Parsons, S.G. orcid.org/0000-0002-2695-2654, Gänsicke, B.T., Marsh, T.R. et al. (14 more authors) (2018) The scatter of the M dwarf mass-radius relationship. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. sty2345. ISSN 0035-8711
Abstract
M dwarfs are prime targets in the hunt for habitable worlds around other stars. This is due to their abundance as well as their small radii and low masses and temperatures, which facilitate the detection of temperate, rocky planets in orbit around them. However, the fundamental properties of M dwarfs are difficult to constrain, often limiting our ability to characterise the planets they host. Here we test several theoretical relationships for M dwarfs by measuring 23 high precision, model-independent masses and radii for M dwarfs in binaries with white dwarfs. We find a large scatter in the radii of these low-mass stars, with 25 per cent having radii consistent with theoretical models while the rest are up to 12 per cent over-inflated. This scatter is seen in both partially- and fully-convective M dwarfs. No clear trend is seen between the over-inflation and age or metallicity, but there are indications that the radii of slowly rotating M dwarfs are more consistent with predictions, albeit with a similar amount of scatter in the measurements compared to more rapidly rotating M dwarfs. The sample of M dwarfs in close binaries with white dwarfs appears indistinguishable from other M dwarf samples, implying that common envelope evolution has a negligible impact on their structure. We conclude that theoretical and empirical mass-radius relationships lack the precision and accuracy required to measure the fundamental parameters of M dwarfs well enough to determine the internal structure and bulk composition of the planets they host.
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society following peer review. The version of record S G Parsons, B T Gänsicke, T R Marsh, R P Ashley, E Breedt, M R Burleigh, C M Copperwheat, V S Dhillon, M J Green, J J Hermes, P Irawati, P Kerry, S P Littlefair, A Rebassa-Mansergas, D I Sahman, M R Schreiber, M Zorotovic; The scatter of the M dwarf mass-radius relationship, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, sty2345 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty2345 | ||||
Keywords: | stars: late-type; binaries: eclipsing; stars: fundamental parameters | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield | ||||
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Physics and Astronomy (Sheffield) | ||||
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Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield | ||||
Date Deposited: | 31 Aug 2018 08:45 | ||||
Last Modified: | 15 Jan 2020 15:16 | ||||
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty2345 | ||||
Status: | Published online | ||||
Publisher: | Oxford University Press | ||||
Refereed: | Yes | ||||
Identification Number: | https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty2345 | ||||
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