Winds and magnetospheres from stars and planets: similarities and differences
Date
2023-08-16
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Abstract
Both stars and planets can lose mass through an expansive wind outflow, often constrained or channeled by magnetic fields that form a surrounding magnetosphere. The very strong winds of massive stars are understood to be driven by line-scattering of the star’s radiative momentum, while in the Sun and even lower-mass stars a much weaker mass loss arises from the thermal expansion of a mechanically heated corona. In exoplanets around such low-mass stars, the radiative heating and wind interaction can lead to thermal expansion or mechanical ablation of their atmospheres. Stellar magnetospheres result from the internal trapping of the wind outflow, while planetary magnetospheres are typically shaped by the external impact from the star’s wind. But in both cases the stressing can drive magnetic reconnection that results in observable signatures such as X-ray flares and radio outbursts. This review will aim to give an overview of the underlying physics of these processes with emphasis on their similarities and distinctions for stars vs. planets.
Description
This article was originally published in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743921322003489. © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Astronomical Union
Keywords
Sun: solar wind, stars: early-type, stars: mass loss, stars: planetary systems
Citation
Owocki, Stan. “Winds and Magnetospheres from Stars and Planets: Similarities and Differences.” Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 17, no. S370 (2021): 3–22. doi:10.1017/S1743921322003489.