Magnetic fields and dynamos: from planets to low-mass stars (A17)

• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2012 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 187005812

We want to better understand the communalities and differences of the strength and morphology of the magnetic fields of planets and low-mass stars and the dynamo process that generates the field, combining observation with numerical dynamo simulations. We strive at observing for the first time by direct methods magnetic fields at intermediate objects, i.e., evolved brown dwarfs, and to model the dynamo process in them by using realistic structural models. We also to plan to perform dynamo simulations for tidally locked "hot Jupiters" whose internal dynamics is affected by the one-sided stellar illumination.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 963: Astrophysical Flow Instabilities and Turbulence
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Co-Applicant Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung (MPS)
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Ulrich Christensen; Professor Dr. Ansgar Reiners