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C. Christensen (Carleton College), T. Simon (University of Hawaii)
The magnetic fields of stars change in direction and strength not only over short time scales, as in the Sun's twenty-two year cycle, but also as the star ages. As characteristics of a star like rotational velocity and depth of convection zone change, the magnetic field must alter as well. To shed light on this ageing process, we studied the magnetic flux of stars 1.78 gigayears old, an age between that of the Hyades and the Sun, both of which have been extensively studied. This study was done using data from a deep-field Chandra observation to find the coronal luminosity, a proxy for the magnetic flux, of a total of 130 stars, many of which are known to be members of NGC 752. Photon count rate was converted to luminosity using the Raymond-Smith model. Convective stars were found to have a range of coronal luminosities averaging only slightly higher then that of the Sun. Stars with B-V < 0.45, however showed a trend towards brighter luminosities. We determined the average coronal luminosity of G-type stars to be 2.98 *102{8} ergs/sec with a range of plus or minus 2.21 *102{8} ergs/sec, which corresponds to an exponential decline in coronal luminosities from those of the Hyades. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation's Research Experience for Undergraduates program.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.