Polarized, variable radio emission from the scallop-shell binary system DG CVn

DG CVn is an eruptive variable star and represents the closest member of the known sample of complex periodic variables, or scallop-shell stars. Over the years, this M dwarf binary system has shown significant flaring activity at a wide range of frequencies. Here, we present a detailed analysis of $...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Kaur, Simranpreet, Viganò, Daniele, Villadsen, Jackie, Girart, Josep Miquel, Béjar, Victor J. S., Shan, Yutong, Bouma, Luke, Ilin, Ekaterina, Morata, Óscar, Pérez-Torres, Miguel A., Bonnassieux, Etienne, Gherson, Jorge R.
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/407216
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/407216
http://arxiv.org/abs/2507.09366v1
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Binaries: visual
Stars: flare
Stars: low-mass
Stars: magnetic field
Stars: rotation
Descrição
Resumo:DG CVn is an eruptive variable star and represents the closest member of the known sample of complex periodic variables, or scallop-shell stars. Over the years, this M dwarf binary system has shown significant flaring activity at a wide range of frequencies. Here, we present a detailed analysis of $\sim 14$ hours of radio observations of this stellar system, taken with the Karl G.Jansky Very Large Array at band L, centered at 1.5 GHz. In both $7$-hour long observations, we have found a quiescent, weakly polarized component, that could be ascribable to the incoherent, gyro-synchrotron emission coming from the magnetosphere surrounding one or both stars, along with multiple $\sim90\%$ right-circularly polarized bursts, some of which last for a few minutes, while others being longer, $\gtrsim$ 30 minutes. Some of these bursts show a drift in frequency and time, possibly caused due to beaming effects or the motion of the plasma responsible for the emission. We assess the possible modulation of burst frequency with the primary and secondary periods, and discuss the properties of these bursts, favoring electron cyclotron maser over plasma emission as the likely underlying mechanism. We compare DG CVn's dynamic spectrum to other young M dwarfs and find many similarities. A dedicated proper radio/optical simultaneous follow-up is needed to monitor the long-term variability, increase the statistics of bursts, in order to test whether the co-rotating absorbers detected in optical can drive the observed radio emission, and whether the occurrence of radio bursts correlates with the rotational phase of either stars.