VLBA19A-437

Do Brown Dwarfs have Radiation Belts?

Abstract

Despite significant progress in measuring the magnetic field strengths of ultracool dwarfs, little is known about their magnetic topologies or magnetospheric environments. In particular, attempts to infer magnetic topologies from ECM aurorae yield contradictory results, and the origin of the quiescent (non-pulsing) emission that accompanies all detections of radio aurorae remains a mystery. We propose to search for the first analog of Jovian radiation belts outside of our solar system as a smoking-gun indicator of a strong dipole field confining a large-scale plasma structure in the magnetosphere of a nearby ultracool dwarf. A spatially resolved HSA detection of the quiescent radio component of auroral ultracool dwarfs would be the first demonstration that radio emission can confirm dipole topologies in ultracool dwarf magnetic fields.

Investigators

Name	Institution
Evgenya Shkolnik	Arizona State University
Amy Mioduszewski	National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Jackie Villadsen	Bucknell University; Vassar College; Maryland, St. Mary's College of
Melodie Kao *	Lowell Observatory; California Institute of Technology; Arizona State University; California at Santa Cruz, University of
GBT Operator	Green Bank Observatory

* indicates the PI