X-shooter spectroscopy of young stellar objects

III. Photospheric and chromospheric properties of Class III objects^⋆,⋆⋆

¹ INAF − Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy
e-mail: stelzer@astropa.inaf.it
² INAF − Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Via S.Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, Italy
³ INAF − Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Via Moiariello 16, 80131 Napoli, Italy
⁴ European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str.2, 85748 Garching, Germany
⁵ Department of Planetary Science, Lunar and Planetary Lab, University of Arizona, 1629 E. University Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
⁶ INAF − Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Via Bianchi 46, 23807 Merate, Italy
⁷ INAF − Osservaotorio Astronomico di Roma, Via di Frascati 33, 00040 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy

Received: 28 May 2013
Accepted: 30 July 2013

Abstract

Context. Traditionally, the chromospheres of late-type stars are studied through their strongest emission lines, Hα and Ca ii HK emission. Our knowledge on the whole emission line spectrum is more elusive as a result of the limited spectral range and sensitivity of most available spectrographs.

Aims. We intend to reduce this gap with a comprehensive spectroscopic study of the chromospheric emission line spectrum of a sample of non-accreting pre-main sequence stars (Class III sources).

Methods. We analyzed X-shooter/VLT spectra of 24 Class III sources from three nearby star-forming regions (σ Orionis, Lupus III, and TW Hya). We determined the effective temperature, surface gravity, rotational velocity, and radial velocity by comparing the observed spectra with synthetic BT-Settl model spectra. We investigated in detail the emission lines emerging from the stellar chromospheres and combined these data with archival X-ray data to allow for a comparison between chromospheric and coronal emissions.

Results. For some objects in the sample the atmospheric and kinematic parameters are presented here for the first time. The effective temperatures are consistent with those derived for the same stars from an empirical calibration with spectral types. Small differences in the surface gravity found between the stars can be attributed to differences in the average age of the three star-forming regions. The strength of lithium absorption and radial velocities confirm the young age of all but one object in the sample (Sz 94). Both X-ray and Hα luminosity as measured in terms of the bolometric luminosity are independent of the effective temperature for early-M stars but decline toward the end of the spectral M sequence. For the saturated early-M stars the average emission level is almost one dex higher for X-rays than for Hα: log (L_x/L_bol) =  −2.85 ± 0.36 vs. log (L_Hα/L_bol) =  −3.72 ± 0.21. When all chromospheric emission lines (including the Balmer series up to H11, Ca  ii HK, the Ca  ii infrared triplet, and several He  i lines) are summed up the coronal flux still dominates that of the chromosphere, typically by a factor 2−5. Flux-flux relations between activity diagnostics that probe different atmospheric layers (from the lower chromosphere to the corona) separate our sample of active pre-main sequence stars from the bulk of field M dwarfs studied in the literature. Flux ratios between individual optical emission lines show a smooth dependence on the effective temperature. The Balmer decrements can roughly be reproduced by an NLTE radiative transfer model devised for another young star of similar age. Future, more complete chromospheric model grids can be tested against this data set.