Why are Some A Stars Magnetic, while Most are Not?

Author(s)
G. A. Wade, J. Silvester, K. Bale, N. Johnson, J. Power, M. Auriere, F. Ligniéres, B. Dintrans, J.-F. Donati, A. Hui Bon Hoa, D. Mouillet, S. Naseri, F. Paletou, F. Rincon, N. Toque, S. Bagnulo, C. P. Folsom, J. D. Landstreet, M. Gruberbauer, T. Lueftinger, S. V. Jeffers, A. Lèbre, S. C. Marsden
Abstract

A small fraction of intermediate-mass main sequence (A and B type) stars have strong, organised magnetic fields. The large majority of such stars, however, show no evidence for magnetic fields, even when observed with very high precision. In this paper we describe a simple model, motivated by qualitatively new observational results, that provides a natural physical explanation for the small fraction of observed magnetic stars.

Organisation(s)
Department of Astrophysics
External organisation(s)
Royal Military College of Canada, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Armagh Observatory, University of Western Ontario, Utrecht University, Université Montpellier 2, Anglo-Australian Observatory
Journal
Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series
Volume
405
Pages
490-504
ISSN
1050-3390
Publication date
2009
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103003 Astronomy
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/9d04e73f-603a-408d-a256-a4992e547207