model includes an assumption of disc locking, which fixes the rotation rate during the star-disc-interaction phase, with the duration of this phase parametrized as a function of the local far-ultraviolet radiation and stellar mass (in the range of 0.1-1.3 M⊙). In this way, we demonstrate how the feedback from massive stars can significantly influence the spin evolution of stars and explain the mass dependence observed in period-mass distributions of young regions like Upper Sco and NGC 2264. The high far-ultraviolet environments of high-mass stars can skew the period distribution of surrounding stars towards fast-rotation, explaining the excess of fast-rotating stars in the open cluster h Per. The proposed link between rotation and the pre-main-sequence environment opens new avenues for interpreting the rotational distributions of young stars. For example, we suggest that stellar rotation may be used as a tracer for the primordial ultraviolet irradiation for stars up to ∼1 Gyr, which offers a potential method to connect mature planetary systems to their birth environment. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 17.12.2021 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1365-2966 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/mnras/stab2772 |