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Paper: Winds of Main-Sequence Stars: Observational Limits and a Path to Theoretical Prediction
Volume: 384, 14th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems, and the Sun
Page: 317
Authors: Cranmer, S.R.
Abstract: It is notoriously difficult to measure the winds of solar-type stars. Traditional spectroscopic and radio continuum techniques are sensitive to mass loss rates at least two to three orders of magnitude stronger than the Sun’s relatively feeble wind. Much has been done with these methods to probe the more massive outflows of younger (T Tauri) and older (giant, AGB, supergiant) cool stars, but the main sequence remains terra incognita. This presentation reviews the limits on traditional diagnostics and outlines more recent ideas such as Lyman alpha astrospheres and charge-exchange X-ray emission. In addition, there are hybrid constraints on mass loss rates that combine existing observables and theoretical models. The Sackmann/Boothroyd conjecture of a more massive young Sun (and thus a much stronger ZAMS wind) is one such idea that needs to be tested further. Another set of ideas involves a strong proposed coupling between coronal heating and stellar mass loss rates, where the former is easier to measure in stars down to solar-like values. The combined modeling of stellar coronae and stellar winds is developing rapidly, and it seems to be approaching a level of development where the only remaining “free parameters” involve the sub-photospheric convection. This talk will also summarize these theoretical efforts to predict the properties of solar-type main-sequence winds.
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