Magnetic activities on young stars

Abstract

Almost all young stellar objects (YSOs) are now known to emit X-rays driven by the magnetic activity. The solar-type dynamo is the plausible mechanism to generate the magnetic fields, but it does not work properly on protostars or intermediate-mass YSOs due to the difference of their stellar inner structure. To find an alternative mechanism, the structure and energy of magnetic fields surrounding stars should be investigated. In this sence, a stellar X-ray flare gives us important information because it directly traces an activity of one magnetic loop. With this motivation, we searched for stellar X-ray flares using the ASCA satellite and detected seven flares from low-mass and intermediate-mass YSOs. By comparing flare parameters with the absorption column density (N_H), we found that younger stars tend to have higher plasma temperature and larger emitting volumes. Furthermore, the flare loop size should be far larger than the solar radii in low-mass protostars and Herbig Ae/Be stars (HAEBEs). These facts suggest that the magnetic fields of low-mass protostars and HAEBEs far extend from the stellar main body and probably connect to the circumstellar disks, and that the magnetic reconnection by the star-disk differential rotation should energize the X-ray flares. We also present supporting evidence of quasi-periodic flares detected on the ClassI protostar YLW15.