Non-thermal radio continuum emission from young nearby stars

Abstract

Young and magnetically active low-mass stars often exhibit non-thermal coronal radio emission due to the gyration of electrons in their magnetized chromospheres. This emission is easily detectable at centimeter wavelengths with the current sensitivity of large radio interferometers like the VLA. With the aim of identifying nearby stars adequate for future accurate radio astrometric monitoring using Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), we have used the VLA in its B\, configuration to search for radio emission at \mbox{$\nu \simeq 6$\,GHz} \mbox{($\lambda \simeq 5$\,cm)} toward a sample of 170 nearby ($5000$\,K. The binarity fraction among the radio-bright stars is at least twice as high as among the radio-quiet stars. The radio-bright nearby young stars identified here provide an interesting sample for future astrometric studies using VLBI arrays aimed at searching for hitherto unknown tight binary components or even exoplanets.