The rapidly oscillating AP stars as a test of stellar chromospheric heating mechanisms.
Sonneborn, G.; Shore, S. N.; Brown, D. N.; Gibson, D. M.
United States, France
Abstract
The discovery of a new class of magnetic stars, the rapidly pulsating Ap stars, provides an unprecedented tool for the study of Alfvénic heating in the outer atmospheres of main sequence stars. In this note, the authors point out that detection of rotationally modulated chromospheric emission line fluxes, especially the Ca II, Mg II, and C IV lines, can provide a novel method for investigating the role of Alfvénic heating in stellar atmospheres.