Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Jun 10, 2006 9:05:27 GMT -6
Tau Scorpii's Magnetic Fields Blaze X-Rays
Wed, 07 Jun 2006 - Our Sun can send out its share of solar flares and coronal mass ejections, but compared to other stars, it's relatively calm. One example is tau Scorpii, 5-6 times larger than the Sun and visible with the unaided eye. Astronomers have discovered that it has a complex network of magnetic field lines which channel its solar winds into thin arcs. The high points of these arcs blaze brightly in the x-ray spectrum.
An international team of astronomers has discovered that the naked-eye star, tau Scorpii, unexpectedly hosts a complex network of magnetic field lines over its surface.
Tau Scorpii has been known for some time to emit X-rays at an unusually high rate and to rotate more slowly than most otherwise similar stars. The newly discovered magnetic field, presumably a relic from the star's formation stage, goes some way to explaining both characteristics, although the mechanism by which the magnetic field slowed down tau Scorpii's rotation so strongly remains mysterious.
These results will be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Source: www.universetoday.com/am/publish/xray_cos_emitter.html?762006
=============
How cool, that we can measure the magnetic fields of distant suns, and how firece the fields seem to be!...
