English

Lyman-alpha observations of astrospheres

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2014-08-27 v1

Abstract

Charge-exchange reactions between outflowing stellar wind protons and interstellar neutral hydrogen atoms entering a stellar astrosphere produce a region of piled-up-decelerated neutral hydrogen called the hydrogen wall. Absorption by this gas, which is observed in stellar Lyman-alpha emission lines, provides the only viable technique at this time for measuring the mass-loss rates of F-M dwarf stars. We describe this technique, present an alternative way for understanding the relation of mass-loss rate with X-ray emission, and identify several critical issues.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1408.5934,
  title  = {Lyman-alpha observations of astrospheres},
  author = {Jeffrey L. Linsky and Brian E. Wood},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1408.5934},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

10 pages and 4 figures. Paper presented at the conference "Wind Bubbles, Astrospheres and the Helisphere, Environments and Cosmic Rays" held in Bochum Germany November 4, 2013